Just in case you were lulled by the reviews of thousand year-old books and hundred year-old music, here's a reminder that it's all random here.
I've managed to cover a decent sampling of the Megadeth story over the past two years, at least the story up until Dave Mustaine's "injury" in 2002 that temporarily ended the band. Since then they've cranked out six more albums of varying quality.
Here we go back to almost the beginning, with the band's major label debut. It features the "original" lineup (I qualify this as it is actually the first lineup of Megadeth to record, not the first ever) and can safely be called an expansion of the first album's sound, with improved production. Like most of the "first era" Megadeth albums, it is useful to see this album as a competitor with Metallica, who in the same year released their third album, Master of Puppets. While that album is very "pure" thrash, Megadeth is a little more adventuresome, with a bit more varied compositions and instrumentation. Although it has harder-than-Metallica sections, that isn't always the case. Geographically, too, Megadeth was dealing with competition from hair and glam metal, which were in high gear by mid-decade, all of it based in Southern California. If anybody needed to see the contrast side by side, just check out the Decline and Fall of Western Civilizations Part II, where Megadeth looks and sounds completely different from all their hairspray-drunk counterparts. Their rivals up in Northern California didn't have to deal with this nearly as much, so it's a real credit that Megadeth was able to stand up to it and forge their own sound.
This was the first Megadeth album I ever owned. Being in high school I remember sheepishly making sure my parents weren't around for tracks like "Black Friday" and "Bad Omen", lest they think their only son turned into a god-foresaken devil worshiper. I never went full Slayer when it came to faux-Satanism, but this was close!
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