Kicked In The Face - Short. Honest. Unhindered by popular opinion Kickedintheface.com - Metal reviews and opinions

Metal Reviews testimonials Go here to discuss this review

Megadeth - So Far, So Good...So What?
1988 Capitol Records
 Megadeth - So Far, So Good...So What?

Track Listing:
 1. Into The Lungs Of Hell
2. Set The World Afire
3. Anarchy In The U.K.
4. Mary Jane
5. 502
6. In My Darkest Hour
7. Liar
8. Hook In Mouth

Line-Up:
Vocals: Dave Mustaine
Guitars: Dave Mustaine, Jeff Young
Bass: Dave Ellefson
Drums: Chuck Behler

Website:  www.megadeth.com

Horatio's Rating:  C
Average Rating:  C

Also be sure to read:
 Megadeth - Cryptic Writings by Horatio
Megadeth - Rust In Peace by Horatio
Megadeth - The System Has Failed by Horatio
Nativity In Black:  A Tribute To Black Sabbath by Shev
Soulfly - Dark Ages (Dave Ellefson) by Horatio

Horatio's Review:
In my review of 'So Far, So Good...So What?' for the original KITF, I wrote that this was the best effort from the 'big four' in 1988. Thank god that review no longer exists as proof of my idiocy. In all fairness this is as bad as Anthrax's 'State Of Euphoria', Megadeth failing to produce the goods when they needed the most in order to move to the levels Metallica were at in the same time. Mustaine blamed his drug problem for the mess, but considering every album Megadeth has put out, bar 'Peace Sells' and 'Rust In Peace', have been absolute rot, maybe its just because the man plain sucks.

Eight songs is a miserable output and it shows. Opener 'Into The Lungs Of Hell' is an instrumental and 'Anarchy In The U.K.' is a throwaway Sex Pistols cover. So what you really have is an E.P. The thrash levels aren't all that spectacular, only '502' and 'Hook And Mouth' consistently fast, while 'Set The World Afire' and 'In My Darkest Hour' offer a few moments of speed. 1988 wasn't a great year for the big four, but 'South Of Heaven' and '...And Justice For All' piss all over this.

Song summaries include...

  1. Into The Lungs Of Hell - A not too memorable instrumental. Shit this could have been a jam that they decided to put on the final product at the last minute. C
  2. Set The World Afire - Competent at best, with only a brief flurry of speed near the end. It's all there aggression-wise. B
  3. Anarchy In The U.K. - Who needs this? Dave must have thought it suited his crazed personality, but adding a cover to an already thin volume of music was a move of desperation. F
  4. Mary Jane - A true turkey that ranks up there with other Megadeth atrocities like 'I Will Be There', 'Have Cool Will Travel' and fifty others. Nauseating melody is the main fault. Of course it gets heavier as it goes but so what? Exodus were considered second division at the time, but their output destroyed this shoddy fare at the time. D
  5. 502 - One of the standouts thanks to some shredding riffs and a reasonable sense of speed. In the end that's all anyone ever wanted from these dudes isn't it? B
  6. In My Darkest Hour - A Megadeth classic, and one of those suicide type deals that you can envision a tortured youth sitting down with a shotgun to his head listening to, contemplating the deed. The kid of course comes from a broken home, is beaten by his dad with a belt, is an outcast at school because he listens to metal, can't find a girl and no one understands him. He is dressed in a gay cut off shirt with no sleeves, tight, skin fitting blue jeans and white Converse Cons up to his ankles. Happily he finds the will to live when things speed up neat the end. B
  7. Liar - Then he kills himself when he hears this piece of near punk shit. D
  8. Hook In Mouth - That's a pretty heavy slice of thrash around the 1.15 mark isn't it? It gave Megadeth's fans hope that they weren't done, an act they only delayed for one whole album. B

Horatio's Rating:  C

Discography (last updated 11.4.05):
Last Rites demo - 1984
Killing Is My Business...And Business Is Good - 1985
Peace Sells...But Who's Buying - 1986
Wake Up Dead EP - 1986
Anarchy In The U.K. EP - 1988
Liar EP - 1988
Mary Jane EP - 1988
So Far, So Good...So What? - 1988
Holy Wars...Punishment Due EP - 1990
No More Mr. Nice Guy split 7" with Dead On - 1990
Rust In Peace - 1990
Hangar 18 EP - 1991
Maximum Megadeth EP - 1991
Countdown To Extinction - 1992
Foreclosure Of A Dream EP - 1992
Symphony Of Destruction EP - 1992
Angry Again EP - 1993
MegaBox box set - 1993
Megadeth Live EP - 1993
Skin O' My Teeth EP - 1993
Sweating Bullets EP - 1993
The Story Of Megadeth EP - 1994
Train Of Consequences EP - 1994
Youthanasia - 1994
A Tout Le Monde EP - 1995
Hidden Treasures - 1995
The MegaBox box set - 1995
Cyberarmy Exclusive Tracks EP - 1996
Almost Honest EP - 1997
Cryptic Writings - 1997
Live Trax EP - 1997
The Originals box set - 1997
Special Limited Edition EP - 1997
Trust EP - 1997
A Secret Place EP - 1998
Cryptic Sounds (No Voices In Your Head) EP - 1998
Live Trax II EP - 1998
Use The Man EP - 1998
Crush 'Em EP - 1999
Risk - 1999
Breadline EP - 2000
Capitol Punishment - 2000
Kill The King EP - 2000
Moto Psycho EP - 2001
The World Needs A Hero - 2001
Rude Awakening - 2002
Still, Alive...And Well? - 2002
Blackmail The Universe/Kick The Chair EP - 2004
Die Dead Enough EP - 2004
Hell Wasn't Built In A Day box set - 2004
The System Has Failed - 2004
Greatest Hits:  Back To The Start - 2005
Of Mice And Men EP - 2005