Album Review: Megadeth - Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? (1986)

For me, at least, Megadeth is sounding better each time I play their music.  Despite being one of their best known albums, Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? never used to do anything for me.  I always loved their debut album - Killing is my Business...and Business is Good! - it's easily one of the best thrash albums ever made, in my opinion.  But this album only really held any value for me for two songs - "Wake Up Dead" and "My Last Words."  In retrospect, I was overly critical of it to begin with.  Thrash metal by and large was never an acquired taste for me, and I remember getting hooked on Metallica almost instantly the moment I fired up Kill 'Em All.  But Megadeth took some getting used to, and now I'm fully appreciative of the fact I took the time to really get used to them.  I'm very impressed by this album now, not quite as appreciative of it as I am Rust in Peace,  but if "Good Mourning/Black Friday", "Peace Sells" and "The Conjuring" (as well as of course, the two earlier mentioned tracks) are anything to go buy, this album deserves a lot more respect than what I gave it to begin with.  A good album.  A-

Album Review: Megadeth - Rust In Peace (1990)

Megadeth is a band that I haven't been actively listening to for a long time now, and I have a good number of their albums in my collection.  Up until recently, I stopped listening to metal regularly like I used to, and every now and then I would play one of my many metal albums, savoring the moment and once again reminding myself of what makes me love the genre so much.  Thrash and speed metal are sub-genres that I'm the most familiar with, and Megadeth is easily one of the great thrash bands out there - in fact they make up part of what is called the Big Four - Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer.  I love their debut album in particular, in fact it's my favorite Megadeth album, and this album here, Rust In Peace, would be the second-in-command of my favorites hierarchy.  Some people may try and argue over Dave Mustaine's vocal style, but one immutable fact is that he is a superb thrash guitarist.  Having not listened to this album in quite some time, I'm once again basking in fast-paced, thrash goodness Megadeth style, and with songs like "Hangar 18" "Poison Was the Cure" "Take No Prisoners" and "Rust in Peace", the memories of this great record are so, so good.  And some songs just get even better.  A very good album indeed. A-

Album Review: Megadeth - Killing is my Business...And Business is Good! (1985)

Breaking your neck couldn't be simpler with the classic debut album by thrash metallers Megadeth, Killing is my Business...and Business is Good! Pure thrash in it's finest form, and unlike Slayer's Reign in Blood, this album isn't written solely for the purpose of inciting people to break stuff in a fit of rage. This album for me, at least, is more for the fun factor. In analysis, the album bears some thematic similarities to Metallica's Kill 'em All, and interestingly, "Mechanix" and "The Four Horsemen" are essentially the same song with alternate lyrics. Of course, this is due to Dave Mustaine's previous stint as lead guitarist for Metallica. In short, "Killing is my Business...and Business is Good", "Rattlehead", and "Last Rites/Loved to Deth" are the songs to look out for. A must-have album for thrash happy bogans. A

Album Review: Megadeth - Risk (1999)

Back in the late 90s, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich allegedly advised former bandmate and Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine to be more "risky" in producing his albums. Well, Dave took heed of Lars' advice, and it backfired - horribly. Disco music and heavy metal go together about as well as a peanut butter, cucumber and licorice sandwich topped with worcestershire sauce. Someone's bound to like it, but whoever they are, they are clearly mutants and should be put down like a half deaf, half blind three-legged cat that's just suffered a crippling stroke. And Risk is no different. Not only was it not worth the 'risk', it's by far Megadeth's most boring album ever. It makes St. Anger look like Rain in Blood, and makes Another Side of Bob Dylan look like Rust Never Sleeps. If you like Megadeth you will eventually buy it, but like St. Anger it'll be for collector's purposes. Overall, it's about as fun to listen to as vomiting with tonsilitis, and half as exciting as morris dancing. D