Megadeth - Rude Awakening

Starring:Dave Mustaine, Dave Ellefson, Jimmy DeGrasso, Al Pitrelli
Director: Christoffer Salzgeber
Studio: Sanctuary Records
Product Type: DVD

Editorial Review:
Amazon.com
Shot in the fall of 2001 on the group's final tour, Megadeth's Rude Awakening catches a seminal metal band at the top of its game. Although references to the then-recent terrorist events are rare, they instill songs like "In My Darkest Hour," "Symphony of Destruction," and "Peace Sells" with an undercurrent of bitterness, laced with the anger that's already there.

Amazon.com

Shot in the fall of 2001 on the group's final tour, Megadeth's Rude Awakening catches a seminal metal band at the top of its game. Although references to the then-recent terrorist events are rare, they instill songs like "In My Darkest Hour," "Symphony of Destruction," and "Peace Sells" with an undercurrent of bitterness, laced with the anger that's already there.

Customer Reviews:

Rude Awakening.......2007-03-09

This DVD is very good sound quality and the the footage is spectacular. But it lists the songs on the back and they are not in order some are in special features.

A MONSTER SHOWCASE OF MEGADETH GUITAR METAL.......2007-01-16

Those of you who lost interest in MEGADETH since the loss of Marty Friedman, take heart. When you see Al Pitrelli trade solos with Dave Mustaine you're gonna know the GUITAR GODS in HEAVEN are smiling down on MEGADETH. In the SPECIAL FEATURES section of the DVD called MEGADETH ON MEGADETH, Mustaine says, "Al is a better guitarist than I am." (MEGADETH stole Al Pitrelli from THE ALICE COOPER BAND.) Dave is selling himself short because when you watch these two battle for the lead they compliment each other so well, in my opinion it's a draw. These guys put on a CLINIC of HEAVY METAL GUITAR playing. If you're an aspiring Metal guitarist you owe it to yourself to buy this DVD. This is how it's done, guys. The cameras at this show catch some fine CLOSE-UPS of these two blistering GUITAR GIANTS fingering their fretboards. This really is a SHOWCASE for MEGADETH's guitar oriented sound. (Even though these styles of playing differ considerably, I would place MEGADETH's RUDE AWAKENING alongside of STRAY CATS' RUMBLE IN BRIXTON[Brian Setzer's Rockabilly guitar] and EMPEROR'S IMPERIAL LIVE CEREMONY[Isahn and Samoth's Black Metal guitar] as one of the TOP LIVE GUITAR DVDs I own.) TRULY AMAZING!!

Mainstay David Ellefson is TERRIFIC on bass and Jimmy Degrasso is a MONSTER on skins!!

There is a choice in SETTINGS of a 5.1 Surround or a 2.0 Pro Logic MIX. While the MIX is not the best I've ever heard, it is SOLID and sounds GREAT with very little adjustment. The VOCALS are pushed forward in the MIX which is unusual, because in most concert recordings the VOCALS are never far forward enough in the MIX for my taste. Nice job, guys!!

The concert was shot in 4:3 FULLSCREEN. The MAIN CONCERT contains 20 songs and is an hour and 45 minutes long with 5 BONUS songs appearing in the SPECIAL FEATURES as the UNDERGROUND LIVE SHOW, which is weird because it's the same show as the MAIN CONCERT with some black & white imaging. This portion is about 15 minutes in length. (I'll be buying the DOUBLE LIVE CDs for sure.)

There are no major Stadium Rock accoutrements on stage for this show. Just the boys in street clothes playing their hearts out in front of an ENORMOUS "F"ing MARSHALL STACK!! Jesus Christ, they must be deaf!! :)

This concert ALMOST loses 1 STAR for the EDITING. It's too kinetic at times and made me dizzy after smoking some herbals. Why do producers feel it's necessary to CUT a CONCERT FILM to make it feel like a MUSIC VIDEO? When I see a band LIVE my eyeballs aren't darting around the stage like pinballs. STAY FOCUSED ON THE BAND MEMBERS FOR MORE THAN 2 SECONDS AT A TIME!! If the music is good, the energy on stage will show up in post production without the hyper-kinetic EDITS!! Concert Film Producers need to learn this NOW!! The CAMERA WORK is great with many terrific CLOSE-UPS of the band and the headbanging audience that are almost spoiled by the CUTS. However, this concert is SO GOOD you'll get used to it and I don't want to bring down the RATING. Just don't get transfixed by the visuals and you'll be fine.

A GREAT mix of Past and Present MEGADETH songs. NOTE: The list of song tracks on the back of the box are WRONG. You need to go to SONG SELECTION in MENU for the proper order of tracks.

SPECIAL FEATURE, MEGADETH ON MEGADETH is a short thirteen minutes long. If you're a Hardcore fan you might need to buy VH1'S MEGADETH: BEHIND THE MUSIC. Mustaine's rudeness is evident on this Disc when he says, "When we were starving as a young band, we lived with a lot of fat chicks. Because fat chicks always have food." CLASSIC!!

A MUST OWN FOR ALL MEGADETH FANS!!

Remember:

THE SYSTEM HAS FAILED!!

and THE WORLD WILL END IN MEGADETH!!

ENJOY.

Total Heavy Metal.......2006-12-13

This DVD has it all. Starting with song lineup to the band's rendition of every song....it rocks....I just miss Skin O My Teeth, Forclosure of A Dream, and Insomnia....but who cares, this DVD includes Dolby Digital 5.1 which is very important if you have your home theatre to enjoy

Excellent concert!!!!!.......2006-11-04

Megadeth is always one of the best bands in the world ... It is better than Metallica ( sad said ) ... this band always inspired me to play and drink a couple of beers with friends!!! long live Heavy Metal!! \mm/

A Never-too-late Review for Megadeth.......2006-05-02

I got to watch the DVD now even though it was released years ago, but the effect is still refreshing! Dave was a non-nonsense guy on stage and he saved all the talking and running and prancing on stage and he even hardly headbanged. Instead he impressed us with his Speed Metal finger work plus his raspy voice.

While some bands played the songs 'live' with a 'live' flavour (like Metallica), most of the Megadeth songs played here adhered closely to the studio version. Dave Mustane, being the frontman, (again I can't help to compare him with James Hetfield) also did not really bother to work the audience up because they already worked up on their own!

I prefer the earlier songs like Wake Up Dead/In My Darkest Hours. The DVD quality was good and plenty of close-ups on Dave's finger work. Good for shredder like me to better understand how he played the tabs. He used the same guitar throughout the concert and I believe it was a Jackson, which quite surprised me since he is an endorcer for his own ESP signature series. By the way, was he a blonde or was it due to the lighting effect?

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