So Far, So Good... So What!

So Far, So Good... So What! is the third studio album by American heavy metal band Megadeth, released in January 1988 through Capitol Records; a remixed and remastered edition including several bonus tracks was reissued in August 2004. It is the band's only album recorded with drummer Chuck Behler and guitarist Jeff Young, both of whom were fired immediately after the subsequent tour.

This album features one of the first songs Dave Mustaine wrote for Megadeth: "Set the World Afire", the first song he wrote after being fired from Metallica, in which he was a member from 1982–83, just before they recorded their 1983 debut album Kill 'Em All. He later admitted writing the lyrics during his journey home from the departure. "In My Darkest Hour" was written by Mustaine shortly after the death of Metallica bassist Cliff Burton.

Aside from occasional bonus tracks, singles and B-sides, this was also the last Megadeth album to feature a cover song in its track listing, until Super Collider featured a Thin Lizzy cover in 2013. (wiki)

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by Steve Huey

A largely uninspired effort recorded with a new guitarist and drummer, So Far, So Good...So What! lacks the conceptual unity and musical bite of Peace Sells, which helps push much of its lyrical material into the realm of self-parody, as Mustaine rants about the PMRC, the apocalypse, ex-girlfriends, and other people he is angry with, while hinting at the depth of his substance abuse problem with "502," a paean to driving drunk. The album wants to sound threatening but mostly comes off as forced and somewhat juvenile; typical is the embarrassing cover of "Anarchy in the U.K.," which is played in Megadeth's tightly controlled riffing style and without the looseness of the original, making it sound stilted and stiff -- and Mustaine doesn't even get the lyrics right. This one is for diehards only.