Killing Is My Business… and Business Is Good! is the debut studio album by the thrash metal band Megadeth, released on June 12, 1985, by Combat Records. At the beginning of 1985, the band was given $8,000 by Combat to record and produce its debut album. The band was forced to fire their original producer and produce the album by themselves, after spending half of the album’s budget on drugs, alcohol, and food. Despite the poor production, the album was a well-received effort that obtained strong reviews in various music publications. Killing Is My Business… and Business Is Good! played an essential role in establishing thrash metal as an authentic subgenre of heavy metal music. It explores themes of death, occultism, and violence.The album features the track Mechanix, a song that frontman Dave Mustaine would perform with Metallica during his time in the band, and a controversial cover of the 1965 song These Boots Are Made for Walkin‘.
A deluxe edition, completely remixed and remastered with several bonus tracks, was released through Loud Records on February 5, 2002. It features vastly different artwork, with its cover based on the version originally designed by Mustaine in 1985. All songs from the album were performed frequently during Megadeth‘s initial tour but have been steadily dropped from the setlist since. A new remastered version of the album called Killing Is My Business… and Business Is Good! The Final Kill was released on June 8, 2018, which includes a remastered version of These Boots, redone to Lee Hazlewood‘s version.
Dave Mustaine had been originally the lead guitarist for Metallica. However, due to drinking, substance abuse, violent behavior, and personality conflicts with bandmates James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, Mustaine was eventually fired from the band. Two months after being fired from Metallica, Mustaine met bassist David Ellefson and together they formed Megadeth in Los Angeles. Mustaine later recalled:
“After getting fired from Metallica, all I remember is that I wanted blood. Theirs. I wanted to be faster and heavier than them”
Fueled by the desire for revenge, Mustaine elevated the intensity of Megadeth‘s music in order to challenge his former band. He sped up existing songs such as Mechanix, which Metallica‘s new line up adapted into the slower paced The Four Horsemen. Mustaine included his original version of the song on the album to straighten Metallica up, as Metallica referred to Mustaine as a drunk, and said that he could not play guitar.
After not being able to search for a vocalist for nearly six months, Mustaine decided to handle the vocal duties himself, while also serving as the band’s primary lyricist, main songwriter, and co lead and rhythm guitarist. Megadeth recorded a three song demo tape early in 1984 titled Last Rites, engineered by Karat Faye, and released it on March 9, 1984. On the strength of the demo, the band was asked to sign with the New York based independent label Combat Records in November 1984. Early in 1985, Megadeth was given $8,000 by Combat to record and produce its debut album. However, this proved not to be enough, and the band was given a further $4,000. Instead, a majority of the budget was spent on drugs, alcohol, and food, prompting the group to fire the original producer, and produce the record themselves. The album was successfully recorded at the Indigo Ranch Studios, in Malibu, California.
Tracklist:
- Last Rites/Loved to Death
- Killing Is My Business… and Business Is Good!
- The Skull Beneath the Skin
- These Boots (Lee Hazlewood)
- Rattlehead
- Chosen Ones
- Looking Down the Cross
- Mechanix
Megadeth
Dave Mustaine: guitars, lead vocals, piano
David Ellefson: bass, backing vocals
Chris Poland: guitars
Gar Samuelson: drums, timpani
Lee Rausch: drums (demos only)
Production
Produced and mixed by Dave Mustaine and Karat Faye
Co-produced by Megadeth
Pre-production by Jay Jones
2002 remix and remaster
Mixed by Bill Kennedy
Pro Tools by Chris Vrenna
Mastered by Tom Baker
