Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?

Peace Sells... but Who’s Buying? is the second album on which Dave Mustaine’s twisted riff sense and Chris Poland’s fluid, jazz-derived guitar collide strongly. The songs are fast and complex, yet the surging groove created by Ellefson’s bass and the drums keeps it from ending as mere technical competition. An early landmark that defined Megadeth’s character. The dizzying development of the opener “Wake Up Dead,” the aggression of “The Conjuring” and the title track “Peace Sells,” with its uneasy hook, plainly show the band’s aggression and social irony, while the drama of “Good Mourning / Black Friday” and the tension of “My Last Words” give the album depth. Its value lies in establishing the band’s own musicality with complex riffs and intelligent song construction while reflecting Cold War tension and a sharp social gaze. Technical yet not losing raw rock energy, it presents a more complex, venomous thrash metal different from Metallica — an extremely important masterpiece.