Consequence of Sound Attempts a Definitive Megadeth Album Ranking

Consequence of Sound recently published a ranking of every Megadeth studio album, from 1985’s Killing Is My Business… and Business Is Good! to 2022’s The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead!. The piece is part of the site’s Dissected series, which treats catalog deep dives as editorialized argument rather than settled history.

The feature lands at a moment when Megadeth’s legacy is quietly being reassessed. A younger generation of metal fans, less bound to the old Metallica-versus-Megadeth binary, has been streaming the band’s early records with fresh ears. Consequence’s list will likely stir the kind of debate that remains central to how this band’s music is discussed.

The Dissected series frames itself around “the exact science of personal opinion, late night debates, and the love of music.” That admission of subjectivity is important here. Megadeth fandom contains multitudes, and any attempt to order the catalog is asking for trouble. The author traces the thread of Dave Mustaine’s songwriting across decades of lineup changes, addiction struggles, and shifting production choices. The result is a reading of the band that pays equal attention to the explosive thrash of the early years and the more divisive experiments that followed.

Whether the ranking settles anything is beside the point. What it provides is a detailed, episode-by-episode look at how one of American metal’s most volatile careers unfolded on record. That it will also start arguments feels almost inevitable.