Super Collider is the fourteenth studio album by American heavy metal band Megadeth.

It is the band's final album to feature drummer Shawn Drover and guitarist Chris Broderick who both departed in November 2014.

On July 17, 2012, a tweet from the Twitter account for Megadeth's mascot Vic Rattlehead implied that frontman Dave Mustaine had begun writing lyrics for a follow-up album to 2011's Th1rt3en.

[7] Mustaine later announced via the Vic Rattlehead Twitter page that he had chosen a title and cover art for the new album,[8] though neither was revealed at that time.

[18] On April 10, 2013, a snippet of a new song titled "Don't Turn Your Back" was posted to the band's website for streaming, and the cover artwork for the album was revealed.

[19] Later that month, it was announced that David Draiman (of Disturbed and Device) would be featured as a guest vocalist on "Dance in the Rain".

[20] The cover artwork is modified from an existing photograph of the Inner Barrel of the Compact Muon Solenoid's Silicon Tracker, a particle physics experiment built on the Large Hadron Collider at CERN.

[25] The track deviates from a more traditional metal style in favor of a more radio-oriented rock sound,[24] which Mustaine claims was done to show the record label that the band could write and play more commercially accessible material.

"The Blackest Crow" has a Southern influence and features a slide guitar,[17] while the lyrics are about loss and subsequent depression.

[28] "Don't Turn Your Back..." was inspired by a friend of Mustaine, who described him as "the kind of guy that will steal your dope and then help you look for it.

[30] Much of the criticism of the album centers around Mustaine's lyrics and/or vocals[35] and the return to more commercial-sounding material,[35] from the heavier approach that the band had taken on the last several releases.

Many critics and fans named "Kingmaker" as a highlight, even those who took a generally dismissive view of the rest of the album.

Van Horn declared that the album is no Risk despite the insistence of other critics and fans, but expressed uncertainty as to which sonic direction the band might take in the future.

described much of the material on the album as being an attempt on Mustaine's part to both maintain credibility with his fanbase and score a radio hit at the same time, a result that Pratt concluded was impossible.

Pratt took a negative view of several songs on the album, describing "Off the Edge" as "unlovable", "The Blackest Crow" as "an unfocused mess", and the title track as having a radio-oriented sound, much to his dislike.

He characterized the title track as a "ghastly attempt" at arena rock that "even Bon Jovi would have thought twice about releasing as a B-side."

Brown reacted positively to "Kingmaker", though noted that the song seems to "pillage" Black Sabbath's "Children of the Grave".

[38] In spite of the lackluster reception by critics, Super Collider debuted at number six on the Billboard 200, selling 29,000 copies in the U.S. in its first week.