Megadeth, Holy Wars...The Punishment Due - A Classical Musician’s First Listen and Reaction
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- čas přidán 12. 09. 2024
- It’s been several months since my first deliberate exposure to metal music, which took place via Metallica’s ‘…and Justice for All”. Along the way I’ve dabbled in some other not-so-famous metal bands, and even met virtually with Aftermath to listen together with them to one of their new songs. Now, finally, I got brave and decided to tackle another of the “The Big Four” American metal bands - here’s my experience hearing Megadeth for the first time.
Here’s the link to the original song by Megadeth:
• Megadeth - Holy Wars.....
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Amy Shafer, LRSM, FRSM, RYC, is a classical harpist, pianist, and music teacher, Director of Piano Studies and Assistant Director of Harp Studies for The Harp School, Inc., holds multiple degrees in harp and piano performance and teaching, and is active as a solo and collaborative performer. With nearly two decades of teaching experience, she teaches privately, presents masterclasses and coaching sessions, and has performed and taught in Europe and USA.
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Credits: Music written and performed by Megadeth
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As usual, please write here your questions only.
It is possible my question has been answered.
How do you incorporate this into Vivaldi's compositions or Mozart's. The Russian composer is easy enough. I'm trying to be funny on a binary level. Haha
In regards to Megadeath
Can you try Pneuma Danny carey drum cam? Tools drummer.
Where are you getting the scores that you use in these reactions? I'm frankly surprised that some of these pieces have such scores.
May you do an analysis (perhaps in a short) of what harpist Zeena Parkins was doing on the song 'It's in our hands'? This happened during Bjork's 'Vespertine Live' at Royal Opera House in 2002. 20 years later, I love it still. Yet I can't explain the sound or technique to anyone.
Parts of it sound very orchestral to me.
This whole album is a technical marvel. Dave took everyone to school with this one.
All four did, this Megadeth formula is legendary
Marty
Nick
And Peace Sells is a thousand times better, in every way, including the way you mentioned.
And Dave felt like a failure...
When he had platinum albums, and massive sales, incredible songs, and stayed harder than Metallica longer.
I prefer Megadeth over anything after master of puppets.
It's worth pointing out that Megadeth drummer Nick Menza was a member of a musical legacy. His father, Don Menza, is a famed Jazz saxophonist who was in many bands including Buddy Rich's band and the "Tonight Show" band. He also played the famous "Pink Panther" theme with Henry Mancini.
I knew this was in the recesses of my mind, far better put than my horrific attempt.
RIP Nick Menza passed on stage at jazz fusion club the Baked Potato in Studio City.
Nick Menza was awesome.
Gar and Nick were both incredible.
He had a heart attack on stage while performing. What a way to go.
A Heavy Metal classic. After multiple decades , whenever I hear the intro I can't help smiling. I'll love this song until the day I die.
It's the only Megadeth album I truly love. I've been a thrash metal fan since the 80's and Megadeth for me were always firmly in the kinda meh category. Which means I always bought and listened to all of their albums, but was never sufficiently impressed by them. Liked a song here and a song there, but that's about it. Until Rust in Peace that is, which in my opinion was by far the best metal album of that year, which was quite a good year for metal I must add.
I agree with almost everything you've said 👍
While we're on the subject of thrash, it always irked me that Annihilator weren't included in the "Big 4" . Easily better than Anthrax and with the musical chipsets go for to toe with Megadeth, it was a travesty that they didn't get the recognition they deserved. Alice in Hell is almost as good as Rust in Peace, IMO. Truly classic heavy metal. If you have a spare 3 and a half minutes...
m.czcams.com/video/e8t-Bw81970/video.html
Stupid, stupid "auto-correct".
***the musical chops to go toe to toe with Megadeth.
I'm not a huge Megadeth fan but this song is the pinnacle of 80's thrash metal to me. I love this song.
thrash*
Dave's rhythms are more complex than 90% of other bands leads... dudes a genius...
Mad genius. No, like seriously pissed off genius.
@@carlosspeicywiener7018 totally lol... still love the dude as much as I did in the 80's but even more respect for him and where his path has taken him.
109 fucking percent.
@@carlosspeicywiener7018 its amazing what spite will do to a man lol
@@Septicshites Totally... we have the choice to let it make us bitter and tear other/ourselves down or to make us BETTER and build ourselves/others up...
This is actually two songs. The first was written and then shelved. The second, based loosely on the Punisher comics, was written but never completed. Needing another song for their album, the group pulled these two songs together.
Yup!! I was about to add this. Cheers!
Same. Interesting to see someone trying to figure out what exactly he's talking about 🤣 but kinda painful too. I wonder if she eventually found out. Hope so.
Really? Interesting, that would certainly explain the wild differentiation of the lyrics halfway through the song but at least they still managed to somewhat combine the two elements successfully in the creation of this masterpiece.
@@WaterVolt1917 The first half was written after an incident in Northern Ireland. The second half had been written earlier, but never finished.
Considering the patchwork of incomplete lyrical themes here, it's impressive she instantly recognizes there are different voices speaking.
“Holy Wars…the Punishment Due” is, quite frankly, genius.
Your assessment is, honestly, correct.
It is it used passages from the Bible for lyrics and is really cool 🤘
Yes but Dave vocals are still like from a drunk guy xd
@@3d-sbsbestx-tremehdvideos332 Dave's vocals have all the right attitude for the music. I can't see anyone else fitting Megadeth's style.
Hey! Its the real me! XD
Alot of first time listeners to Megadeth often say they can't stand the singer's voice. He may not have a great singing voice but you hit the nail on the head when you said "expressively impactful". His vocal expression takes you on the journey that lies within the text. His voice is perfect for the composition. Perfect for Megadeth. Brilliant.
I hate so much of the new music as it all sounds the same... you watch these "talent" shows and they pick singes that all sound the same. The singers that are most widely remembered have very different sounds and styles.
Mustaine is an absolute perfectionist and that might be one of the reasons he's the vocalist. I've never disliked Mustaine as lead singer at all, his voice and demeanor fit very well
You can say that about any vocalist, I surmise, but I understand where you're coming from with Dave as no one else sounds like him. I think he's got an outstanding voice, I'm a huge fan of Dave's singing and shredding.
Daves voice fits the songs he writes. James of you know who doesn't have a 'great' voice, but it is for the songs he writes as is Daves.
If you’re looking for deep meaning in the second half of the song, “The Punishment Due”, where it starts “Wage the war on organized Crime.”
Don’t bother to read too deeply into the meaning behind it.
It’s a reference to the Marvel comic character The Punisher, and it’s just a creative choice that fits the song.
The first half is real world relative, and is pretty much what you would guess.
Yeah, lyrically it's a bit difficult to try and figure out on first listen as it's really two songs in one when it comes to the lyrics. Not really related at all
The lyrics to "Holy Wars", on the other hand, were inspired by Mustaine's experiences in Antrim, Northern Ireland where he introduced Megadeth's cover of The Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the UK" (altered to "Anarchy in Antrim", for the night) with the incendiary remarks, "Give Ireland back to the Irish. This one is for the cause" ("the cause" being Irish republicanism), reportedly starting a virtual riot. Hence the line, "Don't look now to Israel, it might be your homeland".
@@cowbutt6 yess and the line "Fools like me" is about his complete misunderstanding of what was going on then
huh. never knew that, but makes sense
This song is a masterpiece. Timeless.
Megadeth are handily one of my favorite bands ever. Easily the most technical of the Big Four. In his prime, Dave's riffs were on the same level as some lesser bands' solos. Very technical even if he didn't write in the number of key and time changes as prog bands. He was truly a man driven by spite and anger and managed to channel that into legendary music.
most technical yet they flopped with risk and since then, has only managed to put out 3 decent albums lol
@@Celatra 3?
The system has failed
13
Dystopia
The sick the dying and the dead...
4 at least...
And commercial sucess means nothing by the way...
@@avppr3451 you call 13, dystopia and their latest releases good?
even super collider is better than either of those...
System, United and Endgame are the only good albums by megadeth from the last 23 years
@@Celatra You see, are we talking about commercial sucess and critical acclaim or are we talking about a subjective taste of the listener?
Cause if it is an objective commercial and critical acclaim Dystopia and The Sick the Dying and the Dead are "good" releases.
Dystopia has huge listens on spotify and it won a Grammy
And The sick the Dying and the dead was the best megadeth launch since the 1990" ishs , staying in and around top charts... (Thus a commercial hit)
Yes, the new albuns have an advantage of being launched on Spotify, thus they garner more views because of spotify algorithm boosting, but...
Now if the matter is subjective, can listen to any Megadeth album fully and enjoy every second (I can´t do the same for mettalica, slayer or even Anthrax for that matter), but that´s my subjetive opinion...
Since Youthanasia, the weak albuns for me were risk (with some bangers still Prince of darkness, Breadline, Insomnia...), United Abominations (Sleepwalker and washington is next are bangers) and Super Collider (Most are bangers but some are mhe , but are at what mustaine is good, which it is being pissed off (Aka. Burn, Built for War , and Off the Edge)) and not because they are bad, but because they are flat and none of the songs really stands out to me on those albuns...
@@Celatra You are too kind. I thought they started sucking hard after Countdown to Extinction.
I think the guitar technique you are referring to after 17:50 is partially muted harmonics. It starts out with muted dead notes that then let the harmonic come through. Sometimes you can inadvertently let the harmonic sound when you are just trying to do muted dead notes because you are muting over a fret that will sound a harmonic. But here he intentionally used it to good effect.
Exactly that. There are certain settings and high distortions that can make those harmonics go quite haywire. Usually we spend time trying to eliminate them from our playing. But here it was used creatively, just like feedback is usually avoided, but sometimes embraced.
They are commonly referred to as artificial harmonics.
Yes, that's it. Muted harmonics using the same level of distortion they use in the rest of the song.
I was so completely stoked when I learned this while teaching myself Tornado of Souls. Imagine a 17 year old with a garbage distortion pedal going POINK POINK POINK at high volume with a stupid grin.
Yes. Technically the way it's done in this song is by lightly resting your fretting hand on the 3rd fret of the low E string (so a G) and then just picking the rhythm. Probably the easiest part of this song to play!
Omg . I'm dying of laughter.. the look on her face when that interlude came in. This is absolutely priceless.. I love the breakdown
Looks like that one meme
I was more impressed by her look right at the outset. I thought she was going to implode at any moment. I've never seen anyone experience such pain listening to music. 😅🤣😂
@@Frankincensedjb123 that would be me with that death thrash metal... LOL
@@whispersmith someone has to.... "that was interesting".…. And only half way through. Poor Amy... lol
I remember the first time listening to that part exactly I was so amazed I was still crying after listening to the first part with that part came out I just wanted to quit playing guitar it just made me go more
I love your innocence and the musical genius you bring to the music I love! Your unbiased approach to learn and understand a style of music you never listened to is enlightening to me as a music lover/musician. Seeing your perspective to songs I've listened to for decades now is truly enlightening. Please keep these videos coming! Can't wait to see you create some riffs on that harp! Rock on 🤘😤🤘
Aww brilliant.
Please please please do this for megadeths lucrecia. No one ever asks for it and i think the solo on this is worth your attention.
I'm sure few folk will agree and just go for the usual megadeth requests and so this may get missed. The lucrecia solo (for me) really communicates the spirit of the song.
Absolutely,’Lucretia’! The first time I heard it, I got chills. Same goes for ‘On My Darkest Hour,’ but the latter is for the emotion in Dave’s voice, and I had just split with my fiancée.
Besides the hangar 18 solo(s), the Lucretia one is second best in my book for sure
lucretia is the best, its easily my favourite and most under-rated song that they produced
I requested Lucretia for 3 years before I gave up. Not a single channel ever reviewed that song.
Best damn solo in the thrash industry, Friedman is an hero for this one
Marty Friedman uses a lot of Asian scales (usually Japanese hirajoshi) in his music. Its not seen a lot in this song but the solo from Megadeth' Tornado of souls, Hangar 18, and his own music are examples.
His video called 'melodic control' is great, where he explains approaches to creating melodies and chord patterns.
I LOVE that video!
SHRED fan?
In this case, it's an octatonic Spanish scale, from the sound of it.
@@DjDown1984 Nah, We knew of it a while ago.
@@matkeefer Maybe. I've heard him improvise on a Rumba backing track before and he was doing really good.
I'm incredibly delighted you finally got to listen to this song, and I was rewarded with a great reaction. At first, I was wondering if we're torturing you making you listen to this genre of rock, but in the end I applaud how you manage to harvest so much from a first listen.
I would also reinforce your idea that in this genre, the music very strongly conveys feelings and emotions which are probably more harsh or bellicose. I have always felt that is one of the reasons rock is popular in certain segments of the population, because it provides a voice to the underbelly of society (pointing out injustice, inequity, bringing out anger, resentment and even a desire for violence as a product of these feelings). In some classical music, I've noticed the attempt is to almost pay tribute to grandiose topics: God, king, empire, the universe, yet in rock I find the voice of the oppressed more clearly spoken (though not always or necessarily).
In particular for me, in this song I feel the guitar solos are their own voices in that they almost seem to narrate the bellicose background. I think of them as the background noise of war. The thunder and staccato of gunfire and explosions, the piercing wails of missiles, etc... All while bringing light to the anger and pain being voiced by the narrators. I look forward to your second video where I'm sure you'll do a much better job than I in exploring these topics and more.
Thanks!
Great analysis.
You sir are someone who a person can have intelligent covetations with .who analysis his thoughts and words before or as he speaks them . I appreciate the more than the many going off before they take the time to listen to what someone is saying or they way the try to convey what there saying .the other person jumping ahead because they can't truly comprehend the way you meant for them to understand it. They already kmow everything and want to argue in them being dense and defensive .
Without understanding its not an argument your looking for your only trying ti give them something to process and think about differently ,may be there too.
There they take an opportunity to think about something you say. Into disagreement or the wrong way and find a way to find discontent in information and conversation. Deep and simple or shallow and complex . Interjected ego and no patience to listen to an entire sentence or the way its meant .makes the fall to anger come first . Then your conversation has less meaning and you have to walk away before you get pulled into something toxic .
You described that whole video very well and how I perceived it .beyond the listener to the truth of how people should get it .past what the way they may have understood it . By taking the time to look at it in a better perspective from someone else .
Ar the end of the day .sure you can explain it ,sure you can analyze it .and you can just sit back and enjoy it as I do .but if you do all three you can grow your mind to get the most out of it .and especially if you like it you get so much more out if it that way. Metal isn't for stupid people sometimes it very smart and intellectual. I've think tool is a very great example of what you might consider as just some meavy metal music to some has a lot to learn about meaning in its music. A lot of tool fans just enjoy it. I try to learn from all of life breaking down music like that can get pretty intellectual. Thats very cool to take the time and there music can go to wow thats heavy stuff I never knew that . And still enjoying great music along with it all . Tool like rush megadeth and other music goes deep of you want it too or just skim over the deep stuff and rock out . Metal is a genre within a genre there.
More than a decade listening Megadeth and I still don’t know how can Dave sing and play this song at the same time.
You're pretty spot on with your analysis here, good reaction! So, just to give you a little more info on this particular style... this is considered "thrash metal" for the subgenre. The thing to know about thrash is that, among other styles, it developed partially from punk. You see this most reflected in the aggresive attitude, fast paced rhythms, and the vocals and lyrics. Much like punk, in thrash there's not as much emphasis on the vocal performance itself. That is to say, you don't typically find highly nuanced singers in thrash bands. The lyric content is more important than the actual performance of the vocals. That's not to say that thrash metal singers are bad or can't sing, it's more of a matter of priority I guess you could say. The music sets the tone, the vocals deliver the message. And it's usually angry, dark, and aggressive. Ironically enough, neither of the guys that ended up singing for Metallica and Megadeth wanted to sing. They both just sort of got thrust into that role because they couldn't get anyone else to do it. So they may not be the most technical of vocalists, but they get their point across.
To me, you can really hear the punk influence in songs like Hook in Mouth and Liar.
RIP Nick Menza you were amazing...you ARE amazing champ
Just so incredible. The whole album still blows me away after decades of listening.
Holy wars was based on Dave Mustaine's experience during a concert in Northern Ireland. He heard about 'The Cause', unknowing it meant the IRA and their violent manners, and mentioned that during the concert. The crowd went crazy and they had to be escorted out of the building. And there you have the inspiration for the first part of the song. The second part, as mentioned is about 'The Punisher' from Marvel
I read it was based more even more on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. I mean, even the music video focuses a lot on that.
@@mercenaryknight5419 It's about religious conflicts in general, but Mustaine sat down and wrote it after reflecting on his part in aforementioned Antrim Forum incident in Northern Ireland. Mustaine has gone on the record about this on several occasions.
@@mercenaryknight5419 he says "DON'T" look to Israel, if you're of Irish descent, it could be YOUR homeland.
@@psycosyin That's the way I take it, too.... most people automatically think "Israel" or "Middle East" when they hear "holy war", but it can happen all over, in places you might not consider. Even your homeland.
Damn near broke the left clicker on my mouse when I saw this in my feed.
17:08 I've wondered why metal fans tend to be some of the best humans I know, and I think you just hit on the answer here. Listen to our influences, 90% of the lyrics are about fighting injustice(s), standing up to evil and abused power, surviving horrific circumstances like addiction and destitution, broken relationships... All done with such force that these ideals and concepts are *pummeled into our bodies at high volume, bringing catharsis to trauma and inspiration to those who need to stand up.
-This album is a metal masterpiece, it would be absolutely amazing done with any type of classical orchestration. Marty Friedman (lead guitar) does a lot with mode switches and exotic scales and it would translate beautifully.
-Metal vocals: a lot of the time they can be functioning more as a pitched expression of raw emotion than as an intentional melodic movement. Dave Mustaine definitely tends toward that, as his isn't a very pretty voice but it can really get expressive when it comes to aggression, which is definitely his niche.
Everything is tension and release with these guys, sometimes with surprising changes like that sitar break. Not bad for a song written from the perspective of the comic book character The Punisher.
That's a gorgeous metaphor for it 22:02 (illumination), and you're right, it's much more overall mood and quality and often even the movement of one emotional quality to another, using key/scale, speed, tone, dynamic, and it's done sectionally, sometimes excepting solo parts, they can get very detailed in their composition.
Dude, your first paragraph got me teary. Well put brother.
@@metalrules1135 Damn it, don't do that it's contagious! 😆
(thank you man)
This song hits different when you watch the video. Seeing Nick Menza up in the air drumming and seeing Dave and Marty riffing and hear banging as they play, with the music video and war clips is sick. Sick as in iconic. What a band!
"Huh, I guess it ends there" That was funny. I love Megadeth and particularly that song. Tornado Of Souls is also on that album. That is also a great song. Lots of guitar work and an awesome solo.
Yeah, on the album it goes right into Hangar 18 next. It's less of a stop and more of a pause. CZcams and streaming have basically killed the album experience.
That would be the perfect line for High Speed Dirt.
@@blechtic totally. Another good Megadeth song.
Tornado might be Megadeth's most overrated song. The only track off Rust I don't listen to.
I'm so happy you have the score and showing it at the same time breaking it down.
Time for some Iron Maiden? They're a very influential heavy metal band that feature some great operatic vocals. I'd recommend "Hallowed Be Thy Name", but there's a ton of great songs to choose from. Still heavy metal, but a bit smoother and more melodic than thrash.
Agreed… Hallowed Be Thy Name or Rime Of The Ancient Mariner would be great choices but, the latter would be my choice because of the literary connection and the structure of the song has some classical elements. Either way, good suggestion!
Or maybe 'Alexander the Great'
I'm actually a big fan of "To Tame a Land", if we're looking at epic end-of-album songs from their classic albums, but I think "Hallowed Be Thy Name" is probably the most accessible. All of them are quite good though, including "Powerslave", which would be the end-of-album epic if not for "Rime". So I'd be down for "Alexander" or "Rime".
If Amy wants to TRULY be blown away by Maiden then she MUST hear "Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and ESPECIALLY "Empire of the Clouds." Maiden epics that truly show their amazing compositional and musical talents. I'd LOVE for Amy to do Iron Maiden's metal epics.
@@stuffyouotterlistento1461 I agree. To Tame a Land is fantastic. It's a musical painting and really gives the feel of being in an exotic distant land. One of their best I think. It's amazing how Bruce can sing some of those lyrics like he does. This song would be my choice too.
I think this is Megadeth's best song off of their best album & I'd put it somewhere within the top 20 best metal songs of all time.
One just cannot pick only 1 best from Rust in peace. Also peace sells (album is amazing)
Ok in my opinión, it's better pesce sells album than RIP
Doesn't hold a candle to Tornado of Souls, imo. For me, Tornado is the ultimate Megdath song.
The whole album is a masterpiece.
i wouldnt even put this in top 100, maybe top 500 but no higher
The guitar playing in this literally gives me goosebumps. Marty and Dave were on a different level.
I have no doubt this won't be seen, but I would love to hear your input on Testament's "Musical Death (A Dirge)". During the time of the Big Four, Testament was always considered the 5th. It's an instrumental with multiple distinct themes written by a guitarist who is very highly trained in classical music. Listen to it as though the guitarist is giving the eulogy at the funeral for Music itself, telling the story of it's life and death , through the various stages of grief. I'm not ashamed to admit it brought me to tears as a teen when it came out and still hits the same today. More than anyone else out there, I would love to hear your take on it. (Even if it doesn't warrant enough to make a video, I highly recommend giving it a listen regardless).
Brilliant! This is my favorite thrash metal band, & you’ve done an incredible job breaking it down!
As a metalhead I have to say I really enjoy your videos, you are lovely, thank you for making these!
Megadeth put a lot of heavy,intense,interesting topics in their songs.I hope you listen to more from them.
My congratulations. You have met one of the best works in thrash metal. It's worth listening to the entire album. It develops from the first to the last note. By the end, the music grows into an incredible tornado and metal storm. This is my favourite metal album ever. Peak of thrash
I'm impressed that you picked up on the change in voice the way that you did.
The reason is, that part of the song is, the "punishment due " which itself is based upon the Marvel comics character, the Punisher.
I'm impressed with your ability to discern the change.
It's 2 songs together.
Thanks for the listening.
The video was beyond good.
Please react to Opeth. That would be a magnificently different experience.
Baroque, exactly. A different genre of metal but Yngwie Malmsteen explicitly calls out Bach and Paganini as inspirations.
The ending of the Hallelujah Chorus is one of the most commonly-used comparisons.
Also, the film _Le Roi Danse_ is an interesting portrayal of a Baroque court composer with a lot of masculine posturing, spectacle and rowdiness.
Metal music is certainly lots of connections to Classical music esp. Baroque music. If you want to hear an example go for Yngwie Malmsteen's "Baroque and Roll", he's the pioneer of Neo-Classical Metal. A Heavy Metal sub-genre that is very Classical approached esp. in Baroque style. I also reccommend the band "Apocalyptica", a cello string quartet that famously covered Metallica songs.
And, of course, my favorite of their's isn't a Metallica cover: Hall of the Mountain King. You're probably sick of hearing this one, but it is my favorite.
@@mikek0135 That rendition of of Hall of the Mountain King was downright filthy. I loved every second of how it progressed.
@@JoeyNiklas Oh, hell YES!
I just love seeing a MUSICIAN who's not a rock or metal player (or even a big fan) react to music. To see another perspective on music is a great watch. Most of the time it's just another "person" without any musical knowledge. Digging on this. Love the reaction
Usually a rizzidy rizzaper
The expressions on your face are pure gold ! Lol killing me softly w/laughter with this one!
Megadeth Rocks!!!
I'm subscribing to your channel because your reactions are obviously REAL. I really hope that in time, listening to metal songs.....I'm going to see you doing some headBANGING.
Singer/lead guitarist Dave Mustaine was in Metallica when they first started, but they kicked him out of the band for getting too drunk for even them, who were also heavy drinkers.
Three goofy drunks versus one angry drunk.
@@DrGalazkiewicz "Silly drunks and violent drunks don't mix." - Dave Mustaine
They called themselves "Alcoholica" in fun, and Dave was too much for them
I bought that story when I was younger. As time has passed I am more convinced that argument was a proxy for the underlying power dynamic in the band. Too many "leaders".
It wasn't so much the quantity of drinking that was the problem, Dave was an angry, mean, drunk.
Ma'am please don't worry about interrupting too much. Your interruptions and your ensuing wonderful analysis and insights are what we're here for.
I really appreciate your take on some of these tunes. As a musician myself the number one most important thing to remember is that there's no such thing as just one kind of music and you should try to understand as much of it as possible. Good on you for respecting and breaking down these songs and showing Just how much talent and hard work it takes to make good music.
Metallica -Master of Puppets and Megadeath - Rust in Peace both need to be put in some sort of cryo stasis so future generations absolutely get to hear them. Both Masterpieces.
Word
It was a great era for sure👍
Mustaine hit a grand-slam, walk-off home run with this album. It still holds up three decades later and I'm guessing still will in another three decades.
Amy's "hearing more" because there is actually "more" to Holy Wars than the first two Metallica songs Amy reacted to. Can't wait until Amy moves onto Slayer - Seasons in the Abyss. Or revisiting classic metallica like master of puppets, orion, or the likes....nice!!!
I'm waiting for her to get into the Cliff Burton era of Metallica
I'm waiting for Opeth and NeO. It might be a while. Lol.
megadeth is the cleanest it gets for thrash. she is going to hate slayer
@@thejusticeization seasons in the abyss might still be palatable! The drums and the rhythm can be quite catchy. And she will definitely point out all the tritones...
@@musichomework Yeah. There's Slayer and there's Slayer. You've gotta be a fairly hardcore metalhead to be into a lot of Slayer, but I think "Seasons in the Abyss" is actually pretty accessible.
It's ok not to 'get' this the first time you hear it, or the hundredth. It's overwhelming and coming at you on different levels, from different directions. It helps to understand it if you're dark and cynical like Mustaine, so I can feel your bewilderment but I appreciate your honest effort to analyze it positively and respectfully. I've been listening periodically to this song and album since it came out decades ago. Every year or two I tend to play it about ten times over a week or so, after which I'm exhausted and I put it away til the next time I want to be completely challenged. I'm a good guitar player but I could never play this in a million years. And each time I listen there is always something I've never heard before. I honestly don't know how they did it.
This lady is the hero of the metal community. All my metal friends now watch her videos. We needed something like this. This is the best metal channel on the internet. God bless Amy. God bless America! SUBSCRIBED!
The first part of the song is about the conflict of northern Ireland and the second is based on the Punisher comic series
First of all, I want to thank you for taking the time to do this great review. In these times where music, rhythm and lyrics do not generate any sensation for the listener, we are facing a global decline artistically. where mediocrity and other aggregates predominate. It is important for us to have people like you, who unite classical values and rock, as it always was, and I hope it will be in the near future. Greetings from Colombia South America
I don't know if anyone mentioned and it shouldn't be understated, but Dave plays guitar AND sings this song live.
If i´m not wrong this song was written because Mustaine went to do a Show in Ireland and he made a Gaffe cherring the wrong crowd and he needed to be escorted out of the venue.
Thus the first part is inspired about such "holy wars" ( in this case in Ireland on Protestants vs. Catholics)
On May 11th, 1988, at the height of the Troubles, you caused uproar at a concert at the Antrim Arena. It inspired one of Megadeth’s greatest songs, Holy Wars ... The Punishment Due, from their 1990 classic album, Rust In Peace
Holy Wars was about the naivety coming there. I was so honest and so innocent. We were backstage, and some stuff had happened during the day which really set the tone for the night. It was just a powder keg ready to go.
I went downstairs and somebody was caught trying to bootleg T-shirts inside the venue. Talk about brass! We went to take the shirt, and he said, “These are for the cause.” I didn’t know what the cause was. “What’s the cause?” I asked him. “It’s about prejudice and religion. The Catholics think they are better than the Protestants; the Protestants think they are better than the Catholics.”
I understand that. I was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness, and they hate every religion except theirs. I was drinking Guinness straight from the source. I had a bunch of Guinnesses. We are up on stage, and some kid was throwing coins. I don’t know if he was trying to hit Chuck Mehler [the band’s drummer] or Dave Ellefson [its bassist], but I got hit one time. I was pissed. I saw the guy who threw it, and I said something to him. The show stopped. I came back out on stage, and I had just heard that Paul McCartney had said, “Give Ireland back to the Irish,” and I thought Paul’s a knight, he’s cool, it’s got to be something worth saying - so I said what he said and added, “This one’s for the cause,” and the reaction was much different, because I was an American.
It polarised the audience. We had to be taken out of the place in a bulletproof bus. The next day I was in Nottingham, and I wrote the lyrics “Brother will kill brother, spilling blood across the land, killing for religion is something I don’t understand / Fools like me who cross the sea and come to foreign lands / Ask the sheep, for their beliefs / Do you kill on God’s command? A country that’s divided surely will not stand / My past erased, no more disgrace / no foolish naive stand.”
That’s part of my elementary evaluation of the situation, which was grossly underestimating the pain and suffering that people have because of this. I penned this song. It just came out. I love the Irish people, and I don’t really see any distinction between north and south, east and west.
Nice to see that you have acclimated better to heavier music so it's easier for you to distinguish and discern instruments, common themes and patterns, and so on! Hopefully so that we may enjoy more analysis of other pieces if you happen to give them a listen. Thanks!
I've only just found your channel, and what I've found even more incredible than the fact that you had never come across these bands like Dire Straits, Queen and (less surprisingly) Megadeth - is the fact that you are so open-minded to it and, not only that, but so insightful in your analysis. Bravo.
I'd love to see your reaction to some classic Iron Maiden, like Hallowed be Thy Name, or Run To The Hills. And, I suppose, Jinjer's Pisces is inevitable. :)
Watching people who don’t listen to metal react to metal is one thing. Watching someone who is a musically talented react to metal is even better!
Long time admirer and viewer, first time commentator. If I may be so bold, ma'am, allow me to sum thrash metal up in one word. Power. I should put that into caps. POWER! Imagine Jeremy Clarkson howling at a BMW M3. You're in the ballpark. If the music doesn't make you want to grab a sheet pan and slam it into your head until either it or your head deforms, set fire to your bedroom, drive at insane speeds, have outrageous sex with anything with a pulse, and start a riot in your high school, it's not thrash. That's why we listen to this. It's the closest thing almost any metal head will ever get to being behind the wheel of an F-1 car. It's the adrenaline surge. Boys will be boys, ma'am. Scary thing is, we never really grow out of it. ^_~ Love your videos, welcome to the Dark Side. We lied about the cookies. ^_~
Oh my goodness! This is a bit aggressive for your delicate ears but what the hey! Rock on 🤘 I'm now very excited
I love how your grasped done of what was going on by the 1st listen. You're very smart.
Now!! Talk about the intricate, mindblowing talent behind the musicianship of this piece. It's stellar.
Really enjoy your analysis. If I may suggest (if you haven’t already) Devin Townsends “Kingdom” on the EMG guitar pickup showcase. Keep up the entertaining content. Thank you.
I'm sure she'll get to it eventually. I can't wait to see the look on her face LOL
What always amazed me is the entire intro section is all in 4/4. Especially with the syncopations at the end of the riff phrases because it sounds like an odd time signature syncopation but it's not. It's such genius.
Leave a like if you want Amy to listen to Iron Maiden's Phantom of the Opera
After a brief interruption by a side dish decorated with strawberies now we are back to our regularly scheduled series "50 shades of metal" 😉
Hmm...I'm with you on that one....
More variety, PLEASE, virgin.... !!!
@@andymccabe6712 yes. ... But Virgin only reacts to what she is given to react to (was that even english 🙃?)
Wow, into the deep end so quickly
Headfirst! I love it.
First time i see a video of yours, i think this is the first actual legit reaction channel, you do knoe what youre saying, actually teaching me stuff about music ive been listening to for 20 years or so, great amazing work!! 🤟🏾❤️🔥
It's like watching someone that has time traveled from the middle ages and now she's experiencing modern music for the first time.
Just subscribed. Love to see musicians with different styles being open minded enough to listen to other styles. Pretty cool.
Dave Mustaine literally said, what if i hire the best lead guitarist metal will ever see and give him the best riffs to be ever written. Nick menza was no slouch either. The entire rust in peace record is a masterpiece.
From the greatest Heavy Metal album ever recorded imho. Absolutely impeccable. They captured a lightning in a bottle miracle of a moment in time with this. This is immediately one of the greatest videos in the history of CZcams to me. Thank you for covering this!!!
Marty Friedman is a guitar genius, one of my favorites. Currently he lives in Japan where besides playing in different groups and as a soloist, he also has his cooking show on Japanese television as he is also a master chef (he is fluent in Japanese).
But even before moving to Japan many years ago, his style always showed a lot of Far Eastern influences: pentatonic scales (both anhemitonic versions and the hemitonic Japanese scales, Hirajoshi, Kumoi, Iwato etc.). You can't really hear that aspect of his style in this song because the nature of the song doesn't really lend itself to that, but his solo albums are full of very charming Chinese and Japanese melodies.
He is an immense virtuoso, highly technical and very original.
At the beginning of his career he played with another legend, Jason Becker. Becker was the most promising talent of his times but at a very young age he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's disease, the same degenerative disease that Stephen Hawking had) and gradually lost all ability to move. In spite of the doctors giving him only five years to live, he is still alive and very creative.
How, may you ask? I'll let this video answer that question: czcams.com/video/tYIZP1hrfZI/video.html
Hello, thank you very much for your feedback on "metal" and the classical music approach.
It shows, that you dedicate all your professionalism to your work and it is not just listening and over exaggerating a reaction.
Thank you very much, I think I will stay for a long time on your channel.
Greetings from Patagonia, Chile.
This song is fantastic. The musical construction is pretty nice and melodic. And the lyrics are deep. Dave Mustaine is a great song writter 🙏🤘
Entirely stumbled across this video, have never seen your channel before. Absolutely loved it! subscribed!
Mustaine is a musical genius. No wonder he left the other band. Lars would never let Dave do more with the sound. Megadeth has really been true to their sound through the yrs.
You're right. Mustaine is a far better writer and musician than everybody in Metallica.
@@mikeoxinya570 i think this is not a competition, at least for us, as a fan I’m supporting both Bands, but if you wanna be that guy, well, is safe to say that Metallica is bigger than megadeth, look at the concerts, records sold, money, maybe musically megadeth could be better, but Metallica is in other level, recently I saw exodus, and I’m a big fan, have excellent songs, but in the music world there’s like a stair, and in the top of that stair is Metallica, but again, I enjoy both band, I saw them live, and Im supporting every song or album they give us
@@mikeoxinya570 no he isn't, he wasn't Burton by far. His whole band eclipses him in talent and skill, he got lucky playing fast and technica his whole career.
Fucking liar, lmao Megadeth's sellout "trying to be mass appealing" 90's phase was being true to their sound? Mustaine even did Groove Metal in the 00's and less Thrash.
@@murk4552 Dude settle down. Metallica sucks and it's ok. Cliff Burton wasn't a musical genius he was a kid who played bass and helped write childish songs. Get over it champ.
This is my first experience with one of your videos, so pardon me if you have already addressed this, but the main thing about Heavy Metal Music, and what those who enjoy it like about it, is the aggression. The main point of 99% of metal songs, regardless of sub-genre, is to get your adrenaline pumping, your head banging, and your body thrashing. I think a lot of non-metal heads take this is a negative, like it's music that makes you feel angry, but that's not the case, at least it shouldn't be. It channels anger into something positive, and when I'm done listening to a really good metal song, I feel happy, energized, and ready to take on anything. That said, it's fun to listen to a more cerebral analysis of heavy metal music. I doubt much of it will peak your interest as a classical musician, like I stated previously, that's not really the purpose of the genre, beyond some of the obvious technical prowess with the instruments. I do hope you grow to enjoy it though! 😊
Amazed at your patience with all this angst-ridden metal stuff. There are about 200 subgenera of rock. But where-ever you go, you are very interesting as a traveler. Happy holidays.
One way of interpreting the musicality of thrash metal vocals, is to treat them more as a rhythmic or percussive instrument than a melodic instrument.
Hands down one of the best thrash metal albums ever made
First time I heard this was at midnight on a rock station about a month before Rust dropped and I was blown away.
yes, maybe dave's voice is "strange", but i think it's very expressive. and that's more important. and megadeth is not only a thrash band, I think it is progmetal too...
"I wouldn't say that we're intense as people, but we are tense. We're tensed up and knotted up, pissed off like, ready to explode, you know? Our music is frantic and frenetic, and urgent. Because the world is urgent, you know?"
Dave mustaine, in an interview with Thrasher magazine. I forget the year.
I'm an electric guitarist and like Metal, and all kinds of music. I think you're doing great. I really appreciate your analysis of the melodic content and theory, etc. The "riff" is very interesting. A lot of Metal is supposedly "riff based." Meaning, find a cool/fun riff, put it in, put in another, link them with something that sort of works - and sounds cool/fun, etc. So, it might not make sense as far as theory. One of my favorite Metal guitarists, Gary Holt, has often said he just has a few runs when he does solos, and he moves them around, and then when he feels like he's running out of ideas, he grabs "the whammy bar," and that can change pitch wildly. So... a person could say that he's covering for lack of musical theory and that's accurate. But, he has a very specific sound, and the reaction he's going for is more, "hey! what a cool solo!" Holt also said he has 500 riffs on his smartphone. So if he's playing and a cool riff comes up, he records it on his smartphone for possible later use.
Absolutely loved your professional input and review on this song. You figured it out to the very depths first time through.❤
The entire album is musically genius.
Such a fantastic musical take on this iconic megadeth track....
Thank you so much, I needed this today.
I think its time for more european metal.
Eluveitie - Epona (its swiss folk metal, sung in gealic with the most metal flutes you'll hear)
or
Epica - Cry for the Moon (Very hard contrast between male and female vocals, metal guitars and string instruments)
This was one of the best reactions to what is considered an unfamiliar genre. Thank you for your insight and attention to detail. I'm hooked....
Subbed.
It will be fun to see if you SURVIVE all of this metal music. You will either grow to appreciate it or not. I have played guitar for over 35 years and at first in the 80's i was more into rock (Van Halen, Ozzy, etc.) and did not really appreciate metal. I have since learned to appreciate most of it but it definitely takes time.
The lead guitarist hired for this record was in a band called cacophony which made metal music in the style of classical music called neo-classical metal (a genre pioneered by ritche blackmore, uli jon roth, and most importantly yngwie malmsteen if you are curious)
If u wanna feel the true start of Megadeth then u gotta listen to their very 1st hit song, Peace Sells, But Who’s Buying ?
Or listen to Metallica's version of the Four Horseman aka The Mexhanix. That song is what built both of these bands, and Dave is the catalyst of it all.
First listen - love your analysis, I’ve been listening to this song for 30 years and you showed me some new things!
Hello, I recommend listening to Bark at the moon or Mr.Crowley by Ozzy Osbourne, if you haven't yet. These two songs have a very interesting instrumental composition.
You actually have a very good understanding of what Metal and the words related to it are!
Great video, great reaction and great thought process behind your words!
Finally, someone who actually knows what they're talking about👍👌
First time I saw Dave on stage, was in a little club on Broadway in S.F. in March of '83. He was with Metallica then. Those were good times.
I'm jealous. Rock on!
So glad you had the opportunity to listen to this song with this line up. I first listened to them in high school in the late 80's and saw them on the Countdown to Extinction tour with Suicidal Tendencies at The Cow Palace in the SF Bay Area. Enjoy!
I love how you're picking up on the less literal and more emotional/tonal relationship between the words and music. As a singer, songwriter, and guitarist in the hard rock & metal genre, I'd like to offer a little perspective, because I think you're ALMOST there. You stated that the composer will start with words, figure out the emotional landscape they want to paint, and then write music that will evoke those emotions. The missing ingredient is that nearly every metal band/songwriter starts by writing the music, often to an almost completed state, and THEN will write words that fit the emotions that the music stirs up in them.
So, everything that you said is absolutely correct. It's just the order that gets reversed. Anyway, now I'm off to watch your analysis video. Take care.
I give you a great deal of credit for trying to open your mind and your awareness to new music. I'm sure that whoever wrote this song probably never thought it would be critiqued in such a way, but as a long time fan of Megadeth I enjoy your different perspective. Keep it up!
These are two songs merged together: Holy Wars is quite literal (it’s partially inspired by UK-Irish conflict), the part after the acoustic solo is usually referred to as The Punishment Due and it’s inspired by comic book The Punisher. BTW, I wonder if you could listen to one of Marty Friedman’s (Megadeth’s lead guitarit of that time) records. He claims to have been inspired vastly by Asian music; I cannot judge it myself to that extent, for sure though he has pretty uncommon style of playing. And, on Friedman’s records, the vocals don’t actually disturb. Regardless how much I admire Dave Mustaine’s skill with guitar, I believe Megadeth should have hired a singer, that becomes especially obvious live.
Actually check out Marty Friedman's all-instrumental "Introduction" and "Scenes" albums. They are gorgeous mostly acoustic compositions that are most definitely heavily influenced by oriental topics and music. One can truly enjoy Marty's exceptional compositional and playing skills as he kicks back and chills. Just gorgeous.
UK Catholic Vs UK protestant
great video!!! it's always good to see people without any relation to metal listening to metal . ps.
22:38 in metal, most of the time lyrics are written after the instruments were. therefore, they kind of create the lyrics directly in relation to the instruments and riffs.
by saying 'in metal' i am not talking about just metal. this also applies to several other genres.