Before we head into this review I feel the need to fully disclose this is one of my favourite albums OF ALL TIME. Therefore any review of this album will be blowing smoke up these guys ass big time.
I Still remember the day I heard MEGADETH’s So Far.. So Good.. So What? album. It wasn’t long after the teenage version of me bought Metallica’s “…And Justice for All” (Gee, there was a lot of full stop’s in those last few sentences…) and for me while Metallica completely blew me away at the time with that release, I have to say Megadeth came in with shorter sharper songs, that just appealled to me in a primal way.
The album opens up with “Into the Lungs of Hell” an instrumental which showcases the bands musical capabilities and more importantly showcases Mustaine as the master of thrash metal (or as he liked to call it then “State of the Art Speed Metal”). The song is almost classical in its movements and attention to scalic melodies. This is performed with a level of aggression, skill and venom that has seldom if ever been matched in metal since.
The album fades into “Set the World on Fire” with some of the most break-neck riffage ever seen in metal. And then Dave Mustaine’s voice kicks in. His voice is filled with spite. Snarly vocals that push across Dave’s attitude problem with almost everthing. As a lyricist myself, I have to say 80’s period Megadeth is some of the best lyrics ever to have been put to paper. His lyrics were well beyond anything Metallica were putting out, and I have to say he probably had Kirk Hammett beat out on his lead guitar skills as well.
“Anarchy in the UK” follows and I have to say is a really cool re-working of the classic punk song. I had been friends with a lot punks at this point in my life and it was great to see Megadeth shove it up the punks by playing their song better than any of them could have ever played it.
Next up is the first time the listener gets to come up for air with “Mary Jane” Dave Mustaine’s ode to dope. The song is slower and allows some room for breathing but again everything is perfect and the musician ship is beyond anything. Once the initial slow part of this song is through the song blazes along with some of the most kick ass guitar solos ever laid to tape courtesy of both Jeff Young and Dave Mustaine.
502… Fuckin’ hell, I love this song. Pure attitude. I love the lyrics and everything Dave does in this song. A song about drinking, driving and being an asshole. It’s so Dave and it’s so perfect.
Face Melting solo after face solo’s have now left me in a state of non belief that any human can play like this. Next up is the haunting, almost ballad-ish “In My Darkest Hour” with hints of Dave wanting to end his own life. We all go through dark periods in our life but for me no-one has ever summed it up so well as in this song. Again another barrage of the finest guitar solo’s to ever grace a metal record.
“LIAR” captures the antics of a full blown drug addict as only the way that someone who has lived through addiction (Mustaine was basically in peak addiction mode for this record) but lyrically this is top notch. I listen to how fast the lyrics on this are and wonder how the hell he managed to sing so fast and enunciate every word. Again another array of world beating guitar solos and riffs that left everyone in the metal scene for dead.
Lastly we have “Hook in Mouth” and again this is world beating thrash metal that really tells a story. This is some of the fastest guitar riffs ever laid down in history and it’s much more intricate than antyhing Metallica ever did. I know Mustaine was fuelled by a desire to out do his old band Metallica and on this record, he out did the world.
Now that the album is over I literally cannot think of another album that ever has perfectly captured the musicianship and the attitude that represents heavy metal as ths one record. The only other ones that come close are Slayer’s “Reign in Blood” and Metallica’s “Master of Puppets”. This is Heavy Metal perfection. Despite everything Dave Mustaine has done to ruin his own reputation and legacy this album will always stand above all in the world of heavy metal. Thank you Dave for producing such a great album, we will never forget!”
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