WSOU

“Killing Is My Business… and Business Is Good!” 30th Anniversary

Date: August 6, 2015

By Magic Mike

 

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Megadeth's first album "Killing Is My Business… and Business Is Good!" 30 years later, Megadeth's first endeavor still holds up as one of the albums that pioneered thrash metal and shaped it into what it later became. It doesn't quite have the technical chops of "Rust in Peace" or the melodies of "Countdown to Extinction," but what it does have is raw anger accompanied by blistering tempos that only a pissed off Dave Mustaine could bring to the table. Of course after getting the boot from Metallica, it probably felt like his only option.

The album's opening track "Last Rites/Loved to Deth" begins with a surprisingly uncharacteristic classical piano intro, only to explode moments later into the fast paced, in-your-face, revenge driven cacophony that is a precursor to the rest of the album. The title track is about a mercenary and features a ripping guitar solo by Chris Poland in the outro. The album also features "The Mechanix." A song that's music Dave wrote for Metallica that eventually became "The Four Horsemen." Dave, after hearing that, decided that the only logical step was to record his own version of the song, ramping up the tempo and changing the lyrics to be about having "relations" in a gas station. I for one applaud his ingenuity. Another track worth mentioning on the album is their cover of "These Boots" by Nancy Sinatra. I have a hard time even describing it because almost half of the lyrics are bleeped out. So really just do yourself a favor and listen to it. It's interesting to say the least.

Overall, although the album suffers from shoddy production due to most of the budget being blown for drugs, "Killing Is My Business… and Business Is Good!" was a solid debut.


Please note that the opinions expressed in this review are the opinions of the writers alone, they do not necessarily reflect the opinions of WSOU, Seton Hall University, nor any of its affiliates.

Posted in: Album Review, Metal, WSOU Exclusive, Vintage 80's

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