Released in 1988, this album features complex compositions that depart from the norm, rhythm changes, and a strong focus on instrumental passages.
From the dynamic and energetic instrumental track “Into The Lungs Of Hell,” to the rebellious cover of the Sex Pistols‘ “Anarchy In The UK,” this album is a must-listen for any rock music lover. The guitars, played by Dave Mustaine and Jeff Young, create a perfect partnership that combines speed and musicality in a way that breaks away from the predictable and the classic.
Moreover, the drumming in this album is exceptional, with Chuck Behler delivering some impressive double bass drumming in “Anarchy In The UK” and a powerful drum solo in ‘502.’ David Ellefson’s bass work is also noteworthy, particularly in ‘Hook In Mouth,’ where he practically leads the whole song.
Overall, “So Far, So Good… So What”‘ is an impressive work from start to finish, and a highly underrated one.The third album by Megadeth, filled with excellent instrumentals and compositions leaning towards technicality.
Talking about Megadeth is always a pleasant topic, a band that has consistently delivered high-quality albums, even with their occasional ups and downs. In recent years, they’ve released some very, very good works, such as ‘The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead!’ (2022), their sixteenth album and one of their best in their over 35-year career.
Today, we’ll discuss ‘So Far, So Good… So What!’ (1988), their third studio album and the only one with the lineup of Dave Mustaine (Guitar and vocals), David Ellefson (Bass), Jeff Young (Guitar), and Chuck Behler (Drums). The latter two joined the band to replace Chris Poland (Guitar) and Gar Samuelson (Drums) due to their addiction problems. The band had unleashed all their anger in their two previous albums, and in this third one, they were focused on creating compositions that leaned more towards technicality.
What can we hear?
A strong focus on instrumental passages; the band combines and perfects their speed with a musicality that attempts to break away from the predictable and the classic. The work starts with ‘Into The Lungs Of Hell,’ a completely instrumental track, glorious and dynamic, with guitar work that loudly announces everything that lies ahead in this great album.
We hear a notable contribution from Jeff Young on the guitars, unfortunately, this would be his only work with the band, creating a perfect partnership with Dave Mustaine. We find songs beyond commercial success like ‘In My Darkest Hour,’ with a technical level that stands out among Megadeth’s more complex pieces, even surpassing albums like ‘Rust In Peace (1990).’ Examples include ‘Hook In Mouth,’ ‘Mary Jane,’ or ‘502,’ with very elaborate structures departing from the norm, featuring very interesting rhythm changes like in ‘Set The World Afire.’
Megadeth focused on “So Far, So Good… So What!” on crafting more balanced pieces compared to their two previous albums, ‘Peace Sells’ and “Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good.” We consider that they showed maturity once they had established themselves as one of the fastest bands in the scene… or rather, confronting their arch-enemies, Metallica, directly through their music.
Megadeth's tribute to the Sex Pistols
It’s in the third track of the album where we encounter the band’s rebelliousness, expressed through one of the most controversial songs in rock history… ‘Anarchy In The UK ‘, originally by the Sex Pistols, with the collaboration of their original guitarist, Steve Jones, featuring a very impressive double bass drumming by Chuck Behler, who interestingly ended up joining the band because he was Gar Samuelson’s Drum Tech.
Speaking of drums, paying attention, we realize the work is exceptionally good, perhaps conservative compared to other drummers in the band. However, Behler shows us what he was capable of in ‘502,’ a very fast song where, besides having a series of attractive finishes and double bass drums, we can hear an extremely powerful drum solo at 2:46. We really like the production of this instrument, far superior to their previous albums, as we can identify each part of his set, as evidenced by listening to the toms in “In My Darkest Hour.”
It’s a pity that the band no longer performs most of the songs from “So Far, So Good… So What!” One of the hidden gems of this work is ‘Liar,’ a song supposedly dedicated to their former guitarist Chris Poland, very punk-style, with precise bass and drums that give the song a very stable architecture to allow the guitars to play with riffs and solos. We also love this song because at 2:17, we can hear Dave Mustaine with vocals that are very rap-style, something he didn’t repeat on any other album.
Impressive from start to finish…
The album closes with ‘Hook In Mouth,’ a wild song where we hear a very prominent David Ellefson on bass, present and practically leading the whole song, with passages where he’s alone with the drums. Additionally, we love the duel of solos presented in the song between Dave Mustaine and Jeff Young.
“So Far, So Good… So What!” starts and ends exceptionally. Personally, it’s our favorite work by the band, which features a highly underrated lineup. Both Jeff Young and Chuck Behler made tremendous contributions to this album. As evidence, we can hear “Mary Jane,” a song with a modern neoclassical touch on the guitars that they didn’t repeat.
We could talk for hours and hours about this work. We love it! What do you think? Leave us your comments!
