It would be easy to dismiss heavy metal as the province of the unsophisticated, a genre that appeals primarily to an audience of teenage male malcontents. But the best metal bands combine the nearly lost art of virtuosity in rock music with the martial force of a war machine.
Despite a number of personnel changes and frontman Dave Mustaine’s past drug problems, L.A.-based Megadeth has continually refined its speed-metal assault into a state-of-the-art sound. Since its 1985 debut on Combat Records, followed by a jump to the major label Capitol, Megadeth has increasingly taken on more polish, emerging as one of the most sophisticated metal bands. Eschewing the sometimes drudging, sludgier aspects of metal and the wall of noise aesthetic of thrash, Megadeth has stressed speed with instrumental complexity and clarity. That sound may carry too much slick finesse for harder-core fans of the dank underworld, but Megadeth rocks with a commercial accessibility that carries a great deal of bite.
Touring behind its latest release, “Youthanasia,” Megadeth comes to the Aragon on Friday with Corrosion of Conformity. Megadeth includes singer-guitarist Mustaine, guitarist Marty Friedman, drummer Nick Menza and bassist David Ellefson.
Although primary songwriter (and early Metallica member) Mustaine doesn’t always achieve the lyrical depth he desires, there’s certainly a bit more thought going on than just a rehash of black mass incantations. The pressures of the road, his former drug addiction, war and politics end up in the lyrical stew, but in the end the lyrics take a back seat to the muscular, speed-core rhythm drive and hairpin guitar fretwork.
Although metal may not conjure immediate images of holiday cheer, this tour attempts to keep the spirit of the New Year alive by holding food drives in every city it hits. The first 200 audience members to bring 10 pounds of non-perishable food to the concert will be rewarded with backstage passes and thank-you letters from the band.
Megadeth certainly has made other public-relations moves that more closely mirror a metal aesthetic. The currently platinum-plus “Youthanasia” was released last year at midnight on Halloween.
The cover of “Youthanasia” features an old woman in fuzzy pink slippers hanging diaper-clad babies by their toes to a clothesline. I’m not sure what it’s all supposed to mean, but it sure is a swell and terrifically weird cover, one that speaks to a strange future. Someday these babies will grow into adults, look back at this cover, and the question will be whether they’re embarrassed or pleased to have been a part of the project.
For both toddling and aging headbangers who like their metal to chunk and race with a hard-rocking melodicism, the answer will be the latter.
Other concerts of note
Nick Lowe, Jim Lauderdale, Friday at the Park West: Brit pub-rocker, former Johnny Cash stepson-in-law and pure popster Lowe advances nicely into middle age with his latest release, “The Impossible Bird.” Country, soul and pop nestle together in these stripped-down, rootsy arrangements, and Lowe’s “The Beast In Me” sounds creepier and more haunting coming from this ostensible nice guy than it did from Cash. Also on the bill, successful country songwriter Jim Lauderdale, who would like very much not to be just a successful country songwriter.
God Street Wine, Friday at Metro: These neo-hippie, apple-pickin’ lookin’ dudes heavily reference the jazz-rock fusion of Steely Dan and a bit of Michael McDonald-era Doobie Brothers. Though slick and well-played, the enjoyability factor of this music depends on what you thought of those sounds the first time around.
Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens, Friday at Centre East in Skokie: Growling leader Mahlathini and the joyously harmonizing Mahotella Queens are highly regarded purveyors of South African “township jive” music, or “mbaqanga” (um-ba-KON-ga). Popularized in the U.S. by Paul Simon’s 1986 “Graceland” album, this boisterous street music bounces and drives along with guitar, bass, percussion, penny-whistle and all those soaring voices-the Queens also are known as the “Supremes of South Africa.”
Diamond Rio and George Ducas, Saturday at the Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville, Ind.: Diamond Rio is a group of accomplished country players who lean consistently to the bland side. The group is most notable for the fact that all the members actually get to play on the albums, a rarity in Nashville. The one to watch on this bill is newcomer Ducas. A former co-songwriter with Radney Foster (“Just Call Me Lonesome”), Ducas loses points with a less-than-riveting voice on his self-titled debut, but the arrangements hew toward Dwight Yoakam’s neo-traditional stylings.
BeauSoleil, Dirty Dozen Brass Band, Sunday at the Vic: The long-standing BeauSoleil manages a lot of adventurousness while remaining firmly linked to tradition. On the Grammy-nominated 1994 release “L’Echo,” bandleader Michael Doucet and crew survey the rich heritage of southwestern Louisiana music. The band resurrects standards and obscurities that include string-band tunes, waltzes, swing and the blues without losing sight of its Cajun base.
Nancy Wilson, Monday at DePaul University’s Merle Reskin Theatre (60 E. Balbo Drive): With the 1994 Columbia release “Love, Nancy,” Grammy Award-winning diva Nancy Wilson notched up the unbelievable 55th album of a career that began in the ’50s on Dot Records. An outstanding song stylist, Wilson is equally at home with jazz, R&B and pop.
Nanci Griffith, Tuesday and Wednesday at the Vic: Griffith’s winsome, childlike voice and occasional over-enunciation can sometimes land just a hair shy of cloying. But what elevates her above the treacly excesses of way too many folkies is the intelligent grace of her presentation and the emotional clarity of her lyrics. A songwriter who’s been covered by, among others, Kathy Mattea and Suzy Bogguss, Griffith is capable of frequently classic songcraft that combines her country and folk inclinations with quietly compelling pop impulses. (Tuesday’s show is sold out.)
