Not their best, but still great
Megadeth's third album features a new lead guitarist and a new drummer. After Gar Samuelson and Chris Poland were kicked out, they were replaced by Chuck Behler (drums) and Jeff Young (lead guitar). Although Jeff Young isn't as good as Chris Poland, he is still a great guitarist and delivers some really good solos on the record. However, Chuck Behler's drums suck. Maybe they just sound so bad because of the piss-poor production of this album, which features a boring cover of Anarchy in the U.K., most likely because there are no stylistic changes from the original. I never liked "Mary Jane" or "502" very much either, but The other tracks make up for those weak ones, which is why this album is still great. Despite the bad production and drum quality, this album contains three of my all time favorite Megadeth songs ever - "In My Darkest Hour" (Mustaine's metal tribute to Metallica bassist Cliff Burton) is such an incredible song both lyrically and musically along with "Hook in Mouth." "Liar" is the other song that I love on this album - the guitar riff is sweet and the lyrics are deliciously rude, it's not epic like "In my darkest hour" or "Hook in mouth," but it's fun. Other great songs are "into the lungs of hell" (a mustaine instrumental that rips) and "set the world afire." Basically, if you're a Megadeth fan, you should get this album, but not before buying "Rust in Peace" and "Peace sells...but who's buying."
Not terrible, not great, just average.
After the Peace Sells tour, guitarist Chris Poland and drummer Gar Samuelson were fired from Megadeth. Jeff Young and Chuck Behler were their replacements who would last even shorter in the band than their predecessors. How does this album, the only one to feature this album, measure up? Read on.Into the Lungs of Hell: Light instrumental that soon becomes a heavier one. Good as an album starter but not much else. B+
Set the World Afire: Extremely fast and heavy. Enough said. A-
Anarchy in the U.K.: Megadeth covers the Sex Pistols, and it proves to be one of their WORST earlier efforts. The style fusion didn't work great here. C+
Mary Jane: Eighties Megadeth at its best. This track combines heavy and melodic stuff perfectly.
502: Hard rocker with sweet instrumental usage and some of Dave's best vocals to date. A
In My Darkest Hour: Dark and slow, Dave pays tribute to deceased Metallica bassist Cliff Burton here. This dark side is AWESOME. A+
Liar: Mid-fast tempo hard rocker. Strong effort. A
Hook in Mouth: Fairly generic hard rocker. B-
Though good for the most part, this album isn't one of Megadeth's best. In fact, I consider this their WORST album. The next one is where they'd achieve true greatness for the first time...
Underrated
For awhile, this was my favorite Megadeth album, due in part to nostalgic reasons (it was my first Megadeth album). I love the way this one sounds, it's got great production, and some great songs. Jeff Young is overlooked as a great guitarist. I love everything about this one -- even the cover (front and back!). Recommended.
3.5 stars - Their weakest album, but still a solid effort
So Far, So Good... So What! (1988.) Megadeth's third album.
By 1988, Megadeth had released two thrash metal albums that were pretty cool. Unfortunately, the band was far from being stable. These guys abused drugs and alcohol than most other bands of the day put together! Becasue guitarist Chris Poland and drummer Gar Samuelson were becoming increasingly unstable (Poland even sold the band's equipment for drug money), they were expelled from the band. To replace them, guitarist Jeff Young and drummer Chuck Behler were recruited. Only one album was recorded with these two members of the band. So Far, So Good... So What! was released in 1988. How does it measure up? Read on and find out.
This is, in my opinion, the weakest Megadeth album. But still, I give it three and a half (out of five) stars. The album shows the band in a state of transition, and not necessarily in a good way. With Poland and Samuelson gone, a good deal of the chemistry in the band had disappeared. Young and Behler were good musicians, but they just didn't fit into Megadeth that well. Nonetheless, the album does manage to serve up some pretty strong tunes. The opening instrumental Into The Lungs Of Hell, the fast and furious Set The World Afire, the underrated rocker Mary Jane, and the half ballad In My Darkest Hour are among the band's finest compositions. Hook In Mouth, Dave's attempt at lashing out at the man who resulted in Parental Advisory stickers being put on many albums, is also an excellent song. And who could forget Liar, Dave's attempt to lash out at Chris Poland for pawning away his guitars? The other two songs are nothing too special. 502 is a subpar song, and the sirens and car crashing noises are pretty annoying. Likewise, the cover of the Sex Pistols song Anarchy In The U.K. just isn't that great. They'd do a MUCH better Sex Pistols cover, Problems, in the mid nineties. In the end, this is a good album, but I won't deny that it is, quite literally, Megadeth's darkest hour.
Unfortunately (as of June 17, 2004), there is only one version of this album currently available in America - the original CD issue. The production quality on this album is simply horrid. Give it a listen and you'll see what I mean. Like Peace Sells, this album needs some serious remastering! Hopefully the record company hears our plea.
In the end, this is a good album, but it is NOT the place to start if you're new to Megadeth (I bought this album first, and it damn near destroyed my interest in the band before I had even heard any of their nineties stuff.) If you're a Megadeth newbie, start with Rust In Peace, their 1990 album - you can't go wrong there. If you're a tried and true Megadeth fan, by all means add this record to your collection, but if you're just a casual fan or a newbie, don't bother.
so far. so good. until this!
I cant see how all these people are praising this album and giving it 4 stars plus. The correct rating for this album is no higher than 3. After the very enjoyable and orginal Peace Sells album Megadeth throws fans for a loop and releases this sub par thrash release. At a time when it was important to make great heavy albums like Metallica and Slayer, Megadeth took a step downward.
Strengths: INto the Lungs of Hell, Set the world a fire, IN my Darkest HOur are all suitable and adequate songs. really nothing special though.
Weaknesses: Anarchy is absolutely horrific. No disrespect to Punk music or The Sex Pistols but didnt the band realize how terrible this sounded in the studio. Far worse than their odd cover of I aint Superstitious off the last album. Mary Jane is just odd and spacey, really hard to pay attention while its playing. Liar is lame with corny lyrics and a juvenile subject matter. HOok in Mouth is actually my fav of the horrible songs, kinda catchy at best, really simplistic at worst.
so far, so good, so what aptly named and not a good place to start when looking for a good megadeth release. Strictly for hardcore fans who must own anything. This album made the release of Rust in Peace that much more surprising and satisfying.
