Killing Is My Business...And Business Is Good!

Killing Is My Business...And Business Is Good!

Track Listings

1. Last Rites/Loved to Death

2. Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good

3. Skull Beneath the Skin

4. Rattlehead

5. Chosen Ones

6. Looking Down the Cross

7. Mechanix

Tracks:

Last Rites/Loved to Death
Killing is My Business...And Business Is Good
The Skull Beneath the Skin
Rattlehead
Chosen Ones
Looking Down the Cross
Mechanix
These Boots
Last Rites/Loved to Deth (Unreleased Original 1984 Demo)
Mechanix (Unreleased Original 1984 Demo)
The Skull Beneath the Skin (Unreleased Original 1984 Demo)

Album Description

Deluxe Edition sees the entire record remixed by Dave Mustane and producer/mixer Bill Kennedy, completely digitally remastered, 4 original 1984 demo's are added as bonus tracks. Also includes original artwork intended to be on album packaging, song by song liner notes by Dave Mustane & bassist David Ellefson. Demo versions - 'Last Rites/Loved To Death', 'The Skull Beneath The Skin' and 'Machanix'. Loud Records.

Customer Reviews:

Better Believe It!.......2007-07-12

Megadeth's first album. Dave Mustaine was kicked out from Metallica before they were making their first album. Mustaine was one of the writers in four songs in "Kill 'em All"..."Phantom Lord", "Jump in the Fire", "Metal Militia", and..."The Four Hoursemen"...Mustaine made his own lyrics to "Four Horsemen"...it was called "Mechanix"...it has the same riffs but a little bit different lyrics. Actually, "Four Horsemen" was called "Mechanics" before...it was Dave's song! I like Megadeth more than Metallica but I think Metallica's version of that song was a little bit better than Megadeth's. But there's better songs in KIMB...the first song is fast but sad..."Last Rites/ Loved to Death"...I like the riff so much...it is one of my favourite megadeth songs. "Killing Is My Business...And Business Is Good!"...need I to say that there's excellent lyrics? There's also great metal riffs...it is a killer track! "Skull Beneath the Skin" is also a great track...it comes better all the time you're listening to it. "Rattlehead" and "Chosen Ones" are great heavy metal tracks. "Looking Down the Cross" is at first peaceful then it becomes heavier...and the lyrics are awesome! Megadeth's debut is an original sounded...they had still that innocence (in music) that also Black Sabbath had in their debut...like most of the band has in their first albums. It may sound a little bit raw but that's what makes it special.
Stars: Last Rites/ Loved to Death, Killing Is My Business...And Business Is Good!, Looking Down the Cross, Rattlehead

Great debut album.......2007-04-26

This is a great debut album for one of the greatest metal bands of all time. I prefer megadeth to metallica. This is probably the fastest album they put out, it starts fast with last rites/loved to deth and doesnt let up until the last track. Great technical musicianship and catchy riffs flood this album. Its a must own album for any megadeth fan, although i would recommend rust in peace first for newbies.

Metal where it begins !! .......2007-02-10

This is it , this is the real deal when it comes to Metal , this album is a timeless classic ! songs like "rattlehead" "chosen ones" & "Mechanix" (far better than metallicas take on this).
Nice that Dave remixed this , he really brought out the guitars & the vocals a lot more & got better seperation on everything .
This was a low budget album , but it's now at it's best , killer playing , killer songs & now killer sound ... turn this up!

METAL.......2006-11-16

this is a good metal album,not as good as other megadeth records but you can definitely see the potential there,i would recommend this to any metal fan

Awesome, awesome CD........2006-11-09

The 2nd heaviest MegadetH CD right behind "So Far, So Good... So What?" CD.

Not a bad song on this entire CD anywhere.

Many songs have a very early MetallicA feel to them, well that's b/c Dave wrote the good chunk of very early MetallicA's songs, that he never got credit for. But that's another story for another time.

Scott Ian from AnTHRaX writes up the review of the CD in the CD cover notes.

Dave writes some after-thoughts of this CD as well in the CD cover notes.

"These Boots" will not sound the same as it was on the original CD, b/c of the band being threatened by a law-suit from the original songwriter, so the band purposely screwed up the song and bleebed out much of the song to avoid a law-suit and by destroying the song, it was also making a joke and a statement to the original song-writer. (Dave explains all of this in the liner-notes in the CD cover).

No reverb sound on this CD, which is very nice. Although there is a lot of reverb sound on the demo songs, but what do you expect? Those demos are about 25 years old.

You are also going to hear some J.S. Bach Classical Music on here too at the beginning of "Last Rites / Loved to Deth" song. Don't freak out and think this is a Classical Music CD b/c the song starts out with J.S. Bach Classical Music.

"Mechanix" is the same song as "4 Horsemen" from MetallicA, but with completely different lyrics. Exact same music, different lyrics.

"This next song can be interpreted 2 ways: You have our way, and you have their (MetallicA's) way. Personally, I perfer our way the best. The next song is Mechanix." (What Dave said at the beginning of "Mechanix" on "Rude Awakening" 2-CD concert set).

You can't go wrong with this CD. You just can't go wrong with the first 4 MegadetH CDs.

Killing Is My Business...And Business Is Good!

Average customer rating:

Did the business and came back for more
Raw and thrashing debut. But their best was yet to come.
Megadeth's debut is the most primal
Pretty Good
Nancy Sinatra is a !@%*?

Killing Is My Business...And Business Is Good!
Megadeth
Manufacturer: Relativity
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Metal | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Thrash & Speed Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music

So Far, So Good...So What!
Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?
Rust in Peace
Countdown to Extinction
Youthanasia

ASIN: B000003C4I
Release Date: 1990-06-12

Tracks:

Last Rites/Loved To Death
Killing Is My Business...And Business Is Good!
Skull Beneath The Skin
Rattlehead
Chosen Ones
Looking Down The Cross
Mechanix

Customer Reviews:

Did the business and came back for more.......2007-06-02

And Dave Mustaines split with Metallica begat Megadeth. Dual flag flyer with his erstwhile band for the thrash movement (killed stone dead by grunge). This debut sees Mustaine with a point to prove yet not quite posessing the tools to do so.

A quick appraisal of the album unearths the following points;

- Visceral performances from all involved, Mustaine + Poland shredding over Gar Samuelson and Dave Ellefsons rhythm section.
- Terrible 'phoned in' production values which is probably indicative of budget and inexperience
- The title track. A towering metal achievement which has gone down in metal folklore of the genre. Career defining in the best possible way.
- The birth of Vic Rattlehead - one of the few backwardly acceptable mascots anywhere in the genre. Hey, it's totally outside the music, but still indicative of the albums feel.
- Fairly anonymous filler tracks all over the place. At the end of the day this would be an issue that would haunt the band for a couple more releases until the watershed Rust in Peace album.

All up this is a release that has a few great moments but is actually more momentous for ushering in the existence of a new band. This release is missing a track, dunno why. But Mustaine redid the darn thing anyway later on down the line. I mean, it was either that or try to refind his muse right?

Raw and thrashing debut. But their best was yet to come........2006-09-15

Dave Mustaine has been leading Megadeth for well over 20 years now, and it all started with "Killing is My Business...and Business is Good" way back in 1985. While this album doesn't stack up well against their more famous releases ("Peace Sells...But Who's Buying" and "Rust in Peace" in particular), it does have its own merits and is worth checking out for any fan of their music for at least history's sake.

The production is not particularly good at all which is the main difference between this and latter albums. The musicianship is certainly not that bad, it's just that the sound is very, very raw from start to finish. I guess Metallica and Slayer also had debut albums that were far rawer produced than the rest of their discographies. There are plenty of high speed thrashing riffs and shredding lead work on show. Dave's vocal style can get a little ugly at times and I guess it's a bit of a love it or hate it scenario.

Highlights for me are the raging "Rattlehead" and "Looking Down the Cross". It's worth noting that there are a few different versions of this album out there so make sure you get the one you want. One has a cover version of These Boots complete with multiple swear words, one completely omits the cover and then there's the remastered edition which includes the track albeit with beeped out expletives.

This is not an album I listen to very often. Following albums by Megadeth are far superior (well, most of them anyway) in so many ways and I don't really find value in this one any more. But it served its purpose at the time, and it's certainly a seriously thrashing piece of metal. I guess it's for the really big Megadeth fans out there that have to have all their albums.

Megadeth's debut is the most primal.......2006-04-18

Megadeth's first CD is their rawest effort, as one would expect. The songs are shorter and the guitarwork is more primitive than their later more technical releases. The rawness only shows how awesome it is. Sloppy production, raspy vocals, muddy guitars, the works. I think Dave Mustaine should do a side project that plays music similar to Megadeth's debut. This CD isn't the best one to start with if your new to Megadeth, but a fan should own this CD at all costs.

Pretty Good.......2006-04-15

Not bad, not bad atall, apart from the production, this album remains as one of the very first classic albums in thrash history !!

Nancy Sinatra is a !@%*?.......2005-07-11

This is the strongest, angriest Megadeth album of them all. It has "REVENGE" written all over it in blood. When Dave Mustaine got kicked out of Metallica and saw them making hits out of his own songs he decided enough was enough. He formed Megadeth and played faster, heavier and better than Metallica. Noticeably, "Mechanix" is the perfect example of Mustaine's thirst for vengeance, as it pissed all over Metallica's slower version, "The Four Horsemen".
Dispite the production the whole album was very solid... until Nancy Sinatra heard the spoof of one her songs, "Boots Are Made For Walking". Her agents demanded ludicrous royalties and so the band made the difficult decision of dropping the song from further copies of the album. Even thought it later reappeared on the deluxe edition, it was censored. The Sinatra gang believed the new lyrics were unacceptable and would not allow Megadeth to use the song unless they dropped the words.
However, if you have a CD burner, do what I did... Buy this version if you can't find the original in second hand shops, then download "These Boots" and burn a new copy with the song as track 4. Try a european version of that search engine (the one with a black dog... can't tell you what it's called) and type "Megadeth Boots" in the mp3 section, they'll deliver a pretty good quality file.
I hope I don't get my arse kicked for advertising here.