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Excellent compilation of Mustaine’s best may leave a couple of gems out, but it’s still a winner.

While considered gods in their genre, the metal band Megadeth have long dealt with being the underdog in terms of more mainstream recognition. Despite one brief period when they released three of the best albums of the 1990s (Countdown to Extinction, Youthenasia and Crytptic Warnings) - earning them a good bit of radio and MTV play – they rarely get their due.

Dave Mustaine – one-time guitarist for Metallica – has long suffered in his former band’s shadow. Nevermind that he and his band often were more relevant and consistent, Megadeth just never caught on with the masses the way they should have. And while the new compilation release Anthology: Set the World Afire probably won’t change that, it certainly gives an opening for those who aren’t aware of the band to hear some of their best stuff.

I’m not quite sure I’d label this a “greatest hits” album; it isn’t. Certain actual hits (99 Ways to Die) are omitted while other, lesser-known, tracks are on hand. What this 2-disc, 35-song collection is though is a testament of the band’s talent and their message has never sounded clearer.

Many of the tracks are taken from a 2004 session that remastered and even partially reworked a few older songs that Mustaine was never happy with how they were originally released. They sound like thunder given form and the choices here are top-notch.

Fans of older Megadeth will be pleased to see tracks like Devil’s Island mixed in with hits like Peace Sells and Skin O’ My Teeth. The Countdown era is well represented here, with Angry Again and Train of Consequences sounding like they’re ready to shake the CD player apart. Two live tracks are included at the end, Symphony of Destruction and Peace Sells and to be honest, the live Symphony - a sped up, harder hitting version of the song – may just be superior to the original album version.

I’m sad to see that Breadline didn’t make the cut, but Mustaine apparently wasn’t all that happy with the album it came from. Shame. One bright spot in a sea already glistening is A Tout le Monde, a track I was previously unfamiliar with, but has become one of my favorite pieces.

The thing about Megadeth is that Mustaine more than almost any other major player in the metal genre, focuses his writing on subjects that remain pertinent even 20 years later. While others sing about partying, raising hell and Tolkein, Mustaine keeps to what is and will always make the world keep going. Political strife, war, addiction and mortality are deftly handled by him, and the message may seem hidden beneath the crunch of his guitar, but it’s there. As I said before, his stuff remains and will remain relevant and timeless.

Set the World Afire may not have every track I hoped would be on it, but the ones that are here are fantastic and Mustaine has shown he has a legacy to be proud of.

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