Metal fans will know this already, but to me it came as a revelation while watching the music documentary "Some Kind Of Monster" on DVD : Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine was a founding member of Metallica - the original lead guitarist, to be precise. In the movie, Metallica are facing an "existential" crisis and going through group therapy. As a consequence they finally decide to talk with Mustaine about the time they threw him off the band. He gets emotional about the perceived injustice of it, and cries in front of the camera. He later asked them not to show this moment on film, but of course they ignored him because he had given his written consent before the filming. For those who don't know the story, the other members had secretly arranged to replace him as soon as their tour ended. After the last gig (in New York) they told him he was fired and left him with only a bus ticket to L.A. (a four-day journey) while they flew to their destination with their new guitarist to record their first album, including songs written by Mustaine. And the moral of the story is: Metallica are assholes. Of course we all knew it already from the napster trial, when they turned against their own fans for downloading their music. And, in any case, this isn't about Metallica. It's about Mustaine's next band.
Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? is Megadeth's second album, recorded with the band in various stages of drug abuse and homelessness. It quickly gained acceptance in metal cycles and is now considered a pivotal album of early thrash metal. Like their peers (the so-called Big 4 included Megadeth, Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax) they dealt in ultra-fast drumming and aggressive vocals, but they also had the advantage of two highly skilled guitarists (Mustaine and Poland) who could both lay one fast riff after another as well as play shredding solos. Lyrical themes include the occult, sex, violence, and -a rarity in this genre- the odd social commentary. Opener "Wake Up Dead" is a tight number with a catchy riff, while "Conjuring" builds up slowly, beginning with satanic incantations before evolving into another riff-fest. The anti-establishment title track opens with a playful bass line and continues with an infectious riff and Sabbath-y chorus. The lyrics are partly spoken (don't call it rap) and partly sung. The band made a suitably aggressive promo video for it (their first) which got them some MTV exposure. While the first three tracks touch perfection, from here on there's a slight drop in quality - not that there's anything wrong with the galloping rhythms of "Devil's Island" or more conventional metal of "The Last Words". "Good Mourning/Black Friday" and "Bad Omen" are more complex compositions, even including acoustic passages, but somewhat directionless despite the great playing. "I Ain't Superstitious" is the odd song out, a classic blues in Zeppelin vein. I don't know what their fans made of it, but I enjoyed it. The CD reissue adds four alternative early mixes which aren't drastically different to my ears. If, on the other hand, you're overtly familiar with the album you may appreciate the small differences. Last but not least, the cover is as iconic as the music, featuring Megadeth mascot Vic Rattlehead in front of a post-apocalyptic U.N. building. I'm guessing that, if you like thrash metal, you already know this album inside out. If you're not familiar with the genre, this is a good place to start. Just press play on the youtube clips below.
***** for Peace Sells
**** for Wake Up Dead, The Conjuring, Devils Island, My Last Words
*** for Good Mourning/Black Friday, Bad Omen, I Ain't Superstitious
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