Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good! (1985)
1.
Last Rites / Loved To Deth - Perhaps taking a page out of Metallica's book (given
Ride The Lightning's acoustic intro on "Fight Fire With Fire") or perhaps not, Megadeth opens up their debut with a cool little piano piece that sounds like it could've come from a '70s hard rock / prog album. It builds its way up until we break into some really fast-paced riffing from the boys and some pretty awesome Dave screams. It's speed metal personified and it's pretty great. I'm not such a big fan of the rest of the song, though. The verses are really bumpy; the riffs feel like being on a dirt road, jerking up and down. It's a start-stop thing that I don't really care. It gets better with more and more listens, but I still don't really think this song is that great. It's a lot of "oomph" for an opening, and slays the band's rivals in Metallica for speed and aggression, certainly, but I feel it could've been a bit better. There's enough good things here to round it up a bit, but I hold that it's one of the weakest songs on the album. That ending is great, though.
6/10
2.
Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good! - The title track opens with a rising guitar piece that rips open into a really cool riff that I've always liked. This first verse is pretty cool, too. I don't really like how it goes into the faster section and then back into the original riff. Dave sounds pretty solid on this song, so that's pretty nice. We head into a faster bit that brings us into the title refrain, which would end up working on "Peace Sells" better than on this track, but I still think it's pretty good here. There isn't much here, it's one of the shortest songs on the album, but it's a solid enough number and I think the riff and the final minute are worth the price of admission. Solid song.
7/10
3.
The Skull Beneath The Skin - A high-pitched guitar opens this song, gradually speeding up before moving into a really cool riff piece that I quite like. I wish we could've had the entire song based around that, because I don't like the actual body quite as much, though I still it's pretty good. The bass here is great. It's quite loud in the mix and it just works so well. Ellefson has such a tight style to his playing, and I really like it. The verses are pretty solid. There's really not much more that I can say about this one. Like the title track, it's a pretty solid number and I don't dislike it at all. Not quite outstanding enough for me, though.
7/10
4.
These Boots - Breaking away from the new (and improved)
The Last Kill edition of the album to go into the most controversial track on the record: "These Boots", a cover of the classic Nancy Sinatra track (that happens to be better than Megadeth's cover, don't @ me). We open with some radio pieces before the song opens in a pretty slow style, and I quite like it. Then we start building up into a faster piece (really bass driven, too). Mustaine basically attacks his former bandmates with his scathing alterations to the original lyrics. He also sounds pretty good on the line "...one day these boots are gonna walk all over you". Like I said, I think that the original version of this song is the better one, but that doesn't mean I dislike Megadeth's rendition. In fact, I quite like it. It doesn't deserve the shit it's received over the years and I'd love to see it finally get some sort of justice.
8/10
5.
Rattlehead - I really like the opening to this song, it's some pretty cool speed metal stuff. The band is really on fire throughout the track. Guitars are thrashing as fast as possible, the bass is going nuts, and the drums are keeping all the chaos reined in to make sure they can record it as audio. Mustaine's vocals work pretty well on this song too, and I like how it slows down in areas to allow for a pause before the speed comes back. I don't think it's the most outstanding song from the record, but I do like it a lot nonetheless. Probably the fastest song on here certainly, so there's bonus points for that.
8/10
6.
Chosen Ones - I really like the first part of this song. The Metallica-esque riff and the verses work really well. The refrain piece is even better. The change-up after the first two rounds isn't as good, though, and that fake ending really bothers me more than it should. The final refrain reprise doesn't work as well as it did the first couple times. It's kind of a shame; I think if the song had stayed in the same gear the entire way through, it could've been one of the best on here, but that change-up brings it down for me. I think it's one of the most uninteresting and unremarkable songs on here because of that. Sad jams.
6/10
7.
Looking Down The Cross - I really like this opening, it's some really eerie shit and it works great as build-up. The noodlier stuff that comes in is pretty cool. Dave's vocals work great here in bringing the song forward, and I absolutely love that verse here. The guitars sound pretty fantastic as well. The bass-driven piece near the middle is really neat as well, and again, Dave's vocals work well here too. The ending piece is pretty great too. I think this may be the strongest song on the album. It's also the longest, so maybe that's representative of quality, but then again, it feels shorter than its five minutes. It's pretty great all around. I'm lovin' it.
9/10
8.
Mechanix - And no for the original "Four Horsemen" that Mustaine repurposed for his new band. I really like the opening and the way the riff kicks in is great too, but it's way faster than in Metallica's version. That's not necessarily bad though, because Megadeth keeps things tight and controlled and it works out well for them. Obviously these lyrics fucking suck, but Dave manages to make them work well enough in the context of the actual song that I really don't mind them so much. Really, my biggest issue is... why listen to "Mechanix" when "Four Horsemen" is better? For that matter, Metallica's reconstruction of that song in the form of "Prince Charming" is better than "Mechanix" too, and I'd rather just hear them back-to-back than this song. But that's not to say that this is bad, because it isn't. It just sorta pales in comparison. Especially in the lyrical department. Great ending to the album though.
8/10
If there's one thing I can say about
Kill 'Em All, it's that Metallica seemed to have their directions fleshed out better than Megadeth did with
Killing. The one big issue, however, is that KEA takes fucking forever to go through (it's nearly an hour long!), which makes this album much easier to digest. It's almost half the runtime of its counterpart, and it's got a speedy, raw vibe that's kinda fun and makes for an enjoyable record. That said, it does take a few listens to get that, and it's far from a perfect album overall, but it's still pretty good just the same. Compared to
Ride The Lightning, which was released the previous year, it's not that great, but hey, Megadeth took another step forward with their sophomore release, so this is just more proof that not many bands are gonna nail it right from the start.
Rating:
74%
