SO FAR, SO GOOD…SO WHAT! is another strong golden era Megadeth album, though one that has the distinction of being caught between two masterpieces and having a transitional line up. Exit lead guitarist Chris Poland and drummer Gar Samuelson and enter in their place Jeff Young and Chuck Behler, respectively. Both men would last one album and tour. They do a good job and you pretty much have to be a good musician to be in this band, but due to their short stay, they didn’t leave a mark like the men they replaced and the men who replaced them.
Since Mustaine George Lucased the early catalog in 2004, huge differences between the long out of print original and the now available remix. The original had tons of reverb while the current mix sounds dryer and in your face. The remix had a horn part in “Into the Lungs of Hell” added that wasn’t heard in the mix of the original. The lead guitar, starting at the two minute mark, is way more consistent in the remix than the original. In the original the lead guitar would fade in and out, as if they couldn’t get the levels right. What bugs me about the remix, as a bass guy, is that there are some bass fills mixed out of the intro of “In My Darkest Hour.” Worth hearing both mixes, worlds of difference.
“Into the Lungs of Hell” is a killer and dramatic instrumental opener that goes into the awesome “Set the World Afire.” The latter was actually the very first song Mustaine wrote after he was kicked out of Metallica.
“Anarchy in the U.K.” is just OK. I like the original Sex Pistols version more, Hell, I like the Motley Crue version more. I’m a much bigger Megadeth fan than I am those bands. The first two albums had covers of different styles that were made in Megadeth’s image, very cool. Here? A thrash band doing punk, it’s been done before.
“Mary Jane” is a strong melodic metal track (agree with what you said about melody, Homok) about marijuana. “502” and “Liar” are musically cool speed metal tracks that has a young and pissed off Mustaine saying fuck you to the world. A song like “Liar” could never be made today with those lyrics! The 80’s were different times for sure.
In addition to the great one two punch to open the album, “In My Darkest Hour” and “Hook in Mouth” are the masterpieces. The former on some days of the week is my favorite Megadeth song. Musically and lyrically and songwriting all very strong - an emotional tour de force that was written by Mustaine after hearing of the death of Cliff Burton, even though the lyrics are about a doomed relationship. A true Megadeth classic. “Hook in Mouth” has a killer chorus and build up and is lyrically about the PMRC witch hunts going on at the time. A highly underrated song in my opinion.
So yeah, we get another good album here and commercially, their fortunes keep rising. This album cracked the top 30. They’d get higher in the coming years and next album, things get really intense! Can’t wait to talk that one.