Youthanasia vs Cryptic Writings | Two Sides of the Extinction Coin

Introduction

As I said in my CTE review, 90s Megadeth is strangely revered, in stark contrast to the 90s output of Metallica and Slayer. But while CTE is universally loved, there's a weird divide for the next two albums. Both of these have a large fanbase, and both are still considered good. The strange part of this is the people who really like Youthanasia, REALLY LIKE Youthanasia. On the Megadeth subreddit its popularity arguably rivals CTE. The people who really like Cryptic Writings are the same, to a slightly less degree (For a reason I'll get to later). And yet, they tend to only say the other album is "decent". I myself fall into that. I adore Cryptic Writings, I hold it as one of my all time favorites. And Youth? Eh, it was alright. I had a few issues that kept it lower. But then again, I rarely go back to Youth. The last time I went back and really put focus on listening to it was in 2004. And that experience had a whole other set of issues.

So, in 2021, it's important for me to set that history aside and discuss both of these albums as critically as possible. How do they both, in different ways, follow from Countdown to Extinction? How do they stack up as albums on their own? More importantly, when keeping my mind cleared of the mediocrity that plagued other bands in the 90s, just taking Megadeth into consideration, can I really say either of these albums are "real Megadeth albums"?

Let's find out in without a doubt the longest album review I've ever written. This is the gladiator match of Youthanasia vs Cryptic Writings.

Round One: Analysis

Youthanasia

In terms of instrumentals, Youthanasia drifts to more the "rhythm" side of CTE's rhythm-melody balance. There's lots of chunky grooves that wouldn't feel out of place on an Alice in Chains album. Nick Menza keeps himself more restrained than ever before here, going for slower paces. Ellefson gives perhaps his best basslines, really digging the sings into catchy rhythms that stick with you. The lynchpin though is Dave himself. The riffs on this album rival Cowboys From Hell in terms of gritty heaviness, still pushing this album clearly in the realm of Heavy Metal. Speaking of Dave's great contributions, he finally is singing very well here. In fact, I think anyone who thinks Mustaine can't sing needs to listen to this album before ever having an opinion like that ever again. It's fantastic.

Sadly, there is a bit of a downside. I'm gonna get hate for this, but Friedman's solos here don't stick with me nearly as much as they did on CTE. In fact, Friedman more often than not is just joining in the riffs here. But even then it never brings out the same NWOBHM style melody you'd expect from them at this point. Don't get me wrong, there's still plenty of kickass solos. But compared to CTE, they're only okay.

Cryptic Writings

Cryptic takes the exact opposite approach as Youth. Rather than restrained rhythm, it goes for over-the-top melodies. Menza, for the first time since RIP, was really allowed to do whatever he wanted. Cryptic has a lot more fast-paced songs than Youth and even CTE if I'm being honest. The guitars compliment this very well. While the riffs aren't quite as sharp and groovy, the melody is constantly great. Friedman's solos return to top-tier quality here, and even Dave's guitar is more focused on melody and spectacle as opposed to tight rhythms. What I also love is that this album incorporates a minimal use of some synth elements. Not in a horrible "electronicore" way, but in the "Seventh Son" kind of way. They're used extremely effectively and more often than not add to the melody than take away.

That said, there are two cuts. Dave's singing here is good, but it's not Youthanasia good. And Ellefson's basslines stick with me less here than Friedman's solos on Youth did. I honestly can't think back to any specific bassline that wasn't just Ellefson playing Dave's riff on a bass. And there is one more issue in there as well. All of this is great, but this album has way too many acoustic and clean instruments. Nearly every song has one, and it means that not only does it soften the album more than Youth, but it makes them less special when they show up.

Verdict

I absolutely prefer the melody-first focus of Cryptic, I do. But if I'm being totally honest, there's more wrong with Cryptic than there is with Youthanasia. Youth's only real problem is I think Friedman's solos are slightly less good than they usually are. And that's a nitpick. Whereas Cryptic actively regressing Dave's voice and Ellefson's basslines from Youth is a legitimate issue.

Youthanasia wins round 1.

Round Two: The Opening Songs

Youth opens with "Reckoning Day" a nice banger of a song that sets the groove-fueled tone of the album. It's catchy, heavy, and has a chorus I can swoon over. This if followed by "Train of Consequences" which... yeah I don't care for this one. I don't find the chorus that memorable, the riff is nice but also done infinitely better by the song right after it, and it just doesn't stick with me. But speaking of the song right after it, "Addicted To Chaos". It's goddamn awesome. The riff, the chorus, the lyrics, the singing, even the pre-chorus is epic. This song deserves every bit of praise it gets. And then there's "A Tout Le Monde". A song so iconic and nostalgic for me that I dare not criticize it. Overall, 3 of the first four songs from Youthanasia are pretty great, with only one I don't care for.

Meet the competition, Cryptic. This album opens with "Trust". Immediately the tone is set. It's melodic, bombastic, grandiose. "Reckoning Day" is good, but "Trust" just blows it out of the water, being one of the best openers to an album. It's followed by "Almost Honest", again a very catchy memorable song. Momentum is kept here better than it was with Train. That's followed by "Use The Man", a really fun and introspective ballad that gets faster at the end. But then there's "Mastermind". I guess it's supposed to be kind of an "Architecture of Aggression" 2.0, but it's kind of forgettable. Again, 3/4 songs here.

Both open the album very well in a different way. Youth builds up to the epic songs while Cryptic starts off with epic songs and then softens a bit. They are both incredibly effective. And I do think Cryptic has the better opening itself with "Trust". But I can't deny that once Youth gets to Chaos and Tout Le Monde, it just wins with those two alone.

Youth wins Round 2.

Round Three: The Middles

Youth immediately gets into its meaty third with "Elysian Fields". An almost glam-metal like song. And while that would usually be a bad thing, this song pulls it off well. It's certainly far from my favorite, but it's a pretty great song all things considered. Then we have "The Killing Road". A pretty straight forward heavy song. A good way to close out the first half of the album, though my enjoyment is dependent on which version of the album I'm listening to (More on that later). But then both are immediately blown out of the water by "Blood of Heroes". I love this song. The somber clean guitar, the riff, the almost mythical vibe to it. If anything, it's like we get a preview of Cryptic's melodic nature on this one song, and it's fantastic. One of my favorite tracks of Megadeth's 90s discography. We end this portion with "Family Tree". A really good song with remarkably uncomfortable lyrics. In fact, a little too uncomfortable for me. I think the song is a little too good at evoking the feeling it reaches for. Still, it's a good song with a great riff. All 4 songs in this section are winners.

And then Cryptic just wipes the floor with those. Cryptic's second part opens with "The Disintegrators", which does something no song on Youth ever did. Return to their Thrash Metal roots. This song blends a speed akin to the likes of KIMB or RIP with the melody of the album, being a song that feels representative of Megadeth as a whole. And it's followed by "I'll Get Even". A soft track, but far from a bad one. It did have to grow on me, but it has a nice atmosphere. "Sin" though? I always liked that song. Having a twisted vibe to it as well as wonderfully distorted solos, this is just a great song. And then we get, I'm just gonna say it, THE BEST SONG ON THE ALBUM. "A Secret Place" my god this song is beautiful. There isn't a single aspect of this song I dislike.

Both are consistently great in their middle half. But Cryptic takes the cake. EASY. A return to Thrash riffing, a twisted rock song, and Secret Place all blow Youth's middle section out of the water.

Cryptic takes Round 3.

Round Four: The Final Stretch

Youth's final four songs are probably the weakest stretch. The title track is good, although like Train it doesn't stick much with me. Also the riff reminds me of a song from either South of Heaven or Seasons In The Abyss from Slayer. I can't place it. It's alright but I find it one of the weaker songs. Luckily it's followed by "I Thought I Knew It All". This is probably Dave's best vocal performance in his entire career. It's so damn good. And the song itself is great too. Had the album ended on this song, it would've been an amazingly epic closer. Alas, it doesn't. "Black Curtains" is my least favorite song on the album. And by that I mean, I completely forgot it even existed. Aside from using "Sad But True"'s "HEY!" motif, it's just totally forgettable. It's not heavy, it's not catchy, it's just bland. The album ends with "Victory". Which... I'm gonna get so much hate for this but I don't like this song. It has some nice fanservice by mentioning like every Megadeth song ever made in the lyrics and the chorus is kinda cool, and it is nice to hear a faster song, but it's by far Dave's worst performance on the album. He gets near SFSGSW-level squeaky here. And again, it's like why were these last two needed? "I Thought I Knew It All" would've been an amazing closer. I'm sorry, but Youth's final stretch is 2/4 for me, and one of those is still just "okay".

Cryptic might have you fooled into thinking it ends just as bad at first considering it's final stretch ends with "Have Cool Will Travel". Which SUCKS. Seriously, I think this is the first time in the retrospective I've encountered a straight up bad song. But it is, it's awful. Minus the softer chorus which is nice. Luckily, we follow with "She-Wolf". This song is AWESOME. Like Disintegrators, it calls back to old school Megadeth, this one reminding me more of Rust In Peace. It's just such a fun song with an excellent chorus. One of my favorites from both albums. Kicks ass. Next is "Vortex" which is another fun rock song. It's not especially epic, but think of it as the calm before the storm. Cause "FFF" is a damn epic closer. Again, we return to Classic Thrash territory. This one straight up reminds me of pre-Deth Dave, like the riff reminds me of songs like "Motorhead" and "Whiplash". And the chorus is really cool too. 3/4.

Yeah, Cryptic definitely ends better. Cryptic takes Round 4.

Round 5: Production and Mixes

Whose ready for "Ryan bitches about the 2004 remasters" part 5? Okay first let's talk about the OG mixes. They're really good. Youth has nice bass levels, good drums, and crunchy guitars. My only issue is there's a weird tempo lock on some songs. Like some songs were originally faster, but are made slower on the OG mix because 120BPM is the maximum allowed tempo. Songs like "Killing Road" just feel handicapped like this. Cryptic's OG mix on the other hand is perfection. I adore the way this album sounds. It's so... organic. That's the best way to describe it, it feels natural, clean, simple, minimalistic, human. I love it.

Now to talk about the 2004 mixes. Youth was essentially mixed like Countdown. Weird drums, but increased bass-line and clarity. But the big thing for me is the 2004 mix removes the tempo lock, allowing songs like "Killing Road" and "Victory" to go unrestrained. Those songs sound better. Unfortunately the songs that have the same tempo sound worse because of the drums, and there is one casualty of the increased tempo. "Blood of Heroes" sounds so weirdly upbeat and high-pitched here. It just sounds wrong.

Speaking of wrong, Cryptic's 2004 mix can f*ck off and die! I hate this mix. It replaces the organic, clean, masterful mix of the OG with what sounds like the most sterile approximation of an 80s metal mix. Did they get this remix confused with the SFSGSW remix? Cause this sound would've been perfect there. It doesn't work here. They also add unnecessary sound effects and synths everywhere, which ends up butchering "A Secret Place".

If I had to rank the mixes, I'd go:

1. Cryptic OG

2. Youth OG

3. Youth 2004

4. Cryptic 2004

So tie I guess? But then this whole thing will be a tie. I need something to break that? I need a Round 6! I know!

Round 6: Total Song Ranking

Songs from both ranked best to worst:

1. A Secret Place
2. Blood of Heroes
3. Addicted To Chaos
4. A Tout Le Monde
5. She-Wolf
6. Trust
7. I Thought I Knew It All
8. Reckoning Day
9. The Disintegrators
10. FFF
11. Sin
12. The Killing Road
13. Almost Honest
14. Family Tree
15. Use The Man
16. I'll Get Even
17. Vortex
18. Elysian Fields
19. Youthanasia
20. Mastermind
21. Victory
22. Train of Consequences
23. Black Curtains
24. Have Cool Will Travel

And if we look at the top 10, there's STILL A TIE?! Fine, let's look at the top 5. We have 3 songs from Youthanasia and... 2 from Cryptic Writings.

... Youth wins. No, this isn't right. Cryptic has to win. It's my darling, it's my personal favorite. But, when I actually look at it, it wins on a critical level. Youthanasia is crowned king.

Conclusion

Both of these albums are good in their own ways. Cryptic simply appeals to me more due to its variety and organic sound. But I can't deny the truth. Youthanasia is the better album. Thanks to its consistent (for the most part) high quality, excellent grooves and basslines, and fantastic opening buildup, it can't be beaten by Cryptic despite its melody and fantastic end stretch. Do either match Countdown to Extinction on a critical level? No, if anything both are equally a decline from Countdown while also advancing the parts of that album they chose to focus on. What should've followed then was a Countdown 2.0 combining the experience of both Youth and Cryptic, potentially to create the best Megadeth album since RIP. That's... not exactly what happened. But one thing is certain. These albums are a lot better now than they ever were before if you ask me. Because now we can look at them without the stigma of other 90s material from classic metal bands, without expectations, without a need to classify what is and isn't metal. These albums really are the Hunger Games champions of 90s Big Four albums (What's gonna challenge them? ReLoad? No. Diabolus in Musica? Hell No. Whatever Anthrax made in the 90s? Noooooooooooo). And they deserve to be held along with the first five albums as absolute classics.

Which is something I can't exactly say about the next one. Well I can but not in the same way. Like not the same classics, but a different classic, but also not really a classic, but also yes a classic, but... well, it's complicated. Because when I return to Megadeth eventually, we'll be looking at Risk. I'd give a more exciting tagline but I'm pretty sure that speaks for itself. But that might not be for a while. This review itself took FIVE MONTHS to write. Risk would be shorter and easier, but I need a break from this. When I return I'll try and get through Risk all the way to Endgame all much faster than I got through the first seven albums.

Until then, keep Rattling your Heads folks.

Oh wait I forgot the ratings. Youth gets an 8.5/10 and Cryptic gets an 8/10. Now keep ratting your heads.