Peace Sells… but Who’s Buying?

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

I will not include the 1987 live performance from the Phantasy Theater in Cleveland, featured on the 25th anniversary deluxe edition, for this review.

It feels weird to say that the final album from Megadeth will be released next month, and within a few years, the band will come to an end. Formed by songwriter Dave Mustaine after his dismissal from Metallica early on, the group would become one of the most prominent names in thrash metal. Few bands would have had as long and successful an album run as Megadeth had from the mid-1980s through the mid-1990s, and it's to the credit of the 1001 Albums series that two of the best records in that run are featured.

Peace Sells... But Who's Buying came out of a rather tumultuous time, as band members faced both homelessness and substance abuse. That darkness was channeled into this record, as Dave focused his lyrics on socially conscious issues and occultism. The title track spoke of a desire for a new societal structure, as the American way was losing its lust. "The Conjuring" and "Bad Omen" reflect on Satanic ceremonies, "Devil's Island" and "My Last Words" delve into crude means of torture and imprisonment, and "Wake Up Dead" and "Black Friday" are full-on killing fantasies. These are some of the most gruesomely detailed words that Dave would pen in his career.

Alongside the lyrical content, Dave and his band would step up their game with more galloping riffs, shredding solos, infectious basslines from David Ellefson, and pulse-pounding drums from Gar Samuelson. It all sounded crisp, thanks in part to the high-quality production the band got from their deal with Capitol Records. Paul Lani did a superb job following up on Randy Burns' work behind the mix, affording the cleanness and balance needed to hear each distinct note and lick. It's one of the more polished metal releases to come out at the time, and it still holds up to this day.

Really, my only nitpick with this record is the cover of Willie Dixon's "I Ain't Superstitious". While it is amazing how the song composition translated into a full-on thrasher, Dave's choice to rewrite the lyrics with more expletives ended up admittedly cringeworthy. I wasn't much into this lyrical approach when they covered Nancy Sinatra's "These Boots are Made for Walkin'" on their debut, and it's unfortunately not much different here.

Overall, Peace Sells surprisingly holds up as a thrash metal record that catapulted Megadeth into stardom alongside Dave's former band, Metallica. Again, it feels weird that the band is coming to an end soon, but at least the music will live on.

Peace Sells...But Who's Buying - Megadeth

Megadeth is a lot like Donald Trump in that they defy parody. No SNL or Tenacious D parody would ever been as absurd and hilarious as the original. This is the definitely the funniest album I've had so far. If they took themselves less seriously it probably won't work. Full commitment is admirable and hilarious.

Plus 1-star for the comedy and commitment of it all.
⭐⭐⭐

I can see this album being pretty divisive - people who like metal and people who don't. And among those who do, the 'why not just listen to Metallica?' camp. There's some merit to that question.
As others have said, you don't go into this thinking you'll hear anything profound but its a great thrash metal record and is a lot of fun. I don't think I'll run out to buy a bunch of Megadeth records but I enjoyed this one today. 3.5/5 but gonna round down because it's not quite up to a 4 for me.

𝘗𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘚𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘴… 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘞𝘩𝘰’𝘴 𝘉𝘶𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨? delivers a very pure form of 80s thrash metal: fast riffs, aggressive vocals, restless drumming and constant technical intensity. It’s clearly well-executed, but it also feels very typical of the genre. For listeners who aren’t deeply into metal, the songs can blend together, and the album’s trademarks may feel more conventional than exciting.

There are standout moments — especially the title track — but they don’t necessarily open the music up beyond its stylistic boundaries. The social and political themes add character, yet they don’t fully change the experience if the core sound isn’t already appealing.

A strong example of classic thrash, but not much more than that unless you’re already a fan of the style.

Once again, every Megadeth album is ruined by awful vocals. This one is no exception. What could have been a solid thrash album I couldn’t get into. Black Friday was the standout.

They weren't on RIP level yet but... The bass on this one is immaculate.

Well if it sells then isn't someone buying

Ugh. I really can't stand Dave Mustaine's singing or lyrics.

If you would've told me that I would enjoy a thrash metal album, I would've said that you're crazy, but maybe now I'm the crazy one. Thrash metal is all about the guitars and they did not disappoint. I think the vocals work perfectly and the fast tempos keep it interesting. The title track was really good. This is what the generator is about. Finding albums you wouldn't otherwise have listened to and absolutely having a blast.

This week has been all about heavy metal, and today’s challenge was Peace Sells... But Who’s Buying? by Megadeth. Honestly, the band and album title already sounded unappealing to me before I even pressed play.

To be fair, there are flashes of talent here—particularly the guitar work. The intro to Good Morning/Black Friday is superb and shows real skill. But beyond that, I struggled to find much to enjoy. The songs all blended into one wall of noise, and the lyrics didn’t do anything for me either. I can imagine fans of the genre loving this, but it’s definitely not for me.

Favourite track: Devil’s Island stood out the most, with some solid guitar work.
Least favourite track: Honestly, most of the album—it felt repetitive, with weak lyrics and little variety.
Album artwork: Pretty horrible.

Legend - kind of...
Megadeth was always defined by the brilliant instrumental work by Dave Mustaine and his mates that was far superior to his former band (Metallica). However, his questionable decision to take over the vocals by himself limited the recognition by a broader audience.
Peace Sells ... defined trash metal at its time but in my view, the best of Megadeth was yet to come - thus it is not a 5/5 for me.
Did I mention the iconic cover art work?

I’m at a 5.

Just a pure ball of energy, once again. I wish I could type more, but that’s an album you’re meant to feel as opposed to just sitting down and listening to it. Pop headphones in, move your head around, stomp your feet, do the whole song & dance and let Dave Mustaine and friends pull you into their demonic little world full of guitar songs & percussion that would make a pilgrim proclaim witchcraft off their skills alone, not even considering the lyrics.

Seriously, I got nothing. We’ve done this song & dance with heavy metal enough times now. If you can’t feel those tracks, it’s gonna be a 3 at most. If you can feel them, it’s an easy 5, without question. I enjoyed the hell out of that, and I’m ready for the other Megadeth album on the list.

2.63

Classic metal

Decent thrash metal.

High 3/5.

The thing about this album is that it’s really, really good, but even though I’m old enough to have listened to it new, I wasn’t into heavy music until much, much later. I think I said this on my review of the other Megadeth album, but I’ve always seen them as Metallica’s slightly cringy little brother, and I couldn’t have been more wrong. Metallica softened their sound and went supernova, but Megadeth were every bit their contemporaries in the heavy “thrash” genre. And they didn’t have a douchebag like Lars playing drums for them, so that counts for something.

Liked parts of this, and the guitar playing is great. Cringe lyrics though, and not as good overall as Rust in Peace. Not really sure if we needed 2 Megadeath albums on this list.

Maybe not as good as Metallica or Slayer, but a fun listen nonetheless. Dave Mustaine's vocals work really well on here and all the musicians here are apt at their instruments. There's the typical shredding and solo'ing you'd expect on a Trash album. The songs are all great and the I Ain't Superstitious cover was a welcome surprise, but they don't really stick out like they do on the first 3 Metallica albums. It's a good album still, but there are better Trash albums out there.

I didn't listen to megadeath during my metal time and I missed out