Megadeth — Hidden Treasures

intothewellsabyss
Jul 18, 2023
4 min read

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…

On this day (July 18) in 1995, Megadeth released their EP, "Hidden Treasures” via Capitol Records.

The album features songs that originally appeared on film soundtracks and tribute albums. Four of the tracks were released as singles, and three have received Grammy Award nominations for Best Metal Performance.

Background:

“Hidden Treasures” is a rarities compilation that features songs that Megadeth had recorded for a number of projects, but had not released on one of the band's studio albums. Most of these were contributions to film soundtracks.

In 1989, Megadeth recorded a version of Alice Cooper's "No More Mr. Nice Guy" for the soundtrack to the horror film, Wes Craven's Shocker. It marks drummer Nick Menza's recording debut with the band. The recording was released as a single and peaked at No. 13 on the UK Singles Chart in 1990.

"Go to Hell" appeared on the Bill and Ted's Bogus Journey soundtrack in 1991. The song features the same prayer, "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep", used in "Enter Sandman" by Metallica, and can be heard at the beginning of the track.

The band contributed three songs to soundtracks in 1993. "Angry Again", recorded during the sessions for “Countdown to Extinction”, appeared on the soundtrack to Last Action Hero and received a nomination for "Best Metal Performance" at the 1993 Grammy Awards. The song has appeared on several of the band's compilations.

"Breakpoint" appeared on the soundtrack for the Super Mario Bros film.

"99 Ways to Die" was recorded for the soundtrack to The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience and released as a single and a music video. It was nominated in the "Best Metal Performance" category at the 1995 Grammy Awards.

"Diadems" was released on the Tales From The Crypt: Demon Knight soundtrack in 1995.

In addition to soundtrack contributions, the band submitted a cover of Black Sabbath's "Paranoid" for the tribute album “Nativity in Black” in 1994. It was nominated for "Best Metal Performance" at the 1996 Grammy Awards.

"Problems" is a Sex Pistols cover and was previously unreleased.

Release Information & Performance:

While initially released in Europe as a bonus disc for a special edition of “Youthanasia”, “Hidden Treasures” was released as a stand-alone EP in Japan and the US on July 18, 1995. It debuted at number 90 on the Billboard 200 chart and sold 13,000 copies in its first week. By December 2005, “Hidden Treasures” sold 286,000 copies in the United States. It also appeared on album chart in the UK, but did not achieve notable success. The album has gone out of print in the US, but was reissued in 2007 for the Japanese and European markets.

Noteworthy:

• "Breakpoint" and "Go to Hell" appear as bonus tracks on the original Japanese release of “Countdown to Extinction”.

• The track listing of the Japanese edition features the bonus tracks as tracks 1–4; "No More Mr. Nice Guy" becomes track 5, and all subsequent songs are also displaced four tracks back.

• “À tout le monde” is listed as a radio edit on the 2007 edition, but it is the regular album version.

• “New World Order” is listed as a demo on the 2007 edition, but it actually is the final version with the guitar parts in the pre-chorus section that were missing in the demo version on the 2004 remastered re-release bonus track of “Youthanasia”.

Critical Reception:

The EP has received generally mediocre reaction from critics. AllMusic's Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote that the EP does not have many "first-rate songs" and that only "99 Ways to Die" made an impression.

The “Rolling Stone Album Guide” was dismissive of the EP; the staff reviewer commented that the album is worth hearing only for "99 Ways to Die".

Dean Golemis of the Chicago Tribune wrote that the album is "typical Megadeth" featuring "fast-forward riffing" and "snooty snarling" vocals.

Carlos Ramirez from Noisecreep felt that the album contains many underrated songs that "also deserve their time in the spotlight" and highlighted the dueling guitar leads by Mustaine and Friedman featured in "Go to Hell".

Despite the negative reviews, material featured on the EP has been credited with helping expand the group's MTV audience in the early 1990s.

Links to Artists, Albums, and Music Videos:

▶ Listen to “Hidden Treasures” via Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/hidden-treasures/724387905

▶ Listen to “Hidden Treasures” via Spotify: Hidden Treasures https://open.spotify.com/album/3jfeL3OUh2Kimx9ZKja8fY

▶ Watch the official music video for "No More Mr. Nice Guy": https://youtu.be/-MWoHlWOcbM

▶ Watch the official music video for “Go to Hell”: https://youtu.be/a7pqj8Be8kU

▶ Watch the official music video for “Angry Again”: https://youtu.be/gXLY1Svth-w

▶ Watch the official music video for "99 Ways to Die”: https://youtu.be/nEjE5BmMekQ

▶ Follow Megadeth on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Megadeth

Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells

Megadeth — Hidden Treasures

Background:

Release Information & Performance:

Noteworthy:

Critical Reception:

Links to Artists, Albums, and Music Videos:

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