Quarter Century Review: Killing Is My Business

Megadeth
Killing Is My Business....And Business Is Good
Combat
Produced by Dave Mustaine and Karat Faye

The album that began the quest of Dave Mustaine to crush his former bandmates in Metallica beneath his bootheels starts with, curiously, a piano. Seconds later, the thrashing begins with "Last Rites/Loved To Deth,". There would be no relenting again. Though Megadeth's legacy in metal is now cemented, in 1985 Dave Mustaine was desperate to succeed and to prove to his detractors that he could be a force to be reckoned with.

If comparing this to Metallica's debut Kill 'Em All, I'll probably give the edge to Metallica. However, Mustaine had a great deal to do with the songs and musical direction of Kill 'Em All, having several songwriting credits. One of theose credits was the classic "The Four Horseman,", the one song that was poached a bit here with the album's closing track "Mechanix,". Musically, the original lineup of Dave Ellefson on bass, Chris Poland on lead guitar, and Gar Samuelson is the second best of many configurations of Megadeth (first being the early-mid '90s lineup). At the end of the day, Mustaine and company definitely made a debut album to be proud of and instantly made a name for themselves as one of thrash metal's best and pioneers of the genre.

Overall Grade = 8.11