I've always thought the original version of Megadeth's debut album was severely held back by its incredibly low-budget production and mix. At the same time, with how poorly the 2004 Megadeth reissues were handled, I was a bit hesitant when Dave Mustaine announced that Killing Is My Business was getting a completely remixed and remastered version this year to celebrate the band's 35th anniversary.
Thankfully, I can say this release is a near-complete success that improves on the original in almost every possible way and really brings out the brilliance that was hampered by its poor sound.
The one notable drawback I can point to (besides the largely expendable but ultimately irrelevant live and demo bonus content) is the re-recorded vocals on the cover of These Boots. While it sounds like they tried to blend it in as best as they could, it's impossible not to notice the difference in Dave's voice between now and then. That said, considering the circumstances involving the altered lyrics and subsequent legal threats from the song's writer, the decision to redo the vocals with the original lyrics intact was probably the better option over censoring or omitting it completely as done in the past.
Despite this shortcoming, in all this was a superbly done revamp of a criminally underappreciated album and sits firmly as one of the best remixed and remastered reissues I've heard.
edit: dedes that's not nice to say about poor Vic Rattlehead
5 Bumps | Bump |
