The World Needs a Hero

Untitled

The World Needs a Hero is the ninth studio album by American heavy metal band Megadeth, released in 2001. It marks a stylistic transition back to the band's thrash metal roots after the commercial hard rock style of their previous four albums (Countdown to Extinction, Youthanasia, Cryptic Writings and Risk). The album still retains much of the commercial feel from previous albums, as Dave Mustaine claims the album was like "a ship lost at sea trying to return to its course". It is the last studio album to feature drummer Jimmy DeGrasso and original bassist Dave Ellefson until his return to Megadeth in 2010, as well as the only one to feature Al Pitrelli on lead guitar.

"Return to Hangar" is a sequel to the song "Hangar 18", found on the Rust in Peace.

Mustaine also dedicated the song "When" to all the nay-sayers on Megadeth's internet message board who spoke ill of him and the band after their recent attempts at commercial success (or, a "big fuck you to all the wishy-washy fans out there".) The main riff and structure of "When" is reminiscent of "Am I Evil?" by Diamond Head, which Mustaine has said was intentional, as a homage to Diamond Head and the New Wave of British Heavy Metal movement.

The World Needs a Hero is the first Megadeth album since 1990's Rust in Peace to feature band mascot Vic Rattlehead on the front cover. Edited versions of the album put an adhesive bandage over the innards of Dave Mustaine from which Vic Rattlehead is seen emerging.

A single as well as a video was made out of the lead single, "Moto Psycho". "Dread and the Fugitive Mind" was also released as a promo single as well as previous release Capitol Punishment and the following release Still, Alive... and Well?. The track "1000 Times Goodbye" contains a similar but slightly different riff used in "Millennium of the Blind", a song found as a bonus track on the Youthanasia 2004 remaster.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Blender
Yahoo! Music
Allmusic

Track listing

All lyrics are written by Dave Mustaine; all music is composed by Mustaine, except where noted

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Disconnect"	5:20
2.	"The World Needs a Hero"	3:52
3.	"Moto Psycho" ()	3:06
4.	"1000 Times Goodbye"	6:25
5.	"Burning Bridges"	5:20
6.	"Promises" (music: Mustaine, Al Pitrelli)	4:28
7.	"Recipe for Hate... Warhorse"	5:18
8.	"Losing My Senses"	4:40
9.	"Dread and the Fugitive Mind"	4:25
10.	"Silent Scorn" (instrumental)	1:42
11.	"Return to Hangar"	3:59
12.	"When"	9:14

Japanese track listing

No.	Title	Lyrics	Music	Length
1.	"Disconnect"			5:20
2.	"The World Needs a Hero"			3:52
3.	"Coming Home"			2:35
4.	"Moto Psycho"			3:06
5.	"1000 Times Goodbye"			6:25
6.	"Burning Bridges"			5:20
7.	"Promises" (music: Mustaine, Pitrelli)			4:26
8.	"Recipe for Hate... Warhorse"			5:19
9.	"Losing My Senses"			4:40
10.	"Dread and the Fugitive Mind"	Mustaine	Mustaine	4:25
11.	"Silent Scorn" (instrumental)			1:43
12.	"Return to Hangar"			3:59
13.	"When"			9:13

Personnel

Megadeth

• Dave Mustaine – guitar, lead vocals
• Al Pitrelli – guitar, backing vocals
• Dave Ellefson – bass guitar
• Jimmy DeGrasso – drums

Additional performances and arrangement

• Heather Keckler – spoken words on "The World Needs a Hero" and "1000 Times Goodbye"
• Bob Findley – trumpet on "Silent Scorn"
• Suzie Katayama – string arrangement on "Promises" and "Losing My Senses"

Production

• Produced by Dave Mustaine; Co-produced by Bill Kennedy
• Mixed and engineered by Bill Kennedy
• Assistant engineers – Mark Valentine, Lance Dean, Jay Goin, Greg Edenfield
• Pro Tools – Chris Vrenna, Joe Bishara, James Murray, Sean Dever, Ken Mary, Lance Dean
• Digital editing on "Moto Psycho", "The World Needs a Hero", and "1000 Times Goodbye" – Chris Vrenna
• Mastered by Tom Jensen

In pop culture

The song "Moto Psycho" is used as the main theme song for the Dreamcast game Heavy Metal: Geomatrix.

Trivia

• "The World Needs a Hero" and "1000 Times Goodbye" feature the voice of Heather Keckler (Miss Arizona 2000 and Megadeth.com's "She-Wolf")
• "1000 Time Goodbye", "Burning Bridges", "Dread and the Fugitive Mind" and "Return To Hangar" are featured on the live album Rude Awakening.
• "Dread and the Fugitive Mind" was previously featured on Capitol Punishment and later appeared on Still Alive... and Well?, Back to the Start and Anthology: Set the World Afire, it was also featured on Warchest along with "Moto Psycho", "1000 Times Goodbye" and "Coming Home".
• "Silent Scorn" was played at the end of both released live concerts Rude Awakening, The Big Four: Live From Sofia and That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires.
• "Return to Hangar" was played with "Hangar 18" as used as a 2 in 1 song structure just like "Good Mourning/Black Friday" from Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? on That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires, it is listed in the song selection as "Hangar 18/Return to Hangar".
• The CD jacket misspells Al Pitrelli's name as "Petrelli" for the solos to the song "Dread and the Fugitive Mind".
• "Coming Home" was released on this album exclusively to Japan (but later appeared on the Warchest box set as a song previously unreleased in the US), was played on That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires with Dave Mustaine on vocals and Glen Drover on acoustic guitar, Dave changed the lyric "I'm coming home to Arizona" by replacing "Arizona" to "Argentina", the song is listed on the CD as "Coming Home to Argentina".

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
2001	The Billboard 200	16

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
2001	"Moto Psycho"	Mainstream Rock Tracks	22