•
Rating:
After a stressful Saturday morning at the office, here I am at home. Given the awful weather, I settle back at the PC, and, of course, Windows Media Player starts: "So Far, So Good... So What!". It's one of my favorite albums and, although it doesn't reach the heights of masterpieces like "Rust In Peace", it deserves a review on DeBaser!
From the instrumental intro "Into The Lungs Of Hell", you are faced with pure thrash metal (although personally, I prefer to call it Speed): in three and a half minutes of pure music, it becomes clear that the band is in great form, with a precise and punctual rhythm section, and Mustaine and Young always accurate. Then comes the singing: "Set A World A Fire" is fantastic; every time I hear it, I think of that poem (or sonnet, call it what you will, in Italian, I was a failure) that said "S’ i’ fosse fuoco, arderei ‘l mondo"! I don’t think old Dave knows it, but who cares, the message isn’t different: Megadeth’s arsenal is unleashed. The song has a decidedly aggressive lyrics and Mustaine’s voice is fantastic, angry and clear at the same time. Then it's the turn of the Sex Pistols cover with special guest Steve Jones. Honestly, I don't particularly love punk, so I prefer this version to the original. Then begins the splendid lament of "Mary Jane": Mustaine gives his best, the song flows pleasantly, with lyrics seasoned with the usual sarcasm, our singer is in the grip of nightmares. But the main feature is the music, a redundant start, almost like a symphonic opera, a simple and, therefore, catchy rhythm: it sticks in your head, like almost all the band's songs, especially due to the rhythm change halfway through the song, with a series of short solos alternating with the voice: fantastic. After the vaguely prophetic flavor song and the crazy one, it's time for the ride "502", the suitable song for when you get stopped by the cops. The lyrics appear (and in my opinion, are) the result of one of the band's members’ boozy nights, spiced with high speed (ok, the message may not be positive, but today, who hasn’t lost points for the alcohol test or should consider themselves really lucky or doesn’t drive). The album continues with three more tracks: "In My Darkest Hour", where Mustaine offers a great vocal performance with a rough and angry voice (although I don't much like the part where he modifies it) and the band always plays at good levels, especially regarding speed. Then "Liar": fantastic, with a heart-pounding sound intro, a series of gratuitous insults directed at the entire world (ok, well maybe just at Metallica, but it’s old news by now) and screamed at monstrous speed. Finally, "Hook In Mouth", for me, the least inspired track of the album, although Megadeth confirms that they are in great shape, both with an engaging lyrics where "the New Ways' Evil Book of Rules" reminds me much of those political programs today so widespread, and under the strictly technical profile with an intense rhythm, while the two guitars alternate perfectly.
Conclusion: In this 1988, Megadeth tries to respond to the other metal bands, probably with an album in some ways inferior to "...And Justice For All", "Reign in Blood", or "Into The Pandemonium", but inferior, especially, to its predecessor "Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?". However, in my opinion, in "So Far, So Good... So What!" the elements are present, i.e., the acquired confidence by Mustaine in vocals and the now full harmony with Ellefson on bass, that will lead not only to "Rust In Peace", but confirm the group as one of the cornerstones of the genre. In short, fantastic: how can you not get hyped while listening to "502" while driving? Forget about the morning grind, I'm pumped for the evening: recommended album before going out for a night of revelry, maybe avoiding ending up in some "hunz" club.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Set the World Afire (05:50)
Red flash clouds choking out the morning sky
They said it'd never come, we knew it was a lie
All forms of life die now the humans all succumb
Time to kiss your ass goodbye the end has just begun
Distorted figures walk the street, it's 1989
Weeds once underneath your feet have grown to vines
Bodies melted like a candle, a land without a face
No time to change your fate, no time left, it's too late
The arsenal of Megadeth can't be rid they said
And if it comes, the living will envy the dead
Racing for power, and all come in last
No winning first stone cast
This falsehood worldly peace
It's treaties soon will cease
No one will be left to prove that humans existed
Maybe soon the children will be born open fisted
We all live on one planet it will all go up in smoke
Too bad they couldn't see this lethal energy
And now the final scene, a global darkening
Dig deep the piles of rubble and ruins
Towering overhead both far and wide
There's unknown tools for World War III
Einstein said "We'll use rocks on the other side"
No survivors set the world afire
03 Anarchy in the U.K. (03:02)
Right now
I am an Anti-Christ,
And I am an anarchist
Don't know what I want, but I know how to get it,
I want to destroy, possibly?
Cause I want to be Anarchy
No dog's body
Anarchy for the USA
It's coming sometime it maybe
I give a wrong time, stop a traffic light
Your future dream is a shopping spree
Cause I want to be Anarchy,
In the city
Of many ways to get what you want
I use the best, I use the rest
I use the enemy,
I use anarchy
Cause I want to be Anarchy,
It's the only way to be
Is this the MPLA?
Is this the UDA?
Is this the IRA?
I thought it was the USA, or just another country
And other cunt-like tendencies
Cause I want to be Anarchy, cause I want to be Anarchy,
You know what I mean?
Cause I want to be an Anarchist,
Again I'm pissed, destroy!
04 Mary Jane (04:27)
Forgive me father for I have sinned
I'm a child of the air, I'm a witch of the wind
And I'm still awake... Mary Jane
From the earth, up through the trees
I can hear her calling me
Her voice rides on the breeze
Oh, it's haunting me
No, I can't get away
No, there's no escape
If I know I'm going crazy
I must not be insane
Beware my friends, as you pass by
As you are now so once was I
As I am now so you must be
Prepare my friends to follow me
Forgive me father for I have sinned
I'm a child of the air, I'm a witch of the wind
Fingers gripped around my brain
No control, my mind is lame
I'm in the astral plane, and I'll never be the same
Never, never, never, never, never, never
Never, never, never
Beware my friends, as you pass by
As you are now so once was I
As I am now so you must be
Prepare my friends to follow me
It hurts so bad I can't breathe
Prepare to follow me
05 502 (03:30)
Pull over, shithead, this is the cops
Full tank, pockets lined with cash
Full throttle, gonna rip some ass.
Drive all day, and through the night,
Romance the road, winding left and right.
The stars above guide me, the moonlight is free.
A feeling inside me, and the whole world to see.
Driving fast makes me feel good,
The speed of light trapped under my hood.
Breaking laws, 'cause there's nothing to do.
Driving the interstate, stopped for a 502
Hundreds of miles rolled off today.
Signs lose their meaning, minutes tick away.
Dirt roads to interstates, I must have drove them all.
Cigarettes and burgers, caffeine and alcohol.
Drive until daybreak, always on the go.
Life on the freeway, night shift till dawn patrol.
Driving fast makes me feel good,
The speed of light trapped under my hood
Breaking laws 'cause there's nothing to do.
Driving the interstate, stopped for a 502.
Stopped for a 502, next time it's gonna be you.
Stars above guide me
This feeling inside me.
I drive until daybreak.
Life on the freeway is Hell.
I'm coming through.
06 In My Darkest Hour (06:18)
In my hour of need
ha! no, you're not there...
and though I reached out for you
wouldn't lend a hand.
Through the darkest hour
grace did not shine on me.
It feels so cold, very cold
no one cares for me.
Did you ever think I get lonely ?
did you ever think that I needed love ?
did you ever think to stop thinking ?
you're the only one that I'm thinking of...
You'll never know how hard I tried
to find my space and satisfy you too.
Things will be better when I'm dead and gone
don't try to understand, knowing you I'm probably wrong.
But, oh, how I lived my life for you!
still you'd turn away
now as I die for you,
my flesh still crawls, as I breathe your name
all these years I thought I was wrong
now I know it was you!
Raise you head, raise your face your eyes
tell me, who you think you are?
I walk, I walk alone
into the promised land.
There's a better place for me
but it's far, far away
Everlasting life for me
in a perfect world
but I gotta die first,
please god send me on my way !
Time has a way of taking time,
Loneliness is not only felt be fools.
Alone I call to ease the pain,
yearning to be held by you.
Alone so alone, I'm lost
Consumed by the pain
the pain, the pain, the pain.
Won't you hold me again?
And you just laughed, ha! ha! Bitch !
My whole life is work built on the past
but the time has come when all things shall pass
this good thing passed away.
In my darkest hour.
07 Liar (03:22)
You take great pride in never having lived up to anything
Lie, steal, cheat and kill, a real bad guy
Your daddy is a wino, and your mommy is quite insane
From altar boy to sewer rate, you don't give a damn
Your sister's a junkie, gets "it" anyway she can
Your brother's a gay singer in a stud leather band
Your girlfriend's got herpes to go with your hep and AIDS
There ain't one person you know you ain't ripped off yet
Look deep in the mirror, look deep into its eyes
Your face is replaced, a creature you despise
But I know what you're made of, it ain't much I'm afraid
I know you'll be lying until your dying day
Make up your stories, the truth's so hard to say
Brain is numb and your tongue will surely dig your grave
Your mind is sickly from Alzheimer's Disease
And decadence and debauchery killed your memories
You're a liar, liar, liar, everyone can see
You're a liar, liar, it's all you'll ever be
Liar, liar, liar, it's what you mean to me
Liar, liar, lies....
Start trouble, spread pain
Piss and venom, in your veins
Talk nasty, breathe fire
Smell rotten, you're a liar
Sweat liquor, breathe snot
Eat garbage, spit blood
Diseased, health hazard
Scum bag, filthy bastard
Greasy face, teeth decay
Hair matted, drunk all day
Absessed, sunken veins
Rot gut, scrambled brains
Steal money, crash cars
Rob jewelry, hock guitars
Rot in hell, it's time you know
To your master, off you go
You're a liar
A fucking liar
Filthy liar
Liar
You fucking liar
Liar
08 Hook in Mouth (04:40)
A cockroach in the concrete
Courthouse tan and beady eyes
A slouch with fallen arches
Purging truths into great lies
A little man with a big eraser
Changing history
Procedures that he's programmed to do
All he hears and sees
Altering the facts and figures
Eventus and every issue
Make a person disappear
And no one will ever miss you
Rewrites every story
Every poem that ever was
Eliminates incompetence
And those who break the laws
Follow the instructions of the New Ways' Evil Book of Rules
Replacing rights with wrongs
The files and records in the schools
You say you've got the answers
Well who asked you anyway?
Ever think maybe it was meant to be this way?
Don't try to fool us
We know the worst is yet to come
I believe my kingdom will come
F is for fighting
R is for red, ancestors' blood in battles they've shed
E we elect them
E we eject them, in the land of the free, and the home of the brave
D for dying
O your overture
M they will cover your grave with manure
This spells out freedom, it means nothing to me
As long as there's a P.M.R.C. (repeat)
Put your hand right up my shirt
Pull the strings that make me work
Jaws will part, words fall out
Like a fish with hook in mouth
Rewrites every story
Every poem that ever was
Eliminates incompetence
And those who break the laws.
Follow the instructions of the New Ways' Evil Book of Rules
Replacing rights with wrongs
The files and records in the schools
I'm not a fish
I'm a man
Hook in Mouth!
Loading comments slowly
Other reviews
By FedeHetfield
"The cover, however, seems made for a video game, which despite this comparison, is undeniably unique in its style."
"So Far, So Good... So What? is what I consider a good Thrash metal album, no more no less."
By FlavioMetal
The magic of the first two albums... has almost completely vanished.
The music becomes more bare, almost punk rock.
