CriedWhenBrucieLeft
Meme Only Account
^ My thoughts exactly.
Megadeth
- Thread starter Night Prowler
- Start date
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
So Far, So Good... So What! (1988)
1. Into The Lungs Of Hell - A morning sunrise. We awake on the beach. Across the water stands the village we are about to invade. Whether it's right or wrong is hardly an issue to our minds; we have orders, and we're going to carry them out come hell or high water. Our captain stands tall, his back to the wind. He calls us all to head to the helicopters; we obey. As we strap in, the bugle sounds. With a single glance back, we turn our eyes towards what's going to come. The smell of napalm lingers in the air. The time for negotiations is over. Our motto now is merely, "Kill or be killed." The rotor blades start to whirl, faster, faster they go, and with a sudden leap into the air... LIFT-OFF, MOTHERFUCKERS! The captain's shout echoes in our brains, and we shoot off into the sky, headed on a warpath of destruction. The foe will not stand in our way. Hails of bullets rain down upon the town. We are in control. To top it all off, we've got a blazing soundtrack of heavy metal music on our side, and it's scaring the shit out of the enemy. That's exactly what "Into The Lungs Of Hell" feels like - something akin to that Wagner-backed chopper scene from Apocalypse Now. The lead guitar is the helicopter's blades, the drums are the guns, the rhythm guitar is all the carnage we leave in our wake, and the bass is our hearts thumping in our chests. To put it plainly and simply - this song is awesome. Not only is it the perfect way to open this album, but it's also the best song this record has to offer. It's just plainly fucking epic. 10/10
2. Set The World Afire - After that absolutely insane beginning, the album quiets down with some oldie music before Megadeth come back up with a heavy as fuck opening in the form of "Set The World Afire". This was the first song Mustaine wrote after his exit from Metallica, and it shows a lot. This entire intro sounds like it could've come straight out of either of Metallica's first two albums. It's about a minute and a half in length and leads to a pretty cool verse in which Dave details the effects of a nuclear war on mankind. I don't like the change-up around 2:50 in this song so much, it loses a bit of the power that the beginning held so well. Luckily that beginning piece does come back after some devastating soloing. Most of this song could receive top marks, IMO, it's a pretty kickass song that I like a lot. The one issue is that change-up in the middle, and for that I'm deducting a point. The rest of this is basically a nuclear explosion in sonic form though. Great stuff. 9/10
3. Anarchy In The U.K. - Ah yes, the fateful Megadeth cover song. After that failed attempt with "I Ain't Superstitious", Mustaine and Co. rebound with their fantastic rendition of the Sex Pistols' classic "Anarchy In The U.K.". This one's tighter than the original and a hell of a lot of fun. The performances here are all top-notch, and it's one of those covers that I actually prefer over the original. I also prefer it to a lot of the songs on this album. To put it succinctly, this one rocks my socks off. I love it, cover or not. 'Cuz I wanna be... ANARCHY! ...that actually describes my reviews quite well, doesn't it?
10/10
4. Mary Jane - Some sinister Mustaine-isms open this song up quite nicely before Dave comes in with a pretty haunting long-held note of "Mary Jane!" I like the riff we go into, but it's a little too similar to the better "In My Darkest Hour" for my liking, and the verse seems to start and stop a bit too much for my taste. The change-up around two minutes in is kinda cool. We get into a groove with some pretty solid vocals before changing up again about another minute later. This verse is pretty solid too, and we exit with a pretty great outro. My biggest issue with this song is mainly that it's not quite outstanding enough in comparison to the other songs here (and even on the previous album). It's good, and I like it, but it could've been a tad better. 8/10
5. 502 - A cool little guitar riff starts up this song. Kinda feels like one of those old films where a guy cranks up the Model T and breaks all the laws and the police are chasing after him... and remember, they're using fucking Model T's. It's hilarious in every sense of the word, and that's also kind of what I think of this song. The verses are decent but not outstanding, the chorus is just bland, and the whole thing is that stupid metal "I'm gonna do the dumbest shit and watch me be cool doing it!" thing that I hate. Dunno if that was Dave's intention with this one or not, but that's how it strikes me, certainly. I do like that part where the car sounds come in before the riff pummels you again, but beyond that, this song goes nowhere for me. The outro is way too long as well. Easily worse than everything that's preceded this song. 5/10
6. In My Darkest Hour - Some eerie acoustic guitar opens up the track before distortion starts setting upon the listener, gradually building up into a pretty great banger of a riff. Dave comes in with some biting lyrics about how the people around him are the worst. It sounds on paper laughable, but there's a reason this song has been such a favorite among Megadeth fans - because they pull it all off quite well. As a note, when Dave says, "Feels so cold...", it sounds like something straight out of a King Diamond album. The verse section lasts for a while but it's worth it, because it's pretty strong. About three and a half minutes into the song we change up into a faster section. My favorite moment on this song is when Dave sings the line, "Loneliness is not only felt by fools!" The way his vocals work there are absolutely fantastic. I don't think the final minute and a half is as good as what preceded it, and while I do really like this song, it doesn't do quite enough for me to get top marks. But I completely get why people call it one of the band's best songs, and I'm almost there myself. Almost, not quite. 9/10
7. Liar - Oh god... this song is terrible. The opening riff isn't exactly my favorite, but the rest of the song only gets worse. Two points of redemption: Mustaine's pronunciation of "sewer rat" and him pulling off that fast-paced section in the middle. Other than that, this song is shit. Terrible diss track in which the band sound worse than whoever they're trying to rip on. The lyrics are completely juvenile and as a whole, the song is a blot in their discography so far. Bonus: Using gay as an insult. What are you, twelve? Bleh. 2/10
8. Hook In Mouth - A heavy bit leads to a bass-backed bit as Dave outlines censorship in action. It's a pretty cool bit and I like it, but I don't think that Dave's vocals on this song are that great. In fact, I think they could constitute as his worst so far. The song gets heavier and features some Metallica-esque riffing. There's some smoking soloing before we head into a pretty cool bit in which the band spells out "freedom" letter by letter, which is pretty cool (particularly "E - we elect them, E - we eject them!"). The problem I have, again, revolves around Dave's vocals. They're just slurring together and he's really struggling to keep it up. After some more soloing we run through that section twice because apparently it doesn't stand up to just one listen. By the time that's done, it's honestly gotten boring. I like his shout of "hook in mouth!" but besides that the song has almost fallen apart at this point. Sadly, it's weaker song than it could've been. I really keep trying to like it, but it's hard. The ideas here are good, but the execution doesn't blow me away. The good parts hold it up enough to stop it from slipping into merely above-average territory, but besides that, it's a disappointing end to the album. 7/10
This album is lean, mean, and absolutely filthy. It sounds dirty and the music proves that. Honestly, it's not a bad album at all, the overall experience is solid. It just languishes because of a bland song ("502"), a terrible song ("Liar"), and a song that should've been better than it was ("Hook In Mouth"). The rest of the album is pretty strong and if we'd gotten three better songs to replace those I mentioned I think it'd have been up there with Peace Sells... As it is, though, it feels more like a step down from that, barely rising above the debut in terms of quality. This album could've been much better, but alas.
Rating: 75%
1. Into The Lungs Of Hell - A morning sunrise. We awake on the beach. Across the water stands the village we are about to invade. Whether it's right or wrong is hardly an issue to our minds; we have orders, and we're going to carry them out come hell or high water. Our captain stands tall, his back to the wind. He calls us all to head to the helicopters; we obey. As we strap in, the bugle sounds. With a single glance back, we turn our eyes towards what's going to come. The smell of napalm lingers in the air. The time for negotiations is over. Our motto now is merely, "Kill or be killed." The rotor blades start to whirl, faster, faster they go, and with a sudden leap into the air... LIFT-OFF, MOTHERFUCKERS! The captain's shout echoes in our brains, and we shoot off into the sky, headed on a warpath of destruction. The foe will not stand in our way. Hails of bullets rain down upon the town. We are in control. To top it all off, we've got a blazing soundtrack of heavy metal music on our side, and it's scaring the shit out of the enemy. That's exactly what "Into The Lungs Of Hell" feels like - something akin to that Wagner-backed chopper scene from Apocalypse Now. The lead guitar is the helicopter's blades, the drums are the guns, the rhythm guitar is all the carnage we leave in our wake, and the bass is our hearts thumping in our chests. To put it plainly and simply - this song is awesome. Not only is it the perfect way to open this album, but it's also the best song this record has to offer. It's just plainly fucking epic. 10/10
2. Set The World Afire - After that absolutely insane beginning, the album quiets down with some oldie music before Megadeth come back up with a heavy as fuck opening in the form of "Set The World Afire". This was the first song Mustaine wrote after his exit from Metallica, and it shows a lot. This entire intro sounds like it could've come straight out of either of Metallica's first two albums. It's about a minute and a half in length and leads to a pretty cool verse in which Dave details the effects of a nuclear war on mankind. I don't like the change-up around 2:50 in this song so much, it loses a bit of the power that the beginning held so well. Luckily that beginning piece does come back after some devastating soloing. Most of this song could receive top marks, IMO, it's a pretty kickass song that I like a lot. The one issue is that change-up in the middle, and for that I'm deducting a point. The rest of this is basically a nuclear explosion in sonic form though. Great stuff. 9/10
3. Anarchy In The U.K. - Ah yes, the fateful Megadeth cover song. After that failed attempt with "I Ain't Superstitious", Mustaine and Co. rebound with their fantastic rendition of the Sex Pistols' classic "Anarchy In The U.K.". This one's tighter than the original and a hell of a lot of fun. The performances here are all top-notch, and it's one of those covers that I actually prefer over the original. I also prefer it to a lot of the songs on this album. To put it succinctly, this one rocks my socks off. I love it, cover or not. 'Cuz I wanna be... ANARCHY! ...that actually describes my reviews quite well, doesn't it?
10/104. Mary Jane - Some sinister Mustaine-isms open this song up quite nicely before Dave comes in with a pretty haunting long-held note of "Mary Jane!" I like the riff we go into, but it's a little too similar to the better "In My Darkest Hour" for my liking, and the verse seems to start and stop a bit too much for my taste. The change-up around two minutes in is kinda cool. We get into a groove with some pretty solid vocals before changing up again about another minute later. This verse is pretty solid too, and we exit with a pretty great outro. My biggest issue with this song is mainly that it's not quite outstanding enough in comparison to the other songs here (and even on the previous album). It's good, and I like it, but it could've been a tad better. 8/10
5. 502 - A cool little guitar riff starts up this song. Kinda feels like one of those old films where a guy cranks up the Model T and breaks all the laws and the police are chasing after him... and remember, they're using fucking Model T's. It's hilarious in every sense of the word, and that's also kind of what I think of this song. The verses are decent but not outstanding, the chorus is just bland, and the whole thing is that stupid metal "I'm gonna do the dumbest shit and watch me be cool doing it!" thing that I hate. Dunno if that was Dave's intention with this one or not, but that's how it strikes me, certainly. I do like that part where the car sounds come in before the riff pummels you again, but beyond that, this song goes nowhere for me. The outro is way too long as well. Easily worse than everything that's preceded this song. 5/10
6. In My Darkest Hour - Some eerie acoustic guitar opens up the track before distortion starts setting upon the listener, gradually building up into a pretty great banger of a riff. Dave comes in with some biting lyrics about how the people around him are the worst. It sounds on paper laughable, but there's a reason this song has been such a favorite among Megadeth fans - because they pull it all off quite well. As a note, when Dave says, "Feels so cold...", it sounds like something straight out of a King Diamond album. The verse section lasts for a while but it's worth it, because it's pretty strong. About three and a half minutes into the song we change up into a faster section. My favorite moment on this song is when Dave sings the line, "Loneliness is not only felt by fools!" The way his vocals work there are absolutely fantastic. I don't think the final minute and a half is as good as what preceded it, and while I do really like this song, it doesn't do quite enough for me to get top marks. But I completely get why people call it one of the band's best songs, and I'm almost there myself. Almost, not quite. 9/10
7. Liar - Oh god... this song is terrible. The opening riff isn't exactly my favorite, but the rest of the song only gets worse. Two points of redemption: Mustaine's pronunciation of "sewer rat" and him pulling off that fast-paced section in the middle. Other than that, this song is shit. Terrible diss track in which the band sound worse than whoever they're trying to rip on. The lyrics are completely juvenile and as a whole, the song is a blot in their discography so far. Bonus: Using gay as an insult. What are you, twelve? Bleh. 2/10
8. Hook In Mouth - A heavy bit leads to a bass-backed bit as Dave outlines censorship in action. It's a pretty cool bit and I like it, but I don't think that Dave's vocals on this song are that great. In fact, I think they could constitute as his worst so far. The song gets heavier and features some Metallica-esque riffing. There's some smoking soloing before we head into a pretty cool bit in which the band spells out "freedom" letter by letter, which is pretty cool (particularly "E - we elect them, E - we eject them!"). The problem I have, again, revolves around Dave's vocals. They're just slurring together and he's really struggling to keep it up. After some more soloing we run through that section twice because apparently it doesn't stand up to just one listen. By the time that's done, it's honestly gotten boring. I like his shout of "hook in mouth!" but besides that the song has almost fallen apart at this point. Sadly, it's weaker song than it could've been. I really keep trying to like it, but it's hard. The ideas here are good, but the execution doesn't blow me away. The good parts hold it up enough to stop it from slipping into merely above-average territory, but besides that, it's a disappointing end to the album. 7/10
This album is lean, mean, and absolutely filthy. It sounds dirty and the music proves that. Honestly, it's not a bad album at all, the overall experience is solid. It just languishes because of a bland song ("502"), a terrible song ("Liar"), and a song that should've been better than it was ("Hook In Mouth"). The rest of the album is pretty strong and if we'd gotten three better songs to replace those I mentioned I think it'd have been up there with Peace Sells... As it is, though, it feels more like a step down from that, barely rising above the debut in terms of quality. This album could've been much better, but alas.
Rating: 75%
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
CriedWhenBrucieLeft
Meme Only Account
Yeh, nonsense ratings for those two.
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
Overall I'd say that SFSGSW is my favorite of the 80s Megadeth albums. Unpopular opinion for sure. It's also worse than anything by 80s Metallica.
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
I await any sort of explanation on why "Liar" isn't dogshit.
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
Nice aggressive thrash song. Early Megadeth in a nutshell.
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
The lyrics don't bother me.
CriedWhenBrucieLeft
Meme Only Account
Disproportionate hyperbole.
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
Absolutely, Set the World Afire being the third best.
KidInTheDark666
What's yours is mine and what's mine is mine too
There is only one album that has an instrumental track in my top 3 tracks of the album. And that is Endgame by Megadeth.
Jer
'Til Tomorrow
- The guitar intro rips.
- The verse groove with the nice staccato bits (sorry, @Legatodave) is cool.
- Just try doing that vocal bridge (“Start trouble, spread pain...”) in one breath like Dave does.
- The endless stream of shit-talking is funny.
- Dave sounds great on “ah, you, you, you fucking liar!!”
Jer
'Til Tomorrow
I think you started hitting the crack pipe during “Mary Jane” and the effect didn’t fully kick in until “Liar”. You were clearly off your rocker by the end of the album...
Diesel 11
As you scream into the web of silence...
Really doesn't do much for me.
The groove is decent enough but marred by Dave.
That is one of the only impressive things about the song.
FTFY.
He's got far better moments on the album.
Like, not even in the context of Megadeth, but in music as a whole, I really don't like this song.
Jer
'Til Tomorrow
I would rather listen to “Liar” on infinite repeat all day than listen to Blaze’s “One More Step” even once.