You're a young Jay Reynolds, and you've just been given the opportunity of a lifetime. You join Megadeth as their new guitarist, and finish their 1987 UK tour in support of their platinum selling album, Peace Sells... But Who's Buying? Your next adventure takes you into the studio to begin recording on what will become 1988's So Far, So Good... So What! There's just one problem. You can't perform the solos being requested of you for the songs. You're not only asked to leave, but the person who served as your guitar instructor is then asked to join the band. Enter Jeff Young.
Looking back at yesterday's post, it's ironic that the band would fire Gar Samuelson, and Chris Poland for ongoing substance abuse, when it would be noted that the recording sessions for their 1988 album would be problematic with Dave Mustaine for the exact same reason. To me, that's just ironically hypocritical.
Despite the major label budget for the album, as well as five months to record it, producer Paul Lani would prove to be a problem for the band, leading to frequent clashes between him and Mustaine. Purportedly, this all began with Lani's insistence that the drums be recorded separately from the cymbals, an unheard-of process for rock drummers. The two became estranged, and Lani was ultimately fired, and replaced by Michael Wagener.
Upon its release, So Far, So Good... So What! would become the bands second consecutive platinum record, performing even better on the charts, peaking at number twenty-eight on the Billboard 200. Though things were looking to only get bigger and better for the band, their consistent substance abuse would once again lead to problems. More on that in a bit.
For me, So Far... is relatively more of the same that I've heard two times now. Fast and hard, and mostly incoherent. I'll again give credit where credit is due. The instrumentation work is solid.
Things do break out of this mold, in particular, In My Darkest Hour, and the cover of Sex Pistols Anarchy In The UK. These more structured tunes come across as better, but at the same time, I don't see myself saying, "I need to hear that again."
Overall, I think I'm fatigued at this point on Megadeth. Whereas before I was giving things a pass for having solid instrumentation, this time around, I'm looking for something better. I suppose this is why I have always preferred their 90's material. Tracks like Symphony Of Destruction, Train Of Consequences, A Tout le Monde, and Blood Of Heroes just sound far superior.
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