I had only seen Testament's name in passing before I got tickets to see them open for Judas Priest in 2008. I did then what I haven't done since, and caught up on listening to the four bands that I was going to see (those being aforementioned Testament and Judas Priest along with Motorhead and Heaven & Hell). However, there was something about Testament that made me come back to listen to them over and over, until steadily Testament secured the spot of my #1 most listened to band on Last.fm. I went a while with my "scrobbler" on without checking Last.fm, and was surprised to go back to the site to see my new top band, but this quickly made sense to me. "The New Order", the then-recently released "The Formation of Damnation", and "The Legacy" had gotten into my regular album listening rotation, while I kept going back to songs like "Practice What You Preach", "Souls of Black", "Over the Wall", "Alone in the Dark", and countless others. I couldn't get enough of Alex Skolnick's leads as well as the entire band's songwriting and performances. While I still had many albums of Testament yet to explore then, Testament had pretty much become my favorite band at that point. The position of my favorite band has fluctuated now and then - for a bit it was Judas Priest, and recently it was a tie between Opeth and Katatonia - but somehow I always go back to Testament for that position.
Now on to what you probably came here for.
"The Legacy" is a thrash classic and a great album to start with for Testament. In my opinion it has a few songs that aren't quite as superb as the rest of the songs on this album, but these songs are still good, and, of course, those aforementioned "superb" tracks are thrash classics in their own right. Most notable about this album is Alex Skolnick's amazing lead guitar work on every single song.
TRACK-BY-TRACK FOLLOWS
"The Legacy" opens with "Over the Wall", a staple of Testament's. After a opening harmony, the song quickly gets very fast and thrashy. You quickly hear just how raw this album's production is, and personally I think this album would be easier to listen to with production like on "The Gathering" or "The Formation of Damnation", but in terms of quality this doesn't hold back the album much at all, if only just because of how great the songs are. Vocalist Chuck Billy delivers his thrash-style vocals very effectively, often letting loose shrieks (he later adopted more of a death-growl style in place of shrieks). About 2 minutes in, the song takes a pause to build up to one of Alex Skolnick's many memorable solos. 30 seconds later, the song (according to a guitar tab) switches to 6/4 time, and Eric Peterson plays a simple yet memorable lead before Alex Skolnick comes in again with a solo that is nothing short of epic. Skolnick's solo(s) in "Over the Wall" hold a place in my personal top 5 guitar solos of all time, for what that's worth. After Skolnick's solo, Peterson repeats his little lead and the song winds down (but does not relent) before coming to a triumphant ending of Chuck Billy shouting the title of the song. As I said, this is a staple song of Testament's, and probably my favorite single by them. Very thrashy yet very melodic and memorable. 10/10
After "Over the Wall" is "The Haunting". Like "Over the Wall", it starts with a lead line that I personally think would sound better with modern production, but anyway, the lead line transitions very smoothly into the thrashy verse. Halfway through the song is a bridge that transitions very well into, actually, two trade-off solos. While I don't know who plays what in this song (despite that I saw Testament play this album live :( ), these solos alone hint at the capacity of both guitarists. Eric Peterson would later evolve from the mostly-rhythm role into a second/trade-off lead role along with Alex Skolnick, mostly starting with "The Formation of Damnation" although Peterson had a lead here and there before that. Overall, besides the solos this is kind of just another track on this fantastic album; great, but not as stand-out as some others. 8.5/10
Following "The Haunting" is "Burnt Offerings", which has a melodic-lead-over-clean-rhythm intro before coming in with a heavy transition about 30 seconds in. 50 seconds in, the thrashyness to come is hinted at with a complex riff, but shortly after the one minute mark, one of the most memorable and melodic riffs on the album comes along. Everything on "Burnt Offerings" just works from the get-go, from the build-ups to the memorable, melodic riffs, to the thrash-style and sung vocals. About 2:40 in, Louie Clemente (who was sadly by no means Testament's best drummer) starts a double-bass-drum rhythm, which is effectively transitioned from until at about 3:43 when we hear another very memorable lead from Skolnick. As I said, everything on this track flows and fits very well, making this one of the strongest tracks on the album. 9.75/10
"Raging Waters" follows "Burnt Offerings". This song is full of melodic lines and has a very catchy and memorable chorus. After a chorus, the song keeps building up, until coming to a very thrashy part that, sure enough, Skolnick absolutely shreds over. Listening to this album cements Skolnick's position as my personal favorite lead guitarist; his leads are melodic and memorable while remaining technical and expertly-played. By the final (vocal-less until the last line) chorus at the end of the song, I found myself shouting along to lyrics that weren't even there. While Skolnick's solo, for me, is the highlight of this track, the chorus, especially, is very powerful. 8.75/10
"Curse of the Legions of Death" (oddly abbreviated C.O.T.L.O.D. even though the full song name is already typed out) is after "Raging Waters". The shortest song on the album at 2:32, this song is pretty thrashy. Around 1:40 in, we hear another set of trade-off leads that compliment the song very well. Like "The Haunting", I find this song to sort of be just another track here, but on a record like this, that's still more than something. 8.25/10
After "C.O.T.L.O.D." (there, I used the abbreviation!) is "First Strike is Deadly". This may be the heaviest song on the album, coming in around 26 seconds in with a furious double-bass beat. A thrash beat is kept throughout most of the song. The chorus has Chuck Billy powerfully shrieking the name of the song. Sadly I find this to be another song that better production would have helped, but this is still a great head-banger. Halfway into the track, the song breaks down until coming to another solo at around 2:19. The solo actually grows on itself, coming to a neo-classical-sounding melody and then a beautiful harmony that the solo closes with, before the song climaxes with a Chuck Billy scream and another double-bass beat. As I said, this may be the heaviest track on this album, and it features an absolutely beautiful lead. 9/10
Following "First Strike is Deadly" is the thrashy "Do or Die". The chorus in this song is melodic and memorable. While the verses aren't as melodic, the choruses and post-choruses hint at the melodic shredding to come in the solo halfway in. While this is still a great lead, it's kind of one of the shortest and least "epic" ones on the album. Like "The Haunting" and "C.O.T.L.O.D." this may kind of be "just another song" on this album, but as I said the chorus and post-chorus leads are very memorable. 8.25/10
After "Do or Die" is my personal 2nd favorite, "Alone in the Dark". The song opens with a very melodic and memorable lead from Skolnick. This is one of the less thrashy songs on the album, but this isn't necessarily a bad thing, as "Alone in the Dark" is memorable from start to finish. The riffing, vocals, and especially lead-work are exceptional on this song. The post-chorus thrash-vocal parts feel a bit weird, but other than that this holds as one of my favorite all-time Testament (and thrash metal) songs. 2:21 in, Skolnick starts a lead that builds up to one of his very best and most epic, which is saying something seeing as that most if not all of his leads so far have been great. Overall, this is easily one of the strongest songs not only on this album, but also from Testament. While as I said, the musicianship on this song is great, the solo itself could have made the song had it needed "making". I'll note that this is one of my friend and usual concert-buddy's favorite songs from them as well. 10/10
"The Legacy" closes with "Apocalyptic City". Like "Burnt Offerings", we start with a melodic lead over a clean rhythm before about 30 seconds in when the song gets heavy. This far into the album, the thrashyness and quality of songwriting hasn't calmed down at all since "Over the Wall", with the thrashyness only relenting when dynamically effective. Anyway, "Apocalyptic City" is the longest track on the album at 5:51. That said, this track doesn't feel drawn out at all. Like some before it, the solo in this song effectively builds on itself until coming to a very memorable and melodic line at about 3:27. After the solo, the song goes back to this albums usual brand of thrashyness, I have to group this song with "The Haunting", "Do or Die", and "C.O.T.L.O.D." as the "other tracks" on this album compared to songs like "Over the Wall" and "Alone in the Dark". These tracks, this one included, are still memorable in parts, if only because of Alex Skonlick's terrific lead guitar work. The ending of this song ends the album strongly and with a sense of closure, but leaves you wondering what more these guys can do. 8.25/10
END TRACK-BY-TRACK
Testament started their recording career with a huge bang with "The Legacy". Supposedly, many consider "The Legacy" to be Testament's best album, and with great cause; this is an amazing album, full of memorable melodies and head-banging thrash moments. I find that a few songs are somewhat less memorable than others to me, but these songs aren't bad and are more than redeemed by Alex Skolnick's world-class soloing. Besides some tracks being stronger than others, the only thing holding this album back is the very raw 80s production. It's bearable and not the worst I've ever heard but I think this album could be in the top three or even two thrash albums of all time if it had production like "The Gathering" or "The Formation of Damnation", or even like Megadeth's "Rust in Peace" which followed by three years. That said, again, this is a thrash classic and a great album for Testament, or a listener, to start with. 9.5/10. Could the album following this one possibly live up to the bar that Testament had set for themselves? Review of "The New Order" coming soon, maybe even later today.
Note: If you're just getting into Testament, you may be tempted to start with 2001's compilation of re-recordings from "The Legacy" and "The New Order", titled "First Strike Still Deadly"; my opinion is that you don't. While the production on the re-recordings is slightly better, somehow it's not as crushing as the production on 1999's "The Gathering", and in some places just feels kind of weird. "First Strike Still Deadly" isn't bad but definitely has a different feel than Testament's first two albums. I listen to the re-recordings sometimes when I want something downtuned and heavy, but most of the time I will just go back to "The Legacy" and "The New Order" themselves.
Thanks for reading!
TL;DR:
Rating: 9.5/10
Highlights: Over the Wall, Alone in the Dark, Burnt Offerings, First Strike is Deadly, every single one of Alex Skolnick's guitar solos
Recommend: Buy if you love thrash; Buy if you love metal and can stand raw production; Try otherwise; Try over 2001's "First Strike Still Deadly"
