MEGADETH – So Far, So Good…So What!

                      [Remixed & Remastered]

Capitol Records

Posted:  3/13/05

Reviewed by: Dirt

Category: Thrash/Speed Metal

Original Release: 1988  Remastered: 7/27/04

Label URL: www.capitolrecords.com

Artist URL: www.megadeth.com

I was just getting into Megadeth around the time So Far, So Good…So What! was released way back in 1988.  Thanks to Metal Dreams and Livestock Report (the small college ‘zine that sparked my interest in creating MD) compadre Steve Gottlieb, I was exposed to this faster and thrashier side of metal.  Ya see, he was just a bit too (St)evil for the Kiss and Helix albums I’d try to force him to listen to.  ‘Deth’s Peace Sells and So Far were staples for him, so with all his brainwashing, I gradually began to warm up to the more sinister nature of Megadeth’s music.

While most Megadeth fans probably don’t agree with me, I find So Far, So Good…So What! to be a more consistent affair than either Killing Is My Business or Peace Sells.  While it doesn’t have a ‘monster’ hit on it like Peace’s title track, the overall collection of songs is better.  I must admit that I wish they never covered The Sex Pistols’ “Anarchy In The U.K.,” but I assume that was for commercial/video purposes.  They did try to get some MTV airplay with “In My Darkest Hour” but it was banned by the fargin’ iceholes at that network.

Mustaine’s riffs and clenched teeth vocal approach are in high-gear throughout So Far, and his lyrics are sarcastic and opinionated.  How can you beat these lines from “Liar”:

“Your sister is a junkie, get ‘it’ any way she can / Your brother’s a gay singer in a stud leather band / Your girlfriend’s got herpes to go with your hep and AIDS”

The Bloody Truth: While Megadeth never reached the level of Metallica, at least most of their recordings are ‘metal’ (aside from Risk).  Plus, when Mustaine went off in the wrong direction, he admitted it and returned to true form with 2004’s The System Has Failed.  According to Mustaine’s 2-page liner notes in this remix/remaster of So Far, the original production was horrible due to the band’s substance abuse.  Mustaine explains that original producer/engineer Paul Lani was axed during the mixing sessions because he was “having a hard time working with the antiquated gear,” so Michael Wagener stepped in and salvaged the project.  Interestingly, Mustaine thanks Lani and Wagener for “trying their best to make this record sound good with what they were given.”  This remixed and remastered version is more powerful than the original and thankfully doesn’t sound as tinny as the original cd version. Also included are four bonus tracks, which are the previously unreleased Paul Lani mixes of “Into The Lungs of Hell,” “Set The World Afire,” “Mary Jane,” and “In My Darkest Hour.”  So Far is my second favorite Megadeth record, next to the holy Countdown To Extinction.