Megadeth established themselves as contenders for Metallica‘s thrash metal throne with their second album, Peace Sells … but Who’s Buying? when it arrived on Sept. 19, 1986. And it was a throne that leader Dave Mustaine had a legitimate claim to.
But first they had to overcome Mustaine’s ouster from Metallica, way back in 1983, and Megadeth’s patchy debut, 1985’s Killing Is My Business … and Business Is Good, which suffered from an inadequate recording budget, and even the band’s personal demons with drugs and alcohol.