MEGADETH — Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? (review)

MEGADETH — Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? album cover

Album · 1986 · Thrash Metal

5/5 · 2015-08-29
Unitron

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

'Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?' is the second studio album by thrash metal band Megadeth. While I find many of Megadeth's albums to be masterpieces, if I had to choose one, 'Peace Sells...' is easily my favorite from them. From beginning to end, this album's got nothing but thrash classics in my book.

Here you've got fast thrash anthems like 'Wake Up Dead', 'Devil's Island', and of course 'Peace Sells' but also songs that start out slower like 'Good Mourning/Black Friday' and 'My Last Words'. Something that I've always loved about Megadeth and Anthrax, is that they usually have much more distinct bass then some other thrash acts. Many times in this album are there incredibly catchy basslines, most notably for me is of course the bounce-y bass in 'Peace Sells' and the fast bass in 'Bad Omen'. Dave Ellefson's bass work throughout the whole album is awesome though, the bass really has a swing to it especially in the song 'Peace Sells'. The guitars and drums throughout the whole album are of course awesome as well, whether the drums are pounding and guitars are fast and relentless or have nice slow beginnings. Especially 'Good Mourning/Black Friday', starts out all soft before becoming a crushing and driving thrash masterpiece.

I've noticed that a lot of people have complained about Mustaine's vocals, but I think his vocals fit perfectly with Megadeth. I couldn't see anyone else fitting Megadeth's sound, and he's easily a favorite vocalist of mine. While he always has that aggressive snarly 'take no bullshit' voice, I don't think any album perfectly mimics that like this one or the albums that bookend it. Not to mention he's an amazing lyricist, making what I believe to be some of the best political songs. Especially 'Peace Sells' is still relevant today, with such memorable lines like "What do you mean, 'I don't pay my bills'? Why do you think I'm broke? Huh?" and "Tell me something, it's still 'We the people', right?". Maybe I'm wrong, but 'Good Mourning/Black Friday' seems to describe what Black Friday is like pretty well metaphorically.

Overall, I usually have a hard time reviewing my favorite albums, hence why I haven't reviewed many of them apart from a handful. So this is easily one of my favorite albums and is an absolute classic. If you love thrash like I do, this is an essential listen. Hope you found this review helpful.

Feel free to comment!

more than 2 years ago
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voila_la_scorie wrote:

more than 2 years ago

The first three songs are why I loved Megadeth. The riffs, the lead guitar, Mustain's sneering vocals - awesome stuff!

adg211288 wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I'm certainly one of the people who does indeed struggle with Mustaine's voice, but I do actually agree that Megadeth wouldn't be Megadeth any other way. They're just a band I can only take in small doses. That said, I feel the same way about Metallica, though I am more likely to put on an older Metallica album than one of the few Megadeth ones I have. I do have this one, and I do like it a fair bit, especially the opener Wake Up Dead. I actually liked the album a lot more the last time I played it (wasn't that long ago) than I remembered, though I still recall liking Rust in Peace a lot more.

Unitron wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Thanks, for me I either feel like I start rambling or I have a difficult time putting my thoughts into words.

Vim Fuego wrote:

more than 2 years ago

I see you say you have a hard time reviewing your favourite albums. Me too. I get a bit carried away. I often try to avoid my favourites which are also popular favourites too, because there are usually lots of similar opinions. This is a pretty damn good review. Love the descriptive parts.

UMUR wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Regarding Mustaine´s vocals it just goes to show that it´s more important to have a distinct sounding voice than a pretty one. Anyone who can inject personality into the vocal part of music has the x factor. Love them or hate them...

Unitron wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Thanks, Rust and Countdown are probably my next two favorites.

siLLy puPPy wrote:

more than 2 years ago

Great review. My second favorite Megadeth album after Rust. I used to hate his vocals as well but they grew on me. Now i couldn't imagine another style