Peace Sells… but Who’s Buying?

Dave Mustaine really can't sing can he? But who cares, this absolutely slaps. Peace Sells is exactly what I want in my thrash metal – the raw, snarling aggression, breakneck tempos and anti-establishment sneer of hardcore punk entwined with relentlessly complex musicianship, where Mustaine and Chris Poland trade intense, intricate riffs.

You really can decipher Poland's background in jazz fusion through the way his solos bend around Mustaine's shredding, which really does elevate this all the more for me. The rhythm section is phenomenal as well, completely disregarding the typical thump of traditional metal drumming with frantic, shifting time signatures and creative cymbal work, whilst some truly filthy bass lines anchor the carnage.

This deserves more regular playtime on my deck, for sure.

Sounds like, and very much is, an album by a guitarist with an axe to grind. Super technical, constantly changing hyperactive songs full of high tempo.riffs and squealing shredding solos.

100% in one ear and out the other. I'm sorry Dave. Like, I'm usually one to write lengthier reviews, but nothing about this grabbed me. Maybe I wasn't paying enough attention? But I cannot find myself returning to any of this. Funniest thing about it is how it starts: like an album already in progress. Goofy singing. Nice drumming though. And completely masturbatory solos.

Actually a good album, but it gets a bit monotonous in the long run.

It's pretty decent. It's quite full-on, but accomplished and fun enough.

Favorite track(s): Wake Up Dead, The Conjuring, Peace Sells, Good Mourning / Black Friday,

Heard before
Previous rating: 8/10

Mustaine actually annoyed me slightly less on this record than he did on Countdown to Extinction, but I still find him pretty difficult to listen to. I also found this record a bit tighter musically on both an arrangement and production level. Overall, though, I can only acknowledge my own failings to hear what is cool, badass, or appealing about this.

2/5

Was OK, love the technical guitar and drum work but the songs aren't strong enough to warrant very good status.

Cool and fun listen looking forward to see what other metal albums I come across on this list.

Stilgetreuer Metall mit erkennbarer musikalischer Qualität.

Speed metal makes me irrationally mad. Yes dude, we hear the shredding!

Standout: Peace Sells

Not as good as Metallica

A thrashing good time. Not quite at the level of Rust In Peace without Friedman’s leads.

I always liked Megadeth, even though I never really thought Dave Mustaine has a good voice. The instrumentals never disappointed. This album is great. The lyrics are not the best, and the singing certainly isn't great, but the music is amazing. Nevertheless, I am keeping the 5 star rating for Rust In Peace.

This album reminded me a lot of country music. I know, but go with me on this one. There are some really good musicians here that are very limited by the style that they choose to play in. Because they play shred metal or “shredal”, which I’m copywriting as a new genre name, it all has to be loud and hard and fast. The lyrics become secondary and almost pointless, which is certainly the case here. In the same way, country music must follow a formula of constant repetition with simplistic melodies and lyrical structures. So, although they sound very different, both styles discourage individual expression, and make it harder for unique voices to emerge. It’s why so much shredal sounds the same to me. It’s why so much country sounds the same to me. It’s why so much contemporary pop sounds the same to me. The style outweighs the speaker.
I admit, I’m uninitiated to thrash, death and other intricate genres of heavy metal. Maybe if they sounded a little different from each other or offered more nuance, I’d find interest in one of them and something would catch my ear. Unfortunately, this just sounds like all the rest of them to me.
I do wonder which mascot between this dude and the iron maiden guy would win in a fight though…

Not a band I’ve ever listened to. Metal never really been my thing.

So, feels almost like prog metal to me. The musicianship is off the charts - but it’s just leaving me cold.

I can see why it has its fans for sure. I’m just not one of them.

2

Great guitars, awful voice.. this is the tiniest of 3's, but it's early thrash, so it has to be here...

A lot of testosterone produces thr opposite of complex music.

Simple harmonies in 4/4 time and nothing much melodic, but the hook is that it's played fast and loud. They can play, but they fall back on a regular bunch of tricks- the chugging bass, the guitar triplets and so on.

They talk about "socially aware lyrics", but then put the vocals so far back in the mix and the singer is so unclear that you wouldn't know.

I can see the appeal, but it's not really deep. And it's amusing that this gets labelled "extreme metal" when real extreme music like Throbbing Gristle or John Zorn languishes at the bottom of the rankings.

Another Heavy Metal band I really knew nothing about and for 30 years refused to listen to. This was banging, loved the guitar and drum work. I preferred Iron Maiden which I listened to only a week or so again, but looking forward to listening to more Megadeath!

I guess 80's thrash metal isn't for me