Since venturing back to my roots, into "The Last Record Store," I have have a constant stream of CD's I can acquire at will to blast while driving.
Recently I just purchased the 23-year-old CD "Countdown to Extinction," a Megadeth masterpiece. Seventy percent of the songs are gripping, both musically and lyrically. Lead vocalist, lyricist and guitarist Dave Mustaine illustrates profound and simple facts about a vast array of human endeavors.
If you're not a hard rock music fan, "Countdown to Extinction" is certainly not for you, but if you are, the words are equally as vital to the songs as the music itself, just like music of Rush.
The song "Architecture of Aggression" is a powerful anti-war / world power song.
'To eliminate your enemy, hit them in their them in their sleep and when all is won and lost the spoils of wars are yours to keep'...
If our president and the other world leaders had a conscience, the above lyrics might make them think twice about committing mass murder. How President Obama can sleep at night is a mystery to me, but then again, world leaders are soulless and greedy. Why should our president care? He's getting laid and paid. His two daughters are safe while he sends other peoples children to die in the deserts in the Middle East.
The above lyrics also make me think about the true evils of combat in the thick of any war. I'm talking about soldiers in every part of the world who are physically OK after coming back to civilization from the exposure of real combat. Combat in which brutal death is a common as corruption in politics.
The soldiers who come back from war zones with Shell Shock. F-word the current gently euphemism term for Shell Shock; post-traumatic stress disorder. PTSD, Shell Shock is when the nervous system has already snapped or is on the cusp of snapping. PTSD from combat zones may happen to soldiers who witness gang rapes and the killing of innocents on a daily basis across the seas, or from the actual sites and sounds of war, complete with visible brain and other fresh and rotting flesh from the aftermath of bombings and combat fire.
Might makes right is the theme of "Architecture of Aggression." The U.S. like any other world power was founded on mass murder, genocide and thrusting its beliefs and lifestyles on the weaker people. With each drone strike, the U.S. is creating more and more enemies. Drone strikes created ISIS. When you start killing other peoples children, they tend to retaliate.
'Great nations built from the bones of the dead,' another verse from "Architecture of Aggression."
Even the Bible condones war and genocide;
Now go and smite Amalek, and utterly destroy all that they have, man, woman, infant... Exact words from the Bible's Old Testament, Samuel 1, chapter 15; 3.
How nice, Jesus Himself condones war and the mass murder of children and infants;
"For Nation shall rise against nation," Jesus said. Matthew 24;7.
Not all of Mustaine's words provoke such deep thoughts, the song "High Speed Dirt" is about dying from parachuting because the chute does not open.
Do it if you dare, leaping from the sky...exhilarating high...energy of the God's, adrenaline surge...taste the high speed dirt.
"Captive Honour" is about the harsh realities of prison rape. If I was a criminal or potential one, the words to "Captive Honour" would certainly make me think twice before committing a federal crime;
About prison life; 'Where evil lives and evil rules...before he got there, his man-pussy was sold, black blanket welcome, this tough guys now a bitch...
Many people say metal music is angry music, and the metal I listen to is anger toward war and too many things wrong in the world. The human race has advanced so much technology wise, but our hearts and minds are barley above the primitives from thousands of years ago.
"Countdown to Extinction" are three words that suit me well. I'm the youngest direct spawn of my deceased father. My sister Linda and brother Eddie are the other two, and like myself neither one of them has children. At most our immediate family is just a few short decades away from being extinct. Farewell everyone and enjoy your music.
