Review Megadeth - So Far So Good So What (1988)

[Riff Raff]

Track list
1. Into The Lungs of Hell
2. Set The World Afire
3. Anarchy In The UK (Pistols cover)
4. Mary Jane
5. 502
6. In My Darkest Hour
7. Liar
8. Hook in Mouth

After the success of Peace Sells this would be one of many line up changes the band would embark on. Gar Samuelson and Chris Poland were replaced by Jeff Young and Chuck Behler.

This album often got panned by critics especially for the song In My Darkest Hour which was often believed to be a song that promoted suicide but it is far from that. You start off with a really nice instrumental that goes on for a couple of minutes but it really starts the album off nicely. Great guitar work on it. Set The World Afire is for me a pretty under rated song, not a lot of attention gets given to that one it is a purely quality thrash metal track.

Onto the cover of Anarchy in the UK if I recall Mustaine actually made a mistake with a couple of the lyrics and in fact Steve Jones actually played on this song too which was interesting. I love the original but this cover song for me tops the original. I enjoyed this thrash metal take on a very influential punk song.

Mary Jane and 502 are 2 other songs that really make me think this album doesn't get the respect it deserves especially since it is between Peace Sells and Rust in Peace. 502 having a lot to do with cars since you do hear the song kind of fade a bit and you hear what seemed to be a cop siren and a car being pulled over. Really neat little thing to the song.

Next is In My Darkest Hour which as I said earlier according to MTV this song was about suicide or promoting it which is why they refused to air it. It was far from that theme in fact it was a tribute song to Cliff Burton, great song, awesome intro especially the added notes on the remastered version. It always gets played on live sets and rightly so it is a classic. Great outro as well.

Liar and Hook in Mouth are two other great songs. Liar has some strong riffs especially at the start that kinda remind me of what they did on Endgame in 2009. Hook in Mouth has some awesome bass lines. I think if there were any weak points on the album it would barely be Liar, 502 but I still enjoy those songs.

Some songs on this album Ill post up.
Anarchy in the UK


502


Hook in Mouth

YT]

My closing comments are this album to me is under rated considering the albums that came before and the album after it. It is pure classic thrash metal that MTV and a lot of other critics panned. 7-8 out of 10 would be my as most objective rating for it as I can give but my subjective rating is a 8-9.
Great album, hope you enjoy my little (lol little) write up for this album.

 

[ComfortablyNumb]

I think this is one of their weaker albums honestly.
Still give it a listen once in a while.

Nice review man.

 

[Riff Raff]

Cheers. Although when it comes to weak albums, Ill save that for a future write up about Risk.

 

[stepcousin]

I remember when this album was released. It was not well recieved by the metal community. It took me about a year for it to grow on me. There was so much killer metal out in '88 and '89 (and frankly better) that I pushed this to the backburner. Over the years I realized it was the bridge between the raw thrash of Peace Sells and the technical thrash of Rust, it was an important piece of the puzzle in the Megadeth catalog and metal in general.

 

[DaKillerWolf]

I've always liked this album. Set The World Afire, In My Darkest Hour, Lair and Hook in Mouth are all great tunes ,IMO.

I LOVE Lair the lyrics always cracked me up back in the day..

I was at this show at the Ventura Theater when this was filmed

​

[Music by D.Mustaine / D.Ellefson, lyrics by D.Mustaine]

You take great pride in never having lived up to anything
Lie, steal, cheat, and kill, a real bad guy
Your daddy is a winO, and your mommy's quite insane
From altar boy to sewer rat, you don't give a damn
Your sister is a junkie, get "it" anyway she can
Your brother's a gay singer in a stud leather band
Your girlfriend's got herpes to go with her Hep and AIDS
There ain't one person you know you ain't ripped off yet

Look deep in the mirror, look deep into its eyes
Your face is replaced, a creature you despise
But I know what you're made of, it ain't much I'm afraid
I know you'll be lying until your dying day

Make up your stories, but truth's so hard to say
Brain is numb and your tongue will surely dig you grave
Your mind is sickly from Alzheimer's disease
And decadence and debauchery killed your memories

You're a liar, liar, liar, everyone can see
You're a liar, liar, liar, it's all you'll ever be
You're a liar, liar, liar, it's what you mean to me
Liar, liar, lies...

Start trouble, spread pain
Piss and venom in your veins
Talk nasty, breathe fire
Smell rotten, you're a liar
Sweat liquor, breathe snot
Eat garbage, spit blood
Diseased, health hazard
Scum bag, ****ing bastard
Grease face, teeth decay
Hair matted, drunk all day
Abscessed, sunken veins
Rot gut, scrambled brain
Steal money, crash cars
Rob jewelry, hock guitars
Rot in hell, it's time you know
To your master, off you go

You're a liar
A ****ing liar
Filthy liar
You, you, you, you ****ing liar!
You're a liar


Nice write up Riff \m/

 

[METALPRIEST]

Killer album for a review!!

HOOK IN MOUTH is like GOOD!!!

 

[Shaz]

Great review - great album

 

[TheWhalerfan]

Nice review! I had this CD many eons ago, but oddly I only remember a few tunes off it. I think I should go have another listen...

 

[Lynch]

I liked this album when it came out, but it obviously didn't stand up to it'd predecessor... Peace Sells... an album that to me after all of these years is still the best thing they ever did. I haven't listened to SFSGSW in probably close to 20 years. Maybe I should dust it off again.

Thanks for the writeup and reminder to relisten to this disc.

 

[Riff Raff]

Glad you enjoyed my write up for this album. Not doing them in chronological order, might do Cryptic Writings or The System Has Failed next.