I would say in Dave’s defense, the vocal isn’t really supposed to be melodic. It’s supposed to sound angry.

DOUG: Guitars not good enough. Marty Friedman: WTF?

Dave actually didn't want to sing cause he said he couldn't really sing but couldn't find a singer so he took on the role. Honestly I love his voice it's different in a sea of same

"A little bit better guitar" As a guitarist, that really jars. The most impressive thing about are the guitar riffs, solos, transitions, rhythm and the whole technicality of the guitar piece. I'm amazed that, even if you didn't like it, you couldn't appreciate it at a purely technical level.

It's kinda amazing that you overlooked every interesting compositional choice they made because you're looking for key changes, and they didn't do any. Megadeth is not about the harmonic structures. It's about the specific notes, and the timing of those notes. Listen to Marty's solos. how he hits out of key notes and bends them into tune, and then how he will insert a chromatic phrase or abruptly change modes to create instability. Listen to how one iteration of a riff will use 5ths and the next will use major 3rds. They are almost obnoxiously subtle in their choices.

"I'm not a big fan of the vocals" Welcome to being a Megadeth fan!

I'm really disappointed that Doug didn't notice marty's solos, especially the acoustic one

This is a pure metal anthem. The guitar solo is a powerhouse. Dave Mustaine vocals are neutral indeed, but very angry. Goosbumps, everytime.

Mustaine certainly isn't a classically good singer. However, his voice fits the music, more importantly.

Yea, Thrash Metal as a whole isn't that harmonically complex. It's just not what the genre is about. The sauce is in the rhythms and riffs.

*listens to one of the greatest thrash metal songs every, performed by arguably some of the best musicians in the genre* "eh, it was ok"

"A little bit better guitar" - lol, that's the biggest absurd I've ever heard. Marty and Dave are absolutely the most talented players, on top of that you talked through one of the most iconic Marty's solos. Chromatics, arpeggios, dude... Sorry, but for an educated piano player like me this album is a masterpiece (still, unbeatable).

I always thought Dave's voice was perfect for their sound.

I absolutely love his vocals on this song. This is a metal masterpiece. I personally love Dave's voice; it's edgy and unique.

Megadeth is a revolutionary band that has broken stereotypes.... Dont expect progressive metal while looking for mustaine... It is thrash pure... He is thrash metal god

This guy is out of his element. One of the best metal songs EVER ...period

Appreciate the honesty, too many reaction channels think they dare not dislike anything for fear of losing subscribers or whatever.

"And I hate to say it... a little bit better guitar" - With Marty Friedman on the lead? - It doesn't get to be much better than that :D Take a moment to actually listen to the expressiveness of those solos

I think the most impressive part of this song is how Dave is able to sing while playing the verse.

The best Megadeth lineup, Mustaine, Ellefson, Menza and Friedman! One of the best thrash metal you'll ever hear.

First off, dude you talked through Marty's clean passage that leads us into Punishment Due, and then during his first solo. Missing out on the brilliance that is Marty Friedman, as for Dave I met him once and he spoke that way too. Which awe struck me 'cuz it was genuine and I'm considered a very angry person.

I'm surprised you didn't comment on any of Marty's two guitar solos. He's actually one of the great guitar virtuosos. He does some incredibly interesting things with Melody in his two solos on this song.

I think Dave's voice goes very well with the music. Couldn't imagine anyone else singing for Megadeth. But if you want melody, great guitar work, and awesome vocal range you need to hear Question of Heaven by Iced Earth.

To be clear. Whole rust in peace album is guitar masterpiece. Marty's solos are stunningly beautiful, complex and fit's to song. Holy wars is metal standard, as are so many other songs from this album.

Best Megadeth line up. RIP Nick Menza.

You dislike the vocal part but missed absolutely genius guitar by Marty Friedman. That’s what is this album is glorious for. Tornado of souls is the best metal solo in history, no doubt

I cannot for the life of me imagine anyone else being the vocalist for Megadeth. This band is just different, and the guy himself is a genius. You need to look from a different perspective when listening to especially the earlier albums of this band.

This song could have been written today. Masterpiece ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

The guitarist, Marty Friedman, is actually quite an amazing guitarist. You should make it a point to actually look up some of his work.

Takes a while to get into Dave's voice. He's not a singer he's a deliverer of lyrics and attitude and sometime there's a note in there... Shot the video in a metal walled warehouse in a Texas summer, too hot for shirts!

5:19 "Waaaaaaage the waaaaaaar....." That vocal line still gives me goosebumps every single time I hear it. While Mustaine admits himself that he's not a singer, that vocal is perfect for this song. Btw, the mid section of this song (which begins with that line) is based on the comic book "The Punisher" "Some people risk to employ me Some people live to destroy me...."

Bruh. For me this is not only the best metal song ever written, it is one of the top songs of any type ever written. A total masterpiece!🔥🔥🔥

How can you not pickup on Marty Friedman’s incredible soloing? All three are completely insane masterpieces.

"There's not a lot of melody in the voice" you just described most thrash metal xD

The riffs, especially the verse while he sings are insane. The slight variation and variety within the intro through the verse was insane. It went unmentioned bc the song stays in E though....cmon brah. There was loads good about this song to talk about. The song is all about the guitar riffs. There's like 17 riffs or somethign insane in there

Man, I watched some of your other reactions and felt you had some interesting insights, but I feel like in this video you came across very condescending to a heavy metal mainstay (I'm not even a fan of Megadeth really). They've been around for decades, still selling out massive shows around the world and you dismiss this song (easily one of the band's top 3 songs) because of your limited knowledge of the genre. As a composer I would expect you to be analyzing the total package of the song and how it works instead of keying into small areas that you don't like. All I ask is that you look at the entire piece. And a helpful hint? You come off very elitist and prude when you do metal and spend the majority of your reaction figuring out the key. The key is the least interesting part of any piece.

Huge Megadeth fan here, and this is objectively one of the best songs of the classic thrash era. As others have said, thrash was not about melody...Metallica probably brought the most of it, and that's likely the reason they broke through moreso than the others of the era. All that said, thanks for the honesty Doug, I can't stand reaction channels that don't dare to speak truthfully in fear of losing subscribers. Keep on being you sir.

When I saw you were doing this song, my first thought was that it wasn't going to be a positive review from Doug. He just hears things in a much different way. Chord progressions, harmonically rich orchestrations, and Melody. Lastly, he pays attention to the time signatures. While this song is mainly in 4/4, or all In 4/4, it has a lot of quirky rhythmic twists and turns, but that's not what Doug's focus is. Also, speaking of the vocals, I think James Hetfield said it best. The vocals and thrash metal are not a melodic instrument mainly. They're a rhythmic instrument. Thrash metal guys are always going to get a lot of that. Slayer, Megadeth, Anthrax, early Metallica, they all treated their voice mainly as another Rhythm instrument with words. Later on in their career a lot of those guys are singing more melodically, but they really didn't worry about Melody too much. Kind of like punk rock.

your videos are great... i love this song, it takes me back to middle school and what i was headbanging to back then haha i wish you would talk about the rhythmic aspect and about the DRUMMER more often in your videos... this drummer is so good and so talented... maybe next time haha also... you need to react to PHISH... i'll post some recs...

Megadeth She Wolf live is one of the greatest underrated metal songs of all time. The guitar harmonies are amazing and the drum solo is amazing!

I think you're missing a lot of the finer points of this song. You're focusing solely on chord analysis, which really isn't the point of thrash metal. You completely missed how rhythmically complex the song is. You missed the fact that the riffs keep going back and forth between playing fifths and thirds (the latter being really unusual in metal at the time). Another big point is you keep going on about there not being much melody in the vocals (which I disagree with, I'll agree Dave's timbre isn't for everyone, but the song is plenty melodic), but you talk over both of Marty Friedman's amazingly melodic solos and don't give his very uniquely melodic and vocal-like guitar style a second glance. I almost get the feeling that you were expecting not to like the song and therefore didn't give it the same attention you do other stuff. Rhythm is at least as important as harmony and melody, especially in metal, and disregarding it doesn't make for a very interesting analysis. I usually like your takes in these reaction videos, especially of prog rock and prog metal, but I seriously think you dropped the ball on this one.

The more vids I watch, the more I want to have a beer with Doug.

Some comments talk about being honest. I don’t think the point is about being honest, it’s about analyzing the art from the correct perspective. This video is like analyzing a painting by Van Gogh using the academic parameters of his time or having a death metal fan analyzing a slow jazz standard. One needs the correct experience, knowledge and background in the specific field to analyze a piece of art. This song is a masterpiece in its style/genre and all its elements (voice and instruments) serve the song perfectly.

Dave's got one of those voices that you may not like at 1st, but at some point, some song will pull you in and you become addicted to it.

On videos like this you can tell he's not a guitarist, I love his insight on harmony on songs where that's a main focus, but he always glances over guitar solos and pays little to no attention to what they're doing. With me they're always at the center of my attention when listening to music, hence why I love Megadeth hahaha

It's extremely hard to play this song. Technically, it's incredible. Mustaine's vocals are unusual.

Doug will never understand. He's not one of us. He never will be. He's from an entirely different world. Many of us came from broken homes. Alcoholic or drug addicted parents. Abuse survivors with anger issues. Thrash metal spoke to us. It does not speak to Doug.

This is not only one of Megadeth's best songs, this is a top 10 all time metal song. I've always described this song as "thoughtful". Yeah it's fast and in your face, but it's musical complexity is just amazing.

Constructive criticism: When analyzing Thrash Metal, focus on the syncopation and not the harmonies.

The honesty goes a long way. Biggest turnoff for a reaction channel is when the reactor is in love with every single song they hear. I love Holy Wars (though I am not the biggest fan of Megadeth as a whole), but I can understand it not being for everyone

I'm a huge megadeth fan and have been for a long time, and also went to school for music and I appreciate your take on the song. A lot of comments are butt hurt you're not worshipping the song, but I find what you do point out to be very interesting. It's a very unique look into how a classically trained musician hears something he's not very familiar with. You focus on the concept, lyrics, image choice over sections, key and time signature changes etc where as metal fans focus on song dynamics. You're allowed not to like music, everyone is. I still find your insight to be very valuable.

"Fast notes... not going anywhere." That describes all of Dave's guitar solos lol. But he always has a great secondary guitar player to back him up, and his riffs are killer.

I respect that you keep it real and don’t sugar coat your thoughts. I can totally see why this song doesn’t do much for you. From a guitarists point of view, the rhythm playing and Marty’s solos are nothing short of incredible and they’re considered legendary licks in the metal world. Try to pay more attention to the way Marty phrases and bends his notes during solos. He’s one of a kind.

It's okay if you don't like it Doug. That's the beauty of the show man! Varieties of spice of life everybody.

Wow. I have always found this song one of the most moving, powerful, emotional, and musically interesting I have ever listened to. Certainly one of the best from Megadeth and metal in general. I just don't understand how one so-called musical professional can have one strong take on this song, and another, just the opposite. Oh, well... each to his own. I will continue to rock on!

I remember buying this cassette tape. I was a Metallica guy. I wanted to not like it but I loved it. Yes people want the power in their music . I still do and I’m 53 now

Dave Mustaine will be the first to tell you, he's not a vocalist.

The highlight of the album was really Marty Friedman, the guy who did the two guitar solos. He wrote some fantastic stuff on Rust in Peace. Tornado of Souls, Five Magics, Hangar 18, and Lucretia are my personal favorites off the album.

The guitar parts are pure diamond here. The quality here is not in the macro structure, but in the details.

I enjoyed your take on this song. My band and I are working on this and let me tell you, it’s very difficult and contains a ton of interesting riffs. I learnt a lot from learn8mg this song. It’s a bit of a masterpiece. 🤘🎸🤘

Director: "alright guys. Lose the shirts. This is serious business."

Interesting that you don't seem to be able to appreciate the song for what it is. I mean, I've been blessed to have had the opportunity to have had a dinner at one of the most exclusive restaurants in New York City and I thoroughly enjoyed it, but at the same time I am still able to thoroughly enjoy a simple burger and fries. And its the same for me with music - I enjoy this song as well as songs that are infinitely simpler and more complex.

I feel this dude. When I was a teen, I had fun with a game called Band Master. My favorite songs throughout the game are Tornado Souls and Heroes of Our Time. I immediately fell in love with Tornado Souls riff and find it unique. I searched for the song and dude I was very disappointed when I heard the vocals (at this time I am already a fan of Metallica's MOP). I hate it hahaha. Then after a decade, I am proud to say that David Mustaine is now one of my favorite vocalists 😂 I can't stop listening to TS, Holy Wars, and Symphony of Destruction.

There was the thing that happened in Northern Ireland that forced them to complete their Irish tour in 88/89 in an armoured van and The Punisher

This track is about rythm, not melody. However I must point out that Dave wrote beautiful harmonics in his later works like Youthanasia or Countdown to Extinction albums.

we need Change of Seasons by DT, 23 mins you know what that means when DT does that... ;)

Sir…. First of all, feel free to pause the track if you have something to say. You talked over amazing parts of this classic masterpiece! Listen to what the guitars are doing! Dave and Marty together are an amazing duo! I feel you listen to metal much like a girlfriend would. Listen to it. Give this one a part 2. Try again and don’t talk through it. Accept Dave’s voice.. It works, trust me. The complexity is there! Oh and to completely talk over Marty’s acoustic breakdown??? Do you understand how complex that is? Most guitarists have to “fake it” a little just to “nail” that.

I like the angry sound of Dave and his growls. Totally unique.

Amazing. You could be musically literate but not esthetically inclined to the art of music. Are we all idiots, thinking this is a masterpiece? You have to step out of the orchestra pit and into the mosh pit to appreciate this. It is not Neanderthal either though it is aggression through the esthetics of heavy, fast, and distorted sounds. Dissonance and gruff vocals sell the sensibility of angst, while clear vocals would only be reflective. To be a fan of realism and then review impressionist art takes a sensibility that some art connoisseurs don’t posses. Monet sucks because he used basic markings without extreme precision or detail is a criticism that falls embarrassingly flat. Don’t tell me about “only staying in the key of E”, when you have all this brilliance going on. It’s nice to be honest with your own perspective, but “I really don’t mind if you sit this one out.” Good channel though.

Sir, this is not progressive metal. so you don't listen to Opeth, Tool, Dream Theater or etc, don't expect anything like that. This is Thrash metal and this band is one of the best of this genre, even the best in my opinion. As an Opeth fan and Prog metal listener, I didn't like Megadeth at first but after listening to them for a while I realized what a great band they are. Maybe Dave's vocals is not great but it fits band style very well and his riffs and songwriting are just amazing.

I’m new to music theory and all that and I appreciate your insightful videos on different forms of music.

The good thing about you is that you always keep it real when it comes to your reactions. But let's talk a bit about what you might have missed. Mustaine's vocals: questionable, yeah. Even for us Megadeth fans they're an acquired taste. But the vocals, as well as the song itself, they're never really that much about melody when we're talking about thrash metal. Things rarely get really complex harmonically and melodically in this genre. It's more about speed, rhythm, riffing and the message. If you can't dig what's probably the best thrash metal song ever written, then probably Megadeth's not for you. Not that this is a problem, one can't simply like everything, right!? 😅 I'm pretty sure you'll be reacting to stuff you like better in future videos.

Maybe thrash is the wrong subgenre to analyse, it's about speed, rhythm and brutality not about melody and harmonies!

...and RIP for Nick Menza. He was so underrated.

This is one of the key albums of metal music in the 80's-90's, incredibly influential to almost all metal guitarists. Marty Friedman really did something unique on the leads of this album (perhaps better shown in some other songs). He had a lot of japanese influences growing up in Hawaii and playing more folkish music. He combined those ideas with the angry metal base and his very interesting rhythmic flows on guitar, it's really rare to hear someone play guitar like that. I recall his style emulated some other instrument in that style of music he listened to, I just forget which. Regarding Dave's voice, it's like most metal bands: didn't have a vocalist, had to do it yourself. I guess a lot of it is also how difficult the riffs are to play so even if he was a good singer, he was limited in what you can pull off doing at the same time. It's 100% an acquired taste. You have to fall in love with the music and then your Stockholm syndrome gets strong enough that the vocals just belong in the songs like that. They're not good but they belong there and it wouldn't be the same done another way. I think you should maybe do A Tout Le Monde by Megadeth, give them another chance and see a completely different face. After those most intense energetic youth years, going from political commentary and anger to loss and saying goodbyes to loved ones. You might find it worlds more interesting in every measure. Composition, performance and vocalwise. It's emotional and even has acoustic guitar. There's also a later rerecorded version in different tuning and a female vocalist (amazing vocalist too, Christina Scabbia).

Come on Doug! I'm a new subscriber to your channel only a couple of months ago I love everything that I watch so far you break a lot of insight into the music for a non-musician like myself. I've been a music lover my whole life I took a guitar lessons when I was a little kid just didn't have the knack for it even though I loved it Dave's voice is Fantastic for the type of music that they play that song Holy Wars is fast can't keep my foot from keeping the beat it rocks.

Wow. There's something surreal about a metal masterpiece like that just flying over someone's head like that...

Can't believe someone would be some ambivalent about one of the greatest songs of all time. From the moment I heard it 30 years until now, a song of the highest quality.

Well, they had a guy set to audition for the lead vocalist, but he never showed up, so Dave said "fuck it. I'll sing." He definitely doesn't have to range and dynamics of most vocalists, but I can't imagine anyone but Dave singing for Megadeth. He will grow on you. But as far as guitar, personally I think Dave and Marty were definitely the best in the business at that time. This was the ultimate Megadeth lineup. With Nick Menza on drums, Dave Ellefson on bass Marty Friedman on lead guitar, and Dave Mustaine on rhythm/and lead guitar and vocals! The fucking best! Say what you will about Dave's vocals, but also remember that he is shredding the hell out of the guitar at the same time. I still have a hard time playing and singing old Johnny Cash tunes. Singing while playing guitar, that shit is not easy. And yes, I suck. Maybe one dad throw that motherfucker in the firepit. But not today. Today, I still believe! Be safe out there people!!! "RUSSIANS GO FUCK YOURSELVES!" Ukrainian13 🇺🇦✊❤ FUCK RUSSIA!!!

This is why music is so amazing. There is a different kind for every taste out there. This is among my top favorites. It does something to my emotions that had a huge impact on me at a young age. Been playing guitar for 20ys now. I love ALL music. But my heart is always metal. 🤘

Dave doesn't sing. He "snarls" ;)

This song has so many subtle and unconventional techniques on guitar that really make it. Small details of harmonics places in riffs, the syncopation of notes, etc, not to mention Marty being one of the most harmonically advanced guitarists in metal at the time, managing to make Dave’s relatively static riffs have flow and emotion over them.

Man playing this great riffs and sing at the same time... good luck.

I've only found your channel recently and generally enjoy your opinions and critiques of music you aren't familiar with. However, how can you not comment on Marty Friedman's choice of notes in the solos? Marty is one of the greatest guitarists of all time, everything he plays is faultless, considered and always melodic. If you don't like the song, that is fine, we don't all have to like the same things. But, to overlook the musicianship that is presented in the song is short sighted. Also, to say that the lyrics should go for organised crime over religious fundamentalism is really missing the point. Both are bad and should be targeted equally.

I can understand your point. However i disagree about the vocals, i think his voice fits the music and the themes. Maybe give them another shot or two?

The current Megadeath guitarrist is Kiko Loureiro, he started his career with the Brazilian band Angra playing a mixture of power metal, classical and Brazilian music, a song that I recommend hearing from Angra is Holy Land from the album with the same title.

This whole album is an utter masterpiece. I personally love Hangar 18 and Tornado more, but RIP is untouchable.

You have no idea how difficult it is to sing at that tempo and play the guitar accurately at the same time.

So surprised you didn't point out the middle eastern transition on the guitar. Not something you expect to hear in metal. Would have loved to hear your thoughts on it's use in this song.

I figured that he wouldn't like this. He would probably like or appreciate some deeper cuts more like Good Mourning/Black Friday, Bad Omen, In My Darkest Hour, Captive honor, etc

One of the best metal song ever

Vocals are my fav part of this song. Lyrics are goated 😊

It's unreasonable to say "there are better guitars" when you simply ignore them (or what's great about them) and talk on top of the solos (!!). There are different approaches, sure, but in what Megadeth's attempts to do there is simply no better than them. That was an unfortunate comment, honestly.

maybe he talks through the good parts to not admit how good it really is

Bro really just listened to one of the best metal songs of all time and stayed like this 😐 the entire time

People always hate on Dave's vocals but I've always loved them, it really adds to the sound

One of the greatest metal songs, IMO. Mustaine's vocals are an acquired taste.

Since you mentionned the modeling for skinny jeans without the money, here's a fun fact : In the late 80's and early 90's, when those thrash metal bands started to appear on the cover of magazines, shoes companys noticed that they all wore old shoes so they decided to send them free new shoes. That's why you seen a lot of these bands wearing old t-shirts and old jeans but brand new withe shoes 😉

*talks right through marty's eastern style clean solo*

you nailed it that is why i never really was into Megadeth , the fast guitars and riffs are really good but for me that was it , i never did a big though about why was like that, but now that i hear you i know why ,good review love it