Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! is the debut studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released in the UK on May 17, 1985, by Music for Nations and in the US 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 tenure 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, except for "Mechanix". 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 version of "These Boots" with re-recorded vocals, redone to match Lee Hazlewood's version.
Background
Originally, Dave Mustaine was 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.
After going through multiple vocalists, including Lor Kane, Billy Bonds and John Cyriis, 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 ($23,323 in 2024) 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 ($11,661 in 2024). 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. Poland has disputed this account. The album was successfully recorded at the Indigo Ranch Studios, in Malibu, California.
Music and lyrics
According to writer Peter Buckley, the record presented a faster, "thrashier kind of heavy metal". Steve Huey of AllMusic opined that the music on Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! is predominantly "chaotic", accompanied by "lightning-fast" solo sections. Speaking about the intensity of the record, Ellefson said that "extreme speed was deemed the cool factor in thrash metal back in those days". Although Ellefson considers the album as a solid debut release, he wanted some of the songs to be recorded in slower tempo.
The album explores gloomy lyrical subjects such as death, violence, and occultism. Speaking about the themes on the album, author Bob Larson asserted that Megadeth "cranks out songs about spilling blood and stomping guts with venomous anger". The album's title, as well as its lyrics, led to accusations whether the band was promoting Satanism. These allegations were rigidly denied by Mustaine, who said that the band consciously kept away from the Satanic image. "I mean, it's great to thrash and pound, cut yourself up, scream and have fun, but you don't have to take out a Pagan attitude. Why support the Devil? He's already there. I'd rather just fucking thrash and be a metalist and listen to whatever I want to than be forced to listen to one style of music." "The Skull Beneath the Skin" graphically describes a horrendous human torture, while also probing into the occult and black magic. Mustaine has said that the creation of Vic Rattlehead was explained throughout that track. "Rattlehead", according to Dave Mustaine, was dedicated to the band's mascot and their fans. "Chosen Ones" was partially inspired by Tim the Enchanter from the movie Monty Python and the Holy Grail. "Mechanix" was originally written by Mustaine before his tenure in Metallica. He would perform the song with them during his time in the band and, after his departure, the music and lyrics were modified to create "The Four Horsemen". Lyrically, "Mechanix" is about having sex at a gas station. In the liner notes of the album's 2002 reissue, Mustaine was "strongly critical of Hazlewood", noting that Hazlewood received royalties for a number of years before taking issue. In 2018, the song was released with the original Lee Hazlewood lyrics on the remixed and remastered version of Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!
Artwork
The album's artwork, featuring a plastic skull with "tinfoil and ketchup", was not intended to be the original artwork. The intended artwork was inspired by the Three wise monkeys; Mustaine drew the original sketch and asked his friend Peyton Tuttle to paint a version of it; this early version was used on Megadeth merchandise.
Promotional tour
Megadeth began with live performances before the record was released. Although not a member of the band, Kerry King of Slayer played guitar for a short period because Mustaine had not recruited a full-time guitarist yet. In mid-1985, the group started a tour promoting the Killing Is My Business... album with the band Exciter. During the tour, guitarist Chris Poland abruptly left the band, and was replaced by guitarist Mike Albert. However, Poland rejoined Megadeth in October 1985, and stayed with the band up after the tour of the next album.
Release
Original release
The album was released on May 17, 1985. To date it remains the only Megadeth album that did not chart on the Billboard 200, primarily because it was released through an independent label with little promotion. Nevertheless, the album still went on to become one of Combat Records' highest selling releases. Later that year, Capitol Records signed Megadeth as they began working on their second album, Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?, released the following year.
2018 remaster
In April 2018 it was announced that the album would once again be remixed and remastered, with Mark Lewis remixing the album and Ted Jensen remastering it. Titled Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! - The Final Kill, the deluxe reissue features new album artwork, new mixes and masters of the original album, a new version of "These Boots" featuring Lee Hazlewood's original lyrics, the original 1984 demos featured on the 2002 remix, and newly discovered live tracks sourced from VHS tapes found in Dave Mustaine's attic, as well as a previously undiscovered "performance" by Samuelson. The new remaster was released on June 8, 2018.
40th anniversary reissue
A 40th anniversary edition was released on vinyl and streaming in October 2025. This version is based on the 2002 remaster, but contains the partial re-recording of "These Boots" from the Final Kill edition.
Critical reception
Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! received mostly positive reviews, not just from metal-oriented magazines, but from the mainstream press too. Similarly, Steve Huey from AllMusic observed that the album is "as raw as Megadeth gets". However, Huey noted that the riffs and compositions weren't completely developed, and called Mustaine's vocals "amateurish at best".
Adrien Begrand of PopMatters dismissed the original recording, but praised the re-release, writing that the album "blazes on at a furious pace". According to him, the record greatly influenced the heavy metal genre in the upcoming two decades. Mike Marsh of Drowned in Sound recommended the music "for people who want it loud, fast and brutal".
Track listing
Personnel
Production and performance credits are adapted from the album liner notes.
Megadeth
- Dave Mustaine – guitars, vocals, piano on "Last Rites/Loved to Death"
- Chris Poland – guitars
- David Ellefson – bass guitar, backing vocals
- Gar Samuelson – drums, timpani on "Rattlehead"
- Lee Rauch or Samuelson (unclear) – drums <small>(demos only)</small>
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
The Final Kill 2018 remix and remaster
- Mixed by Mark Lewis (tracks 1–8)
- Mastered by Ted Jensen
Charts
The Final Kill
{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
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! scope="col"|Chart (2018)
! scope="col"|Peak<br />position
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! scope="row"|Australian Albums (ARIA)
| 84
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! scope="row" |Greek Albums Chart
|align="center"|48
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!scope="row"|Japanese Albums Chart (Oricon)
|align="center"|35
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|}