Thirteen

Writing, recording and album artwork

In July 2010, while being asked about the success of Megadeth's release Endgame (2009), drummer Shawn Drover revealed that the band had begun discussing a follow-up album and said that there were a "couple of ideas" the band was starting to work on. In a later interview, frontman and guitarist Dave Mustaine stated that the album would contain a mix of songs he had written earlier in his career and new compositions written for the album.

Mustaine confirmed that Megadeth would record at the band's own Vic's Garage studio in California. Johnny K was chosen to produce the record because Andy Sneap, the producer of Megadeth's previous two albums, was unavailable due to schedule conflicts. Mustaine subsequently revealed that the album would be titled Thirteen and would feature previously released tracks such as "Sudden Death" and "Never Dead".

In an interview before a show in Auckland, New Zealand, Mustaine noted that the then-upcoming record was the last one on the band's contract with Roadrunner Records and mentioned that Roadrunner was trying to give the band a "huge new deal". However, Mustaine expressed frustration with the label, saying "The treatment's been terrible over the years, and I just don't want it." He stated that he would prefer to retire than "continue to play like that". Nevertheless, Mustaine exclaimed the band's new record would be "great" and the songs were "really good".

In a December 2010 interview, bassist David Ellefson (who was welcomed back into the band earlier that year) commented "There's some ideas that we're now starting to individually compose", but clarified the band would not be hitting the studio until 2011. Ellefson also speculated that the album would be influenced by the band's (then) recent live performances of the entire Rust in Peace album (1990).

Mustaine initially suggested that the album was turning out to be "more like Endgame". However, he later declared the album was instead "Different, a hundred percent different, unlike anything we've ever done before because the guitar sounds are different, it sounds really super-modern." He went on to compare the sound to "really old classic Sabbath and with a little bit of a modern edge of Queens of the Stone Age kind of thing."

Release and promotion

Mustaine revealed the album's North American release date as November 1, 2011. Mustaine previously said the label was "looking at November 1st. I don't know if it's supposed to be the 1st or the 31st for the release date, cuz [sic] they're trying to get us to do a live performance some place, for this release." This live performance Mustaine mentioned would ultimately turn out to be an appearance on the October 31, 2011 edition of Jimmy Kimmel Live!. The band, performing in Halloween costumes, played "Public Enemy No. 1" and "Symphony of Destruction", the former of which was televised. The album was released in Japan on October 26, 2011.

To help draw publicity for the then-upcoming release, Mustaine had scheduled an appearance on the October 14–16 edition of the Full Metal Jackie radio show and premiered a new track from Th1rt3en, "Whose Life (Is This Anyways?)", on the broadcast. For a 24-hour period from October 17 to October 18, 2011, "Whose Life (Is It Anyway?)" was released as a free download through the band's Facebook page. Samples of all the album's songs were available for streaming on Amazon.com from October 17. Mustaine also made an appearance on the November 7 edition of Rockline.

Songs

Mustaine had said that thirteen songs had been written in the sessions for the album, though only twelve were originally contracted for the album (one of which being a bonus track intended only for the Japanese market). However, it was later revealed that the album was to feature a total of 13 tracks. Several of the songs on the album were previously recorded by the band in one form or another, although most of the songs are completely new material.

Reworked older material

"Sudden Death", "New World Order", "Black Swan" and "Millennium of the Blind" were released previously in different or incomplete versions, and were included as bonus tracks on previous albums or used for other projects. "Sudden Death" was originally written for the 2010 music video game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. The song was released as a digital single via iTunes in September 2010.

"New World Order" was originally written during the Clash of the Titans Tour in 1991, however, early versions of the song were not released until years later. The original finished version was released on the Duke Nukem soundtrack in 1999, and a demo had been included as a bonus track on the 2004 remix/remaster of Youthanasia. Ellefson stated the song was re-recorded at the insistence of Shawn Drover, and (compared to previous versions of the song) Mustaine had "updated some parts and made them more violent." Drover, for his part, stated re-recording "New World Order" was initially Mustaine's idea, though he strongly supported re-recording the song.

"Black Swan" was originally intended as a special edition bonus track for United Abominations. According to Ellefson, finishing and including "Black Swan" on Thirteen was Johnny K's idea. Ellefson also noted that, having been written several years beforehand, it has nothing to do with the 2010 film of the same name; the lyrics were inspired by the C. S. Lewis novel The Great Divorce. In part of the effort to promote the album, the song was released for streaming via Hot Topic's official YouTube page on October 24, 2011.

According to Ellefson, "Millennium of the Blind" was originally written in 1991 and a demo was recorded, and a version of the song would later be included as a bonus track on the 2004 remix/remaster of Youthanasia. In the liner notes for the 2004 re-release of Youthanasia, Mustaine stated that he came up with the lyrics after watching Highlander, and claimed that the song reminded him too much of another song he was working on at the time, "Absolution" (which would later form part of "Trust" from Cryptic Writings). Ellefson explained Johnny K and Mustaine were able to finish the song for Thirteen.

New compositions

On July 4, 2011 Megadeth debuted a new song entitled "Public Enemy No. 1" at a show in Hamburg, Germany. According to Mustaine, "Public Enemy No. 1" was written about 1920s gangster Al Capone. Ellefson revealed in an interview that "Public Enemy No. 1" was to be released as a single A Western-themed music video, which featured the band and live animals, was made to support the single. The video was released on November 4, 2011.

"Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)" saw its radio debut during an appearance by Dave Mustaine on the October 14–16, 2011 edition of the Full Metal Jackie radio show. On October 17, the song was released as a limited-time free download via Megadeth's Facebook page. In May 2012, a lyric video for the song was released.

"Never Dead", was written for inclusion on NeverDead, a third-person action/fantasy video game. To help promote the album, Roadrunner Records posted the song on their YouTube channel for streaming on September 21, 2011.

Being interviewed about the album in September 2011, Ellefson commented on several of the album's other songs. He also described the title track as "theatrical" and compared it to "In My Darkest Hour" from So Far, So Good...So What! (1988). Ellefson said "13" is a song that "summed up the arc of Megadeth as a band". While referring to another song, "Deadly Nightshade", Ellefson stated the song's main riff "was written during the sessions for Youthanasia, or maybe Cryptic Writings [from 1997]. It's been around for a while."

Reception

Critical response

Reaction from critics towards Th1rt3en has been mostly positive. On review aggregator Metacritic, the album holds an average score of 71/100 based on 15 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Reviewing the album for Allmusic, James Christopher Monger stated: "Darker, heavier, and more immediate than 2009's Endgame", and noted that although Mustaine's vocals are higher in the mix on this album, "his fleet fingers are still possessed with the power to conjure the dead." Sputnikmusic's Mike Stagno wrote that except for the lyrical content, Th1rt3en doesn't have major flaws.

According to Kevin Stewart-Panko of Rock Sound, the album's musical style "gravitates between classy thrashers and hokey anthemic rock". He praised the "scorching guitar work and Mustaine's snarling voice". Carla Gillis from Now described the record as "thrashy, angry and melody-packed, like Megadeth's best Peace Sells-era songs". She said that the album was not "perfect", but noted that Mustaine's vocals and guitar playing "never get old". Dom Lawson, writing in The Guardian, stated that Megadeth's "music has lost none of its intensity, passion or rage" over the years. He finished his review by saying that Th1rt3en is "an all-killer, no-filler feast of state-of-the-art metal". Similarly, Chris Colgan of PopMatters named Th1rt3en "the latest in a series of well-composed and well-executed albums" by Megadeth. Colgan went on to say that "Mustaine and his cohorts are still making great music and keeping classic thrash relevant in the metal community". Heather McDaid from This Is Fake DIY described the record as "good old fashioned, classic heavy metal in its rough and ready glory".

However, not all critical reaction to the album was positive. Neil Arnold from Metal Forces was disappointed by the album's musical direction, because he felt that Mustaine "has reverted back to a more simple, less furious sound". In a brief review for Spin, Jon Young commented on several of the album's tracks, saying "Public Enemy No. 1" and "Guns, Drugs & Money" were "deceptively melodic hard rock not far from Alice Cooper's early classics" but also said they lack the same sense of humor. However, Young stated that "We the People" should be on "the apocalypse's official soundtrack". BBC Music's Ian Winwood said the album "is something of an unremarkable affair. Not a bad album, but not one for the ages." However, Winwood also called "Sudden Death" "quite brilliant".

Commercial performance

Th1rt3en debuted at number 11 on the Billboard 200, selling 42,000 copies in the United States in its first week. This was a slight fall from the first-week sales (about 45,000 copies) and chart position (number 9) of its predecessor, Endgame. Another 10,780 copies were sold in the second week, and the album's position on the Billboard 200 fell to number 53. The album charted similarly in Australia, New Zealand (number 13) and on the Japanese chart (number 11). Elsewhere, the album failed to enter into the top 20. As of December 2012, Th1rt3en had sold 120,000 copies in the United States.

Awards and nominations

Three of the album's songs received Grammy nominations. "Sudden Death" was nominated for "Best Metal Performance" at the 2011 Grammys, but lost to Iron Maiden's "El Dorado". "Public Enemy No. 1" received a nomination in the "Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance" category the next year, but lost to the Foo Fighters' "White Limo". "Whose Life (Is This Anyways?)" received a nomination in the same category at the 2013 Grammys, but lost to Halestorm's "Love Bites (So Do I)".

During the 2011, Loudwire Music Awards Th1rt3en won Metal Album of the Year and "Public Enemy No. 1" won Metal Song of the Year.

Th1rt3en was also nominated for Best Thrash Metal Album during the 2011, Metal Storm Awards.

Personnel

Production and performance credits are adapted from the album liner notes.

Megadeth

Dave Mustaine – lead vocals, guitars

Chris Broderick – guitars, backing vocals

David Ellefson – bass, backing vocals

Shawn Drover – drums, percussion, backing vocals

Additional musician

Chris Rodriguez – additional backing vocals

Production

Produced by Johnny K and Dave Mustaine

Recorded, engineered, and mixed by Johnny K

Additional engineering by Dave Mustaine, Zachary Coleman, Ken Eisennagel and Andy Sneap

Mastered by Ted Jensen

Matt Dougherty – Digital editing and mix assistant