Critical Reception
| Professional ratings | |
|---|---|
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| Allmusic | |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
| Sputnikmusic | 4/5 |
Killing is My Business... and Business Is Good! received generally positive reviews from critics. Megadeth's official website refers to Killing Is My Business as "undoubtedly, their rawest-sounding, most intense, fastest, angriest, and overall thrashiest album they've ever released." Steve Huey from Allmusic said that the album is "raw as Megadeth gets, and that can be both good and bad -- Megadeth's later precise, complex riffing and composition aren't completely developed, but the music is performed with a great deal of energy, while Mustaine's vocals (never his strong point) are amateurish at best."
Adrien Begrand of PopMatters dismissed the original recording, but praised the re-release, writing "the album blazes on at a furious pace, and being a 1985 metal album, the subject matter, though now a bit dated, is such a refreshing change from the suburban angst that dominates today's nu-metal. Instead, we're treated to fun scenarios like a song based on The Punisher comic book ("Killing Is My Business"), the occult ("The Skull Beneath the Skin"), and the deliriously bombastic Christ point-of-view on "Looking Down the Cross". Sputnikmusic staff member Mike Stagno agreed with the praise for the remaster, writing that "the remaster is greatly appreciated, for it removes the fuzzy, hard to hear sounds of the 1985 version, replacing them with a crisper, cleaner tone. But don't fret; the album still retains that raw, thrashy sound that one would expect from an 80's thrash band." The album is also rated "excellent" by the review score on the site.
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