MEGADETH: Peace Sells... But Who's Buying ? (THRASH): review / opinion to read on Music Waves

There was 1969, the erotic year. There was 1986: the year of Thrash! Imagine, the same year Metallica's "Master Of Puppets", Slayer's "Reign In Blood" and Megadeth's "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying" were released. And if the first two were already comfortably installed in the Big Four of Thrash, along with Anthrax, Dave Mustaine had just walked through the door. What jumps out at you is the distinct way in which these three works have given the genre its letters of nobility: in a heavier and more melodic way for Metallica, with a limitless and never equalled savagery for Slayer, with an emphasis on technicality and structures for Megadeth.

In only 35 minutes, Dave Mustaine explodes the totality of his talent, erasing all the approximations of his first try. Already, the production has improved a lot, which makes "Peace Sells" sound brilliant and loud! The riffs follow one another, Dave's flayed screams are in perfect adequacy with the mastered chaos, the breaks often open on a deluge of soli leaving your eardrums exsanguinated...

What is most surprising is the mastery of the song structures. Where everything was messy and chaotic on "Killing Is My Business", each development, however short, is here part of a perfectly thought and executed whole. The most striking example comes from the absolute hit of this album: "Peace Sells". Resolutely more calm and groovy on its first part, the title slowly moves towards a crescendo fueled by memorable soli and a chorus taken again without ever wanting to stop.

This album is not only a great album for Megadeth, it is an indispensable work for the posterity of Thrash. Having succeeded in the perfect alliance between technique, rage and melody, it allows the band to take its place at the top of the Olympus of the genre and not to come down any time soon. To possess absolutely... - Official website

MEGADETH

PEACE SELLS... BUT WHO'S BUYING ?

CAPITOL

THRASH