Wiki
-
Release Date
14 May 2001
-
Length
12 tracks
The World Needs a Hero is the ninth studio album by American heavy metal band Megadeth, released in 2001. It was marked as a return to Megadeth's thrash metal roots, after the commercial rock style of their previous two releases (Cryptic Writings and Risk). However, it still retained a bit of the commercial feel from previous albums, as Mustaine claims the album was like "a ship lost at sea trying to return to its course". This is also the last album to feature David Ellefson as bassist and Jimmy DeGrasso as drummer. This is the only studio album to feature Al Pitrelli as guitarist (Pitrelli played on the previously unreleased songs on Capitol Punishment).
"Return to Hangar" is a sequel to the song "Hangar 18", which was found on the Rust in Peace album.
Mustaine also dedicated the song "When" to all the nay-sayers on Megadeth's internet message board who spoke ill of him and the band after their recent attempts at commercial success (or, a "big fuck you to all the wishy-washy fans out there".) The main riff and structure of "When" is reminiscent of "Am I Evil?" by Diamond Head, which Mustaine has said was intentional, as an homage to Diamond Head and the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal movement.
The World Needs a Hero is the first Megadeth album since 1990's Rust in Peace to feature band mascot Vic Rattlehead on the front cover. Edited versions of the album put an adhesive bandage over the innards of Dave Mustaine from which Vic Rattlehead is seen emerging.
A single as well as a video was made out of the lead single, Moto Psycho. Dread and the Fugitive Mind was also released as a promo single as well as previous release Capitol Punishment and the following release Still Alive… and Well?.
According to "National Album Positioning Charts", The World Needs a Hero has sold 467,090 albums worldwide.
Track listing
No. Title Lyrics Music Length
1. "Disconnect" Dave Mustaine Mustaine 5:20
2. "The World Needs a Hero" Mustaine Mustaine 3:52
3. "Moto Psycho sample (help·info)" Mustaine Mustaine 3:06
4. "1000 Times Goodbye" Mustaine Mustaine 6:25
5. "Burning Bridges" Mustaine Mustaine 5:20
6. "Promises" Mustaine Mustaine, Al Pitrelli 4:28
7. "Recipe for Hate… Warhorse" Mustaine Mustaine 5:18
8. "Losing My Senses" Mustaine Mustaine 4:40
9. "Dread and the Fugitive Mind" Mustaine Mustaine 4:25
10. "Silent Scorn" (instrumental) Mustaine 1:42
11. "Return to Hangar" Mustaine Mustaine 3:59
12. "When" Mustaine Mustaine 9:14
Japanese track listing
No. Title Lyrics Music Length
1. "Disconnect" Mustaine Mustaine 5:20
2. "The World Needs a Hero" Mustaine Mustaine 3:52
3. "Coming Home" Mustaine Mustaine 2:35
4. "Moto Psycho" Mustaine Mustaine 3:06
5. "1000 Times Goodbye" Mustaine Mustaine 6:25
6. "Burning Bridges" Mustaine Mustaine 5:20
7. "Promises" Mustaine Mustaine, Pitrelli 4:26
8. "Recipe for Hate… Warhorse" Mustaine Mustaine 5:19
9. "Losing My Senses" Mustaine Mustaine 4:40
10. "Dread and the Fugitive Mind" Mustaine Mustaine 4:25
11. "Silent Scorn" Instrumental Mustaine 1:43
12. "Return to Hangar" Mustaine Mustaine 3:59
13. "When" Mustaine Mustaine 9:13
Personnel
Dave Mustaine – guitar, lead vocals
Al Pitrelli – guitar, backing vocals
David Ellefson – bass guitar
Jimmy DeGrasso – drums
In pop culture
The song "Moto Psycho" is used as the main theme song for the Dreamcast game Heavy Metal: Geomatrix.
Trivia
"The World Needs a Hero" and "1000 Times Goodbye" feature the voice of Heather Keckler (Miss Arizona 2000 and Megadeth.com's "She-Wolf")
"1000 Time Goodbye", "Burning Bridges", "Dread and the Fugitive Mind" and "Return To Hangar" are featured on the live album Rude Awakening.
"Dread and the Fugitive Mind" was previously featured on Capitol Punishment and later appeared on Still alive… and Well, Back to the Start and Anthology: Set the World Afire.
"Silent Scorn" was played at the end of both released live concerts Rude Awakening and That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires.
"Return to Hangar" was played with "Hangar 18" as used as a 2 in 1 song structure just like "Good Mourning/Black Friday" from Peace Sells… but Who's Buying? on That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires, it is listed in the song selection as "Hangar 18/Return to Hangar".
The CD jacket misspells Al Pitrelli's name as "Petrelli" for the solos to the song "Dread and the Fugitive Mind".
"Coming Home" was released on this album exclusively to Japan, was played on That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires with Dave Mustaine on vocals and Glen Drover on acoustic guitar, Dave changed the lyric "I'm coming home to Arizona" by replacing "Arizona" to "Argentina".
Charts
Album
Year Chart Position
2001 The Billboard 200 16
Singles
Year Single Chart Position
2001 "Moto Psycho" Mainstream Rock Tracks 22
Album descriptions on Last.fm are editable by everyone. Feel free to contribute!
All user-contributed text on this page is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply.
