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Megadeth May or May Not Be Re-Recording Killing Is My Business… and Business Is Good! with Kiko Loureiro and Dirk Verbeuren

  • Axl Rosenberg
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Ready for a third version of Megadeth’s 1985 debut, Killing is My Business… and Business is Good!? No? Well, suck Dave Mustaine’s rattlehead, ’cause you’re probably getting one.

For those who are somehow not familiar with the record’s history: Dave Mustaine was never happy with the (admittedly quite shitty) production on the album, which was made for just $4,000 (less than ten grand if you calculate inflation*). In 2002, he oversaw a remix and remaster of the album, which, today, is the only one the Megamastermind acknowledges — you can get used copies of the original, but that’s it. The newer edition is the one you’ll find on all streaming services and on the shelves of whatever store you can find that still sells CDs.

Then, in 2015, Mustaine started talking about completely re-recording the entire thing:

“It’s the thirtieth anniversary of it[s release], so they wanted to remix it, and… I thought it would be better if we just completely re-recorded it with this new lineup, ’cause I think that would be really exciting, but we were in the process of making [the new Megadeth] record [‘Dystopia’].”

Well, it now appears that Mustaine may be making good on his threat. Responding on Twitter to a fan’s praise of the record yesterday, Mustaine said…

When another fan replied “I imagine a re-recording with Kiko and Dirk… Am I wrong?,” Mustaine replied twice in as many minutes:

Thanks, Dave. Way to narrow down the possibilities.

It’s possible Mustaine’s apparent schizophrenia is because the re-recording isn’t a re-recording in the sense most of us would think; it could be that the band plans to perform the entire album live and record/film it for release, like they did with Countdown to Extinction in 2013, or that they plan to do some kind of live-in-the-studio re-recording in the vein of Anthrax’s The Greater of Two Evils. But who knows.

As I’ve said too many times before, I’m not a fan of re-recording old classics; your history is your history and if it’s not 100% the way you want it, well, shit happens. Maybe the Star Wars special editions do have improved special effects… but who gives a crap? The originals are the ones we fell in love with.

That being said, as long as Mustaine doesn’t attempt to make the remix and remaster disappear the way he already has with the original release, I won’t shed any tears. Making it plain old impossible for us older fans to listen to some version of the record as we know it would be a felony, but trying to cash in with new guitar solos or whatever would just be a misdemeanor.

Agree? Disagree? Debate in the comments section below. And remember, we really don’t know if this is even happening for sure, so… Satan willing we can completely forget we have this conversation someday.

*In defense of the label that released the album, Combat Records, they apparently gave the band double that amount — but half of it went up their noses.

[via Metal Insider]

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