Recently I went through with my planned Megatrip. A Megatrip is a road trip that has one simple rule … Nothing but Megadeth can be played in the car stereo while you’re driving. According to my PC media player, the Megadeth CD catalogue—studio albums only—goes for 10 1/2 hours. So, using the power of Google Maps, I plotted a course to a destination that was 5 1/4 hours from my house. The return trip would therefore take the required 10 1/2 hours and by the time I got home, I’d have listened to Megadeth’s studio album catalogue from beginning to end.
It was a trip my entire family was looking forward to (perhaps not as much as me).
Let me take you through the trip we took. Colour photographs of the trip can be seen on my photography site (just check the tags for Megatrip).
The way I decided to document the Megatrip was by photographing the CDs on the car’s dashboard as we drove through an area of interest. The first CD that got us on our way was of course Killing is my business … And business is good! That got us on our way to the Gold Coast.
I’ve got to say starting a roadtrip with Megadeth’s first studio album sure had me pumped. I was absolutely in the mood for the next five or so hours in the car. As we came across other cars on the road I couldn’t help but feel sorry for them and their probable radio music.
Before I knew it, we were on our way through Nerang as we drove behind the Gold Coast on our way down the Australian east coast. It was time to move to the Peace sells … But who’s buying? CD.
A highlight of this part of the trip will always be watching my wife bang her head to the title track. That’s always been a track we’ve both enjoyed. But two CDs later and before you know it, we’ve left Queensland and entered New South Wales. This was of course perfect timing as we needed to change to the next CD … So far, so good … So what!
I do love the highway in northern New South Wales. The hillside tunnels and huge bridges you get to drive through/under are quite magnificent. It’s a beautiful drive. Until you hit the roads behind Byron Bay that is. Then the hills begin and the speed limits fluctuate drastically.
Nobody seemed to mind though because that meant we were not far from the Macadamia Castle. That also meant for the Megatrip that is was time to get into the Rust in peace phase of our journey.
Once my family had rested—a rested driver is a safer driver—we continued on the Megatrip with the rest of the Rust in peace CD. Before we knew it we’d driven over the Ballina by-pass and it was time to change to the Countdown to extinction CD.
It’s worth mentioning that as you continue to drive, the aggression in the Megadeth catalogue diminishes somewhat. It was a weird feeling because the longer our drive went, the more we all seemed to wind down. Elements of the Megadeth CD catalogue were blending in with our Megatrip atmosphere.
As we continued to listen to Countdown to Extinction, we passed Yamba and headed into territory unknown to us all. By the time we changed to the Youthanasia CD we were on side roads (recommended by our GPS) to get us to Coffs Harbour faster than if we’d driven through Grafton.
We were almost at our destination and I was starting wonder if the return trip would be over before the CD catalogue had been listened to. Luckily, I had a backup plan (of sorts). I had also packed the Hidden Treasures CD.
Just before getting to Coffs Harbour we did change CDs again and we were listening to Cryptic Writings. And then we arrived at Coffs Harbour and our weekend accommodation. The journey to our destination was complete.
After a couple of days of relaxing (which are not worth mentioning in this article) we headed back home and continued where we left off … With Cryptic Writings.
Once Cryptic Writings had finished, it was time to listen to Risk as we headed to Grafton. On the return trip we decided to stick to the highway. It often seemed like we had the highway to ourselves which was great (apart from the times we didn’t recognise the roads because we hadn’t taken them on the way down to Coffs Harbour).
We did question listening to a CD titled Risk at this point.
Once we’d passed through Grafton on our journey north, it was time to play The world needs a hero. This was playing as we passed through the Yamba area. I was noticing at this point of the Megatrip that the pace of music was picking up the closer we got to home.
When we started the next CD (The system has failed) we found ourselves once again on the Ballina by-pass. We were back on roads we recognised and I was listening to the kind of Megadeth I remembered from my teenage years. My late teenage years.
Before I knew it we had passed the Macadamia Castle and Byron Bay.
We did stop in Byron Bay briefly—remember that a rested driver is a safer driver—but in all honesty it seemed like both my family and Megadeth were saying “Don’t stop now, it’s time to take it home!”
So we drove on and changed to United Abominations.
The music was pumping and I was feeling reinvigorated. Time seemed to be flying by. Before I knew it we had changed to the Endgame CD. We were also back in Queensland. I could see the signs for Brisbane and I could hear the signs that Megadeth were a thrash band to be reckoned with.
I did find myself wondering towards the end if I was going to get to hear the Th1rt3en CD. We were approaching home quickly and it felt to me like Megadeth’s recent CDs were making the journey end faster on account of their blistering pace. My rough estimations based on Google Maps Get directions feature did however seem to work. We were on the road home and Th1rt3en was finally playing in the car stereo.
The plan had worked. I had taken my family on a road trip with a theme I’m sure was like no other. For me, the time flew by and I was amazed at how the road trip seemed to tie in so well with the stages of the Megadeth CD catalogue.
If you’re a Megadeth fan, I encourage you to take a Megatrip. Take photographs and share your adventure. I am already wondering if my wife will let me turn our upcoming Tasmania trip into a mini-Megatrip. If I manage to do that, expect photographs.
By the way, I did consider calling the roadtrip a Megadrive, but I figured Sega had beaten me to that name.