Megadeth Plot Extras-Packed ‘Killing Is My Business’ Reissue

Megadeth are marking their 35th anniversary with an extras-packed, deluxe reissue of their 1985 debut, newly dubbed Killing Is My Business … and Business Is Good: The Final Kill. The remastered album, due June 8th, features a new mix that includes some alternate takes, as well as live recordings and demos.

The album, which was notoriously muddy and raw-sounding because the band spent much of its recording budget on drugs, now supposedly conforms to frontman Dave Mustaine’s vision, save a re-recording of the band’s Nancy Sinatra cover, “These Boots.” Engineer Mark Lewis (Trivium, Death Angel) remixed the album, while Ted Jensen remastered it. During the process, Lewis found a number of previously unheard parts of the songs, including a drum performance that was thought to be lost, which are now present.

One major difference from the original release, though, is “These Boots.” Where the original features dirty, hardly feministic lyrics written by Mustaine, this version features the frontman singing songwriter Lee Hazlewood’s original lyrics. Hazlewood objected to Mustaine’s rewrite in the mid-Nineties, and, for years, the song was omitted from the album; a 2002 reissue restored the song with bleeps over Mustaine’s lyrics.

The reissue also includes seven live recordings, from 1986 to 1990, that were pulled off VHS tapes in Mustaine’s attic and the band’s original three-track demo. It also features new artwork that mimics the sculpture of the original cover, as well as flyers and photos from the band’s archive.

“I am just as much amazed at the music we made as I am at the pure fact that we survived it all,” Mustaine said in a statement.

Killing Is My Business…and Business Is Good – The Final Kill Track List

1. “Last Rites / Loved to Deth”
2. “Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good!”
3. “The Skull Beneath the Skin”
4. “Rattlehead”
5. “Chosen Ones”
6. “Looking Down the Cross”
7. “Mechanix”
8. “These Boots”
9. “Last Rites / Loved to Deth” (live) (1987 London, UK)
10. “Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good!” (live) (1986 Denver, CO)
11. “The Skull Beneath the Skin” (live) (1990 London, UK)
12. “Rattlehead” (live) (1987 Bochum, Germany)
13. “Chosen Ones” (live) (1986 Denver, CO)
14. “Looking Down the Cross” (live) (1986 Denver, CO)
15. “Mechanix” (live) (1986 Denver, CO)
16. “Last Rites / Loved to Deth” (demo)
17. “The Skull Beneath the Skin” (demo) 
18. “Mechanix” (demo)”