What! SO FAR, SO GOOD...SO WHAT! ALBUM REVIEW

 

Dave's brightest hour 

By TheArchivist, May 30th, 2019

1988 was a very memorable year for heavy metal, if only for the release of Megadeth’s “So Far, So Good, So What!” which undoubtedly, is one of the group’s strongest efforts, crafting thrash metal with substance and passion. Unlike other thrash bands of this specific period who are trying to “out-thrash” each other, Dave chose to do the right thing, which is to write tastefully made thrash that would rise above the hoard of copycats saturating the market.

Assisting and helping Dave on this new mission is former guitar instructor turned ‘Deth lead guitarist Jeff Young, who is probably the most unappreciated ‘Deth “session player” or “hired gun” in the band’s history; he may not be a Chris Poland or a Marty Friedman but his solos show noteworthy aptitude and feeling which other thrash axe-slingers have great difficulty conveying in this type of music. New-fangled drummer, ex-roadie Chuck Behler may not have possessed the technical chops of Nick Menza or the virtuosic approach of Gar Samuelson but he is very competent in his own right, as proven by his furious pounding of the drumkit on songs “In My Darkest Hour” and “Hook in Mouth”.

Moving on to the album itself, five of the eight tracks stand out in this metal compendium which is a feat in itself considering how most thrash compilations are quite uneven, containing both great and not so great songs. Tracks “Into the Lungs of Hell” and “Set the World Afire” are excellent album openers, perfectly setting the stage for the record’s blazing brand of thrash metal; “Into the Lungs of Hell” is an instrumental track much like Metallica’s “Call of Ktulu” and works fine without any vocal accompaniment while “Set the World Afire” is literally a scorching thrasher. Listening to Dave’s pissed off singing, you can actually feel his burning but restrained anger rising to the surface; the rage and frustration Dave felt after being unfairly kicked out of Metallica (a band in which he was a significant contributor) can be palpably sensed here and the malignant misanthropy expressed in this thrash anthem is readily understood by any discerning listener.

“Mary Jane” is also a worthy addition to the Megadeth catalog, possibly as a response to Metallica’s “Welcome Home (Sanitarium)”, both songs share themes and subject matter concerning insanity (a favorite topic in thrash metal along with war and death); the major difference is that the former is a billion times better than the latter. Dave’s song simply packs more emotional wallop and resonance than James and Lars’s quasi-ballad which suffers from being a bit cheesy and juvenile. Also ‘Deth’s performance does not lose the thrash factor, keeping the thrashing element alive and relentless towards the end of the song. Later, Dave would revisit this theme on “Sweating Bullets” but the resulting output would not be as effective (after reading the lyrics of the song on the Archives though, I think Dave was singing about a bad marijuana trip and not schizophrenia as I previously suspected, the cassette tape I had back then had no lyric sheet, ha ha).

“Hook in Mouth” is another masterful Mustaine composition, featuring one of the most brutal thrash riff to be recorded on tape (okay, maybe not as brutal as any of the riffs on Pleasure to Kill); the band did not require any accompanying growling vocal or death metal riffing to achieve this. It is also worth mentioning for advocating the fight against censorship and for criticizing Tipper Gore. The real icing on the album’s cake though is “In My Darkest Hour”, arguably one of Dave’s best songs, if not the best Megadeth song; the track is possibly one of the most “pop” sounding in ‘Deth’s repertoire (the other one is “Trust” from Cryptic Writings) or rather, it is a dark, heavy song with a sort of pop sensibility (whatever that means). The track earns a lot of brownie points from fans for its progression and thoughtful arrangement; it is also one of the most heart wrenching songs written by a thrash band, penned by Dave after his troubled relationship with then girlfriend, Diana. While functioning as a sad “love song” of sorts, it also tackles the taboo subject of suicide which kind of makes it resemble Dave’s ex-band mates’ “Fade to Black” or even Judas Priest’s “Beyond the Realms of Death”.

Now, on to the album’s weak areas; the Sex Pistols cover “Anarchy in the UK” should have not been included as it offers nothing new to the table. Dave merely copied the original, note for note, without adding fresh elements to make fans bother to listen; to be honest, I still prefer Motley Crue’s version of this punk classic which is why I think the MegaDave adaptation had no redeeming value whatsoever. Also, “502” is a really annoying hard rock song about drunk driving, which reminds me of some lame and lousy Poison song; not to mention the fact that hearing about the victims of those driving under the influence should make the song doubly uncool in anyone’s book. And finally, “Liar” is just filler used to pad up the album’s short (but sweet) running time; honestly, I really don’t care about Dave’s beef with Chris. In my mind, the squabbling in the band sounds very petty and vulgar.

To conclude, “So Far, So Good, So What!” is the most underrated thrash album by Megadeth and is often neglected for their other much hyped albums “Peace Sells…” and “Rust in Peace”; it really doesn’t get the attention and praise it so richly deserves since it is one of those thrash records which managed to break free from the monotony and mediocrity of a large percentage of 80s thrash. Young and upcoming thrashers should go out and get a copy of this album, to fully appreciate the intensity of early Megadeth; hopefully, these new thrash maniacs would be inspired by the music found within and form their own thrash bands, giving birth to a new thrash metal renaissance (not the “new wave of thrash metal” crap a decade or so ago which is only a regurgitation of what once was).

Track List  :

1. Into the Lungs of Hell

2. Set the World Afire

3. Anarchy in the U.K. (Sex Pistols cover)

4. Mary Jane

5. 502

6. In My Darkest Hour

7. Liar

8. Hook in Mouth

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MEGADETH - SO FAR, SO GOOD...SO WHAT! FULL ALBUM 

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