Hidden Treasures (EP)
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''Hidden Treasures'' is a compilation EP by American
thrash metal Thrash metal (or simply thrash) is an Extreme metal, extreme subgenre of heavy metal music characterized by its overall aggression and fast tempo.Kahn-Harris, Keith, ''Extreme Metal: Music and Culture on the Edge'', pp. 2–3, 9. Oxford: Berg, ...
band
Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal—alo ...
, released on July 18, 1995, via
Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007), and simply known as Capitol, is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-base ...
. 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 The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achievements in music. They are regarded by many as the most prestigious ...
nominations for
Best Metal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works (songs or albums) containing quality performances in the heavy metal music genre. The Grammy Awards is an annual ceremony, where ...
. Despite having garnered mediocre or negative reviews, the material on the EP has been credited with helping expand the group's
MTV MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
audience in the early 1990s.


Background and songs

''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 Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...
's " No More Mr. Nice Guy" for the soundtrack to the
Wes Craven Wesley Earl Craven (August 2, 1939 – August 30, 2015) was an American film director, screenwriter and producer. Amongst his Wes Craven filmography, prolific filmography, Craven worked primarily in the Horror film, horror genre, particularly sla ...
-directed horror film '' Shocker''. It marks drummer Nick Menza's recording debut with the band. The recording was released as a single and peaked at number 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 Now I lay me down to sleep is a Christian children's bedtime prayer from the 18th century. Text Perhaps the earliest version was written by George Wheler in his 1698 book ''The Protestant Monastery'', which reads: ''Upon lying down, and goin ...
", used in "
Enter Sandman "Enter Sandman" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It is the opening track and lead single from their self-titled fifth album, released in 1991. The music was written by Kirk Hammett, James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. Vocalist ...
" by
Metallica Metallica is an American heavy metal band. It was formed in Los Angeles in 1981 by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
, and can be heard at the beginning of the track. The band contributed three songs to soundtracks in 1993. "
Angry Again "Angry Again" is a 1993 heavy metal song by Megadeth, written by frontman Dave Mustaine. The song was written exclusively for inclusion in the 1993 satirical action film ''Last Action Hero'', directed by John McTiernan and starring Arnold Schwar ...
", recorded during the sessions for ''
Countdown to Extinction ''Countdown to Extinction'' is the fifth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on July 14, 1992, through Capitol Records. It was the group's second studio release to feature the "classic" lineup of Dave Mustaine, Marty F ...
'', appeared on the
soundtrack A soundtrack is a recorded audio signal accompanying and synchronised to the images of a book, drama, motion picture, radio program, television show, television program, or video game; colloquially, a commercially released soundtrack album of m ...
to ''
Last Action Hero ''Last Action Hero'' is a 1993 American fantasy action comedy film directed and produced by John McTiernan and co-written by Shane Black and David Arnott. It is a satire of the action genre and associated clichés, containing several parodies ...
'' and received a nomination for "
Best Metal Performance The Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance is an award presented at the Grammy Awards to recording artists for works (songs or albums) containing quality performances in the heavy metal music genre. The Grammy Awards is an annual ceremony, where ...
" at the
1993 Grammy Awards The 35th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 24, 1993 and recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. The nominations were announced on January 7, 1993. The evening's host was the American stand-up comedian Garry Shand ...
. The song has appeared on several of the band's compilations. "Breakpoint" appeared on the soundtrack for the ''
Super Mario Bros. is a 1985 Platformer, platform game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). It is the successor to the 1983 arcade game ''Mario Bros.'' and the first game in the ''Super Mario'' series. It was origi ...
'' film. " 99 Ways to Die" was recorded for the soundtrack to ''
The Beavis and Butt-head Experience ''The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience'' is a compilation album released in 1993 by Geffen Records and related to the animated television series ''Beavis and Butt-Head''. The name is a reference to Jimi Hendrix's original band, the Jimi Hendrix Exp ...
'' and released as a single and a music video. It was nominated in the "Best Metal Performance" category at the
1995 Grammy Awards The 37th Annual Grammy Awards were presented on March 1, 1995, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Bruce Springsteen was the night's biggest winner with 4 awards, including Song ...
. "Diadems" was released on the ''
Demon Knight ''Tales from the Crypt Presents: Demon Knight'' is a 1995 American black horror comedy film directed by Ernest Dickerson from a screenplay by Mark Bishop, Ethan Reiff and Cyrus Voris. It stars Billy Zane, William Sadler, Jada Pinkett, Brenda ...
'' soundtrack in 1995. In addition to soundtrack contributions, the band submitted a cover of
Black Sabbath Black Sabbath are an English rock band formed in Birmingham in 1968 by guitarist Tony Iommi, drummer Bill Ward (musician), Bill Ward, bassist Geezer Butler, and vocalist Ozzy Osbourne. After adopting the Black Sabbath name in 1969 (the band ...
's "
Paranoid Paranoia is an instinct or thought process that is believed to be heavily influenced by anxiety, suspicion, or fear, often to the point of delusion and irrationality. Paranoid thinking typically includes persecutory beliefs, or beliefs of con ...
" for the tribute album ''
Nativity in Black ''Nativity in Black: A Tribute to Black Sabbath'' is a series of two Black Sabbath tribute albums, released in 1994 and 2000 respectively. The albums feature various heavy metal groups performing cover versions of Black Sabbath songs in tribute t ...
'' in 1994. It was nominated for "Best Metal Performance" at the
1996 Grammy Awards The 38th Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 28, 1996, at Shrine Auditorium, Los Angeles. The awards recognized accomplishments by musicians from the previous year. Alanis Morissette was the main recipient, being awarded four trophies, in ...
. "Problems" is a
Sex Pistols The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...
cover and was previously unreleased.


Release and reception

While initially released in Europe as a bonus disc for a special edition of ''
Youthanasia ''Youthanasia'' is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Megadeth, released on November 1, 1994, through Capitol Records. It is stylistically similar to their previous album, '' Countdown to Extinction'' (1992). The title is a pl ...
'', ''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. The EP has received generally mediocre reaction from critics. ''
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
s
Stephen Thomas Erlewine Stephen Thomas Erlewine (; born June 18, 1973) is an American music critic and former senior editor for the online music database AllMusic. He is the author of multiple artist biographies and record reviews for AllMusic, as well as a freelance ...
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 The ''Chicago Tribune'' is an American daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Founded in 1847, it was formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper", a slogan from which its once integrated WGN (AM), WGN radio and ...
'' wrote that the album is "typical Megadeth" featuring "fast-forward riffing" and "snooty snarling" vocals. Carlos Ramirez from ''
Noisecreep Noisecreep is a hard rock and heavy metal music news and media website based in the United States. The site was created by AOL Music in March 2009. Noisecreep was the fourth genre-specific music website owned by AOL after the rock music websi ...
'' 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 MTV (an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable television television channel, channel and the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group sub-division of the Paramount Media Networks division of Paramount Global. Launched on ...
audience in the early 1990s.


Track listing

All credits adapted from the ''Hidden Treasures'' liner notes.


Personnel

Credits are adapted from the liner notes. Megadeth *
Dave Mustaine David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is best known as the co-founder, frontman, primary songwriter and sole consistent member of the thrash metal band Megadeth and for his time as the lead guitarist of Met ...
 – guitars, lead vocals *
David Ellefson David Ellefson is an American musician, best known for his long tenure as the bassist and backing vocalist for thrash metal band Megadeth across two stints. Ellefson initially became an accomplished bassist and honed his songwriting skills whi ...
 – bass, backing vocals *
Marty Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist of thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 until 1989, as well ...
 – guitars and backing vocals (tracks 2–8) *
Nick Menza Nicholas Menza (July 23, 1964 – May 21, 2016) was an American musician who was the drummer of the thrash metal band Megadeth from 1989 to 1998. He recorded drums on four of Megadeth's albums: '' Rust in Peace'' (1990), '' Countdown to Extinc ...
 – drums Production *Production:
Desmond Child John Charles Barrett (born October 28, 1953), known professionally as Desmond Child, is an American songwriter and record producer. He was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2008. He has been nominated for four Grammy Awards, a Primet ...
and Dave Mustaine (track 1);
Max Norman Max Norman is a British record producer and recording engineer active since 1973. He produced many acclaimed heavy metal releases. While Norman was resident engineer at Ridge Farm Studios in London, Ozzy Osbourne was recording his debut sol ...
and Mustaine (tracks 2–8) *Engineering: Max Norman (tracks 2–8) *Mixing: Max Norman (tracks 2–6); Norman and Mustaine (tracks 7–8) *Guitar/bass/amplifier technician: Michael Kaye (tracks 4–8) *Drum technician: Bruce Jacoby (tracks 4–8)


Chart performance


Certifications


Notes

*† "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''.


References


Bibliography

* * * * *


External links

* {{Authority control Megadeth compilation albums 1995 EPs 1995 compilation albums Capitol Records compilation albums Capitol Records EPs Heavy metal compilation albums