Megaherz present their very best ones
[POST UPDATED]
After a four-year break, Megaherz established their status as one of the best German metal bands out there again with a renewed band lineup and the great comeback album Heuchler last year. Currently touring extensively in Germany, the band is now going to release a brand new best-of disc titled Totgesagte leben länger. This is the band’s second best-of, the first being the early collection Querschnitt which contained material from Megaherz’s first three albums, so this new one concentrates more on the later albums. According to the singer Lex himself on the Megaherz forums, they had to leave out all the material released on Megaherz’s fifth album titled 5 fronted by Mathias Elsholz (currently of Die!), because that album was released on a different label and they just couldn’t get the license for them. Too bad. In any case, Totgesagte leben länger seems to be quite a good introduction to the band for new fans and a probable collector’s piece for others, because in addition to the main bulk of the collection, there’s going to be at least two bonus tracks in the form of remixes by Heimataerde and Staubkind. The album also comes with a code for free online downloads.
According to Megaherz’s newsletter and official site, the collection will be released on March 13th. However, several online stores that already have the album up for preorders call it Kaltes Grab: Best of (and even have a preliminary cover with that title) and say it’s supposed to be released on March 6th, but this is likely a mix-up courtesy of a premature announcement by either the record label ZYX or the band itself. You can preorder the album at least on Amazon.de and EMP.de. The Heimataerde remix of Heuchler is already listenable on Megaherz’s MySpace.
Below is the real tracklisting, as provided by Lex on the band’s forums.
Megaherz - Totgesagte leben länger
1. 5. März
2. Miststück
3. Blender
4. Heuchler
5. An deinem Grab
6. Zu den Sternen
7. Ebenbild
8. Menschmaschine
9. Falsche Götter
10. Morgenrot
11. Glas und Tränen
12. Windkind
13. Mann von Welt
14. Schlag zurück
15. Heuchler (RMIX by Steinkind)
16. Heuchler (RMIX by Heimataerde)
Free downloads
17. Heute schon gelebt?
18. Beiss mich
19. Herzblut
20. Schizophren
21. Perfekte Droge
22. Das Tier (Orchester Version)
February 25th, 2009 at 9:22 am
I guess the old songs weren’t re-recorded with Lex - that would be much more interesting to listen to.
February 25th, 2009 at 10:31 am
Oh man, that would have been totally awesome. I think they’d make more of a noise about it if they had indeed rerecorded them, so I too guess they’re probably just the old versions of the songs…
On a sidenote, I have to admit that I’m not a big fan of normal best of collections at all. Not much worth for those who already are fans, if there’s nothing new in there like a lot of bonus tracks or indeed reconstructions of the old songs. Just take a look at Die Krupps’ or Joachim Witt’s recent collections, now those have had some actual work, thought and heart put into them. Sure, a best-of collection might serve as a good introduction to a band for someone who wants to grasp the band’s whole career in one sitting, but unfortunately, the individual tracks are taken out of the original context of the album they appeared on. That may very well make a song appear weaker (or better) than they should, or otherwise detract from its meaning and status. After all, an album is most often a single whole that shows what the band is capable of at the time of its composition and recording.