Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(88)
4 star:		(26)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(11)

 

 

Megadeth have outdone them selves with this release. The remastering of a classic Speed/Thrash album circa '83 - '84.
This release includes the completely redone cover art (The one the band REALLY wanted), excellent remixes that really brightens up the mix and brings the somewhat dismal mix of the original (Combat records) to a wonderful clarity and heaviness.
Dave Mustaine starts the album with a scorching commentary on what his life was like just after the "Firing" from Metallica and his mindset when putting together his band. Then Dave Ellefson's and Scott Ian's (From Anthrax) introduction.
On top of that you get commentary from both Dave’s (Mustaine and Ellefson) on each song.
The Final topper is the 3 demos at the end (Last rites/Loved to deth, Mechanix, and The Skull beneath the Skin) which are wonderful to see how the song transformed into the groundbreaking tunes they've become.
Congratulations to Dave Mustaine and Dave Ellefson for being able to get this chance to remix history and make it better than it was before.

R.I.P. Gar Samuelson

Alot of people never got into Killing is my Business because of the production flaws , but this remastered edition brings the entire album to life. Dave Mustaine's voice sounds incredibly clearer , and it is much easier to hear the drumming of Gar Samuelsson , who happens to be whom the album is dedicated to. The highlights of this album are Mechanix , Skull Beneath The Skin , and Looking Down The Cross , among others. All these songs have a completely different sound to them on the remastered version. Also , you'll find some comedy on the album. Dave's cover of "These Boots" , which of course was taken off the original Killing is my business because of copyright issues , is back on this album. The only problem is that the original song write Lee Hazelwood did not allow Dave to use many of the obscene lyrics in his version. Dave has put the song on the album with the majority of the lyrics bleeped out. It is hilarious to listen to the song. As if that isn't enough , you get Megadeth's 3 demo songs from 1983. These have a raw power to them , they sound tremendous , although the quality is not that good , Dave did not have a good tape of these recordings to use. Anyways , I'm sure every Megadeth fan has already bought this album. If you haven't bought it , it's worth your $..

I own the non-remaster version of the CLASSIC first Megadeth album, commonly known as KIMB. I had the original pressing with an unedited These Boots, but my friend lost it, so I bought another copy but it was missing the Nancy cover song. Oh well, it was OK but really the weakest song on an otherwise flawless CD. KIMB is non-stop thrash metal bliss from opening to end. Every track is awesome. The opening track is haunting and scary and then just flat out kicks a**. And you won't stop to take a breath until the entire CD is finished. It's THAT good. I'd say the standout tracks are Killing is my Business, Skull Beneath the Skin, Chosen Ones, and Looking Down the Cross (this song is brutal, I get chills listening tio the lyrics and incredible musicianship). Mechanix has better music than Metallica's Four Horsemen, but Metallica took the cooler lyrics. Chris Poland's lead guitar work is amazing. Gar on the drums... you have to hear it to believe it. The original Megadeth line-up with Poland and Gar was never beat. True metal legendary album. 5 stars all the way. An essential must have CD.

I am so ticked (of course I would use other words) I was so excited about once again having this album (since I first purchased it on cassette in the 80s)and was with the remixes and the new art (although I personally preferred the originals) but these where much better mixes than the so far so good so what those where very disappointing compared to the originals....anyway, what really put me over the edge was the badly bleeped out new version of these boots! It's like they could have just muted the vocal track! or remixed it out but no instead an outrageously ridiculous loud beep over all the music ( you cant even hear anything else! over it) and he swears through half the song so...its pointless!!! shouldve been mixed out so we could still enjoy the song or removed all together just %$E(&^$)me off! now I realize that Dave undoubtedly wanted us to know and be bothered....and I realize now (since I looked it up) why...but it was unacceptable and ruined the whole of the purchase! yes it ruined it in my eyes! I was very excited about hearing this cover again and Dave should have thought more of the fans then wanting to prove something or vent his frustration all he did was passed it on to us!

Credit must be given to Dave Mustaine for wanting this headbanging record to sound good. The sound is loud and crunchy and the drums are absolutely ear-kicking... The removal of the reverb gives the album a completely different ambiance (the process was not as successful on "So Far, So Good..."). The new cover is actually quite interesting even if it doesn't freak me out as much as the original.
Now to the bad part... I know it's been said before, but this reissue is completely ruined by the BEEEEEPs on "These Boots".
I'd recomend both versions of this album. For the original one look for the edition with "These Boots" UNCENSORED. It's definitely a must get.

The greatest album ever released... by anyone... EVER! I may be a little biased seen as I worship Megadeth and Sir Dave Mustaine... This is Megadeth's 1st ever release... this album (remastered) is the perfect example of how thrash metal should sound. Dave & Chris Poland were an amazing combination of guitarists...never again matched to the same degree thoughout the megadeth line-up changes... and Dave's voice on this album is like that of a rabid dog snarling and chewing his road to vengeance over the fools that fired him (No name dropping required). Buy this album or forever live knowing that the greatest album in history is not in your collection...
Best Track: Looking Down The Cross
Worst Track: N/A (tho these boots has annoying censored beeps)
Simmilar to: N/A, Nothing comes close... it's like the best of Judas Priest, Iron Maiden & Motorhead combined into one man!
Simmilar Suggestions: Peace Sells & So Far So Good by Megadeth, Show No Mercy by Slayer & Motorhead's Overkill & Bomber Albums.

Finally, a remastered album that sounds like its been redone.
While this album won't do anything to change the minds of anyone not into this genre of music, those who own the original will notice a great deal of improvement.
The most noticable improvements are with Dave Mustaine's vocals and Gar Samuelson's drums. You can actually understand what the hell Dave's rambling on about.
The songs where the sound quality really shines are "Looking Down The Cross" and "Killing Is My Business.."
Even "Mechanix" sounds louder.
Too bad about the censored version of "These Boots" though. Not their fault, it's explained in the booklet.
The demos included really show where Dave was headed with this band, even if his vocals are a little funny sounding at the time.
A good buy for a 'Deth fan, or someone into old-school metal.

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!

After being disappointed by the remasters of Peace Sells... and Rust in Peace, I was a little hesitant to try the remaster of KIMB, but after hearing this new version I can safely say that while there are places that it still could've been improved, it blows away the original release.

GUITARS:
Unfortunately, the new mix wasn't able to completely take away the sludgy production on the guitars, but it does help a great deal. It also balances Mustaine and Poland much better and brings out things that were buried in the original mix, especially in the intro to "Looking Down The Cross."

BASS:
The new mix gives Ellefson's bass lines a much-needed boost in the bottom end, which adds significant weight and drive to each song. However, it de-emphasizes the high end of the bass mix, which sacrifices some of the clarity of his picking; this is most noticeable in "Killing Is My Business..." and "Chosen Ones," where his picking was very prominent in the original mix.

DRUMS:
The improvement on the drums is phenomenal. Samuelson's work was fairly complex but you'd never have known it from the original mix. The remix brings out his drum lines in almost crystal-clear clarity and makes all the songs sound 100X better, especially "Rattlehead." My only complaint is that the toms, especially the lower ones, seem to have more emphasis than the kick drum(s?) and snare.

VOCALS:
The new mix also helps Mustaine's vocals immensely, making them much clearer and easier to understand, a trend which carried over to the other remixes that I've heard. It brings out more clearly the dual vocals on "Killing...", and adds in a layered vocal on "Loved to Deth" that was either absent from the original recording or completely buried in its mix. There are also a few extra screams that weren't present on the original release. One thing that the new mix takes away from the original is in the chorus of laughter before the last verse in "Loved to Deth" which has a lot of the cheezy-sounding "demonic" laughter taken out of the mix.

In regards to the extra material: I found the "edited" version of "These Boots" to be hilarious the first time I listened to it, and the demo songs are a good way to see how Mustaine has improved as a singer. Incidentally, I read somewhere that these demos are what landed them with Combat Records.

All in all, this is the one Megadeth remix/remaster that I can recommend without any reservations.

After being kicked out from Metallica (the best thing that could happen to Mr Mustaine and the Heavy Metal followers by the way), this great High IQ, great thinker and visionary musician put together an awesome project called Megadeth, with the help of Dave Ellefson on bass and two other jazz musicians Mr Samuelson on drums and Mr Poland on lead guitar, speed sound has born and they recorded this amazing album full of the ideas that time ago Dave wanted to develop in Metallica and just a few times he had the chance and the aproval from this band to include in Metallicas sound , after that however Metallica stole some of Mustaines ideas to include in their albums like the track "the four horsemen" wich originally was called "mechanix" wich lyrics and music were composed by Dave, Metallica changed the lyrics and the music remained the same despite Mustaine asked them not to record any of the lyrics or music that were his work because he wanted this compositions for his new band after his departure from Metallica, some more of Daves work were included in Metallicas second album , it doesnt matter because Dave Mustaine created a speed metal band more superior than Metallica in many aspects , GnRs Slash has described Megadeth sound as "Intelligent Speed Metal" and this description definitelly fits in Mr Mustaine work , with Megadeths new release "the system has failed" Dave has proved once again that he never quits despite adversity after his surprisin recover from a neural dissease that made him retire for a while , this man is a warrior and a remarkable human being
HM