Retro Raunch Revisit

For all the heavy flak they catch now, THIS should be a no argument & no debate no-brainer: RTL stands as one of metal's all-time classic 80's thrash gold standards. It's kinda crazy to look back on it as the band was 'riding' a crest of enormous word of mouth popularity that helped almost single-handedly bring a genre in its infancy to the masses that caught on like wildfire seemingly overnight -- and as fans being innocently unaware that it would still be another decade that saw them scale their absolute peak. Through the lens of gateway nostalgia (as opposed to gatekeeping), we remember when we first heard/bought this. The guitar work alone is outstanding, full of anthemic twin leads and furious soloing. In all even at just 8 tracks (as was the next album), RTL is a zenith landmark (again, as is the next album) in a moment of time that captured perfection. Happy 40th Anniversary.