MEGADETH, Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good! (1985, Combat)

The skull:
Among the first of the big dumb skulls, and certainly one of the greatest. The solid steel visor riveted across his eyes and the iron staples closing his jaws perhaps mitigate somewhat the dumbness, but it cannot be argued that this is BDSery in it’s purest form: a massive, real skull commanding the majority of the cover’s real estate, just daring you to fuck with it and knowing that you will not!

The music:
A thrash metal classic for the ages! While it doesn’t reach the heights of the band’s sophomore album, which in this Friar’s opinion is the single greatest metal album ever made, Killing Is My Business… is every bit the caustic revenge art its mastermind intended it to be. Mustaine’s riffs on the first two albums are utterly inscrutable; just try to imagine any other band coming up to the main riff in the title track. Or that awesome bass solo in “The Skull Beneath the Skin”. Reissued indifferently, then remixed indiscriminately, the original pressing is the canonincal one. If the copy you own doesn’t have this cover, and if it is lacking an unredacted recording of “These Boots,” then you don’t really own the album and should be ashamed.
– Friar Johnsen