Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? [Bonus Tracks] [PA] [Remaster] (CD - 1986)

Personnel: Dave Mustaine (vocals, guitar); David Ellefson (vocals, background vocals); Paul Sudin, Mike Anderson, Randy Burns, Casey McMackin (vocals); Chris Poland (guitar); Gar Samuelson (drums).

Audio Mixers: Dave Mustaine; Paul Lani; Ralph Patlan.

Audio Remixer: Dave Mustaine.

Liner Note Author: Dave Mustaine.

Recording information: Maddog Studios, Venice, CA (02/15/1986-03/20/1986); Music Grinder, Los Angeles, CA (02/15/1986-03/20/1986); Rock Steady Studios, Los Angeles, CA (02/15/1986-03/20/1986); Track Recorders (02/15/1986-03/20/1986).

Editor: Lance Dean.

Photographers: Ross Halfin; Chris Walter; Peter Cronin; Neil Zlozower.

Unknown Contributor Roles: Bo Caldwell; Dave McRobb.

Guitarist Dave Mustaine was an original member of thrash-pioneers Metallica. But he was booted from the band during the recording of that band's debut album, KILL 'EM ALL. Instead of moping around, Mustaine returned to California and immediately formed another group--Megadeth. He promised his fans that the new outfit would be faster and more lethal than his former band, and Megadeth's 1985 debut, KILLING IS MY BUSINESS, AND BUSINESS IS GOOD, made good on this threat. Megadeth and Metallica duked it out in the music press, but both acts thrived. In 1986, each released its finest record, Metallica's MASTER OF PUPPETS and Megadeth's PEACE SELLS...BUT WHO'S BUYING?

While Metallica initially shunned MTV, Megadeth used the video format to its advantage--becoming the first thrash band to do so. Both "Wake Up Dead" and the anthemic title track received constant play on MTV's HEAVY METAL HOUR; the latter song's brief bass intro was even used as the theme to MTV news in the early-'90s. Tracks such as "The Conjuring," "Devil's Island," "Good Mourning/Black Friday," and a cover of Jeff Beck's "I Ain't Superstitious" proved to be just as brutal. PEACE SELLS is an influential, all-time heavy metal classic.

Guitarist Dave Mustaine was an original member of thrash-pioneers Metallica. But he was booted from the band during the recording of that band's debut album, KILL 'EM ALL. Instead of moping around, Mustaine returned to California and immediately formed another group--Megadeth. He promised his fans that the new outfit would be faster and more lethal than his former band, and Megadeth's 1985 debut, KILLING IS MY BUSINESS, AND BUSINESS IS GOOD, made good on this threat. Megadeth and Metallica duked it out in the music press, but both acts thrived. In 1986, each released its finest record, Metallica's MASTER OF PUPPETS and Megadeth's PEACE SELLS...BUT WHO'S BUYING?

While Metallica initially shunned MTV, Megadeth used the video format to its advantage--becoming the first thrash band to do so. Both "Wake Up Dead" and the anthemic title track received constant play on MTV's HEAVY METAL HOUR; the latter song's brief bass intro was even used as the theme to MTV news in the early '90s. Tracks such as "The Conjuring," "Devil's Island," "Good Mourning/Black Friday," and a cover of Howlin' Wolf's blues standard "I Ain't Superstitious" proved to be just as brutal. PEACE SELLS is an influential, all-time heavy metal classic.

The remixed and remastered Megadeth albums released in 2004 aren't your typical cash-ins. They're stark improvements over the originals: group leader Dave Mustaine did the remixing and remastering himself, making especially significant revisions to the earlier albums, and he includes insightful liner notes for each reissue, including track-by-track commentary for the bonus tracks, as well as lyrics and period photos. Along with So Far, So Good...So What! and Rust in Peace, Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? was most due for such a reissue as this. Originally recorded in early 1986 on a modest budget, this landmark album didn't boast pristine production, yet it was rightfully crowned a landmark release and remains one -- one of the most influential metal albums of its decade and certainly one of the few truly definitive thrash albums, right up there with Metallica's Master of Puppets and Slayer's Reign in Blood, both of which were also released in 1986. Mustaine's liner notes help shed some light on the wondrous events surrounding this storied album, the band's second and the final one featuring guitarist Chris Poland and drummer Gar Samuelson. The four bonus tracks are alternate mixes by Randy Burns and aren't too remarkably novel in contrast. Still, Peace Sells was so key to the development of metal and so influential to the then-burgeoning thrash movement, it's a real godsend to have it remixed and remastered like this. Such treatment makes an already essential album for metal fans all the more essential. Beyond doubt, if you're going to own one and only one Megadeth album, make it this one. And if you've always wondered why Megadeth were so followed, here's a chief reason. The few albums that followed Peace Sells are damn good also, but this is the one that started it all. It's the foundation of the band's legacy and one of the best beginning-to-end metal albums ever. ~ Jason Birchmeier minimize