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Rust in Peace
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Rust in Peace | ||
 |
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| Studio album by Megadeth | ||
| Released | September 24, 1990 | |
| Recorded | 1989 - 1990 | |
| Genre | Thrash metal Speed metal Progressive metal |
|
| Length | 40:48(w/o bonus tracks) 57:00(w/ bonus tracks) |
|
| Label | Capitol Records Combat Records |
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| Producer(s) | Dave Mustaine and Mike Clink | |
| Professional reviews | ||
|---|---|---|
| Megadeth chronology | ||
| So Far, So Good... So What! (1988) |
Rust in Peace (1990) |
Countdown to Extinction (1992) |
Rust in Peace is the fourth album by Megadeth. It was released by Capitol Records in 1990 (see 1990 in music). The album is considered by many to be a thrash metal classic. Along with Metallica's Master of Puppets and Slayer's Reign in Blood, Rust in Peace is one of the most critically lauded thrash metal albums. Many Megadeth fans consider it to represent the high-point in the band's career.
The album's name comes from a sticker Dave Mustaine (below), the band's headsman saw on a vehicle once. From an interview with Dave Mustaine: "I was driving home from Elsanon... um, Lake Elsanon. I was tailgating somebody, racing down the freeway, and I saw this bumper sticker on their car and it said... you know, this tongue in cheek stuff like, 'One nuclear bomb could ruin your whole day,' and then I looked on the other side and it said, 'May all your nuclear weapons rust in peace,' and I'm goin', ' 'Rust in Peace.' Damn, that's a good title.' And I'm thinkin' like, 'What do they mean, rust in peace?' I could just see it now - all these warheads sittin' there, stockpiled somewhere like Seal Beach, you know, all covered with rust 'n' stuff with kids out there spray-painting the stuff, you know."
Contents |
Rust in Peace was the first Megadeth album from the Mustaine / Ellefson / Menza / Friedman line-up. This line-up would see the band until 1998. This is probably the band's most famous lineup.
The album's popularity amongst its fan base is due in part to a combination of Mustaine's often political lyrics, Menza's drumming, and the guitar solos of Marty Friedman. Friedman's technical ability is shown through difficult-to-play songs like "Hangar 18" and "Tornado of Souls". Tornado of Souls, in particular, includes a technically advanced, improvised solo by Marty Friedman.
The song "Hangar 18" is playable in the Playstation 2 and Xbox 360 game "Guitar Hero II", and is one of the hardest songs to play.
- "Holy Wars...The Punishment Due" – 6:32 (sample )
- "Hangar 18" – 5:11 (sample )
- "Take No Prisoners" – 3:26
- "Five Magics" – 5:40
- "Poison Was the Cure" – 2:56
- "Lucretia" – 3:56
- "Tornado of Souls" – 5:19
- "Dawn Patrol" – 1:51
- "Rust in Peace... Polaris" – 5:44
- "My Creation" – 1:36 (bonus) *
- "Rust in Peace... Polaris (Demo)" – 5:25 *
- "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due (Demo)" – 6:16 *
- "Take No Prisoners (Demo)" – 3:23 *
-
- * Bonus tracks on 2004 re-release. The demo recordings feature Chris Poland on lead guitar.
All songs written by Dave Mustaine, except "Lucretia", "Tornado of Souls" and "Dawn Patrol", written by Dave Mustaine and David Ellefson
- "Holy Wars" deals with the ongoing Arab-Israeli Conflict then the song proceeds to after a bridge, become "The Punishment Due", which is about the comic book character The Punisher (which Mustaine claims to have stopped reading, due to the commercialization of the character.)
- "Hangar 18", a song inspired by UFO conspiracy theories, has a chordal structure in D minor also used by Metallica, in "The Call of Ktulu", from Ride the Lightning, which was made from the demo "When Hell Freezes Over" which was written in part by Mustaine while he was still in Metallica. Friedman claims that the original version of the song was much longer than what appears on the album.[1] The song is featured on the PlayStation 2 game Guitar Hero II.
- "Take No Prisoners" deals with prisoners of war and the plight of soldiers who return from war with crippling injuries. The lyrics contain some historical references to the Second World War and the D-Day in particular. One of the verse says "Don't ask, what you can do for your country, ask what your country can do for you", which is a subversion of one of J.F. Kennedy's declaration from his inaugural address (1961). It reflects the overall ironic tone adopted by Mustaine to depict war in this song.
- "Five Magics" is about a man who seeks mastery of five arcane practices to overthrow an evil ruler. The power he attains for the purpose of good corrupts him, turning him into the tyrant he was attempting to destroy.[2]
- "Poison Was The Cure" is about Mustaine's addiction to heroin; and how he once believed it was necessary to become great, but now it is destroying him and could cost him his career and life. The title could also refer to the use of methadone to treat heroin addiction, since it can become addictive as well.[3]
- "Lucretia" is about a ghost that Mustaine visits in his attic. The song does not reference the Lucretia of Roman mythology.[4]
- "Tornado of Souls" is about a failed relationship.[5]
- "Dawn Patrol" is about life after an environmental disaster, possibly nuclear winter or global warming. The song is a departure from the others on the album in that it consists of bass and drums with no guitar, and Dave speaks the lyrics with an odd quasi-British accent.[6]
- "Rust in Peace...Polaris" is about intercontinental ballistic missiles. The title came from a bumper sticker which Mustaine saw while driving (above).[7]
- Dave Mustaine - lead & rhythm guitar, lead vocals
- Marty Friedman - lead, rhythm & acoustic guitar, backing vocals
- Nick Menza - drums, backing vocals
- David Ellefson - bass guitars, backing vocals
- Ed Repka - Cover artwork
Album
| Year | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|
| 1990 | The Billboard 200 | 22 |
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" | UK Singles Chart | 24 |
| 1991 | "Hangar 18" | UK Singles Chart | 26 |
In 2002, Mustaine remastered the debut Megadeth album, Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!, including three extra bonus tracks and a new album cover completely different from the original. Inspired by the positive outcome of the re-release, he worked to remaster all of the subsequent Megadeth albums which had been recorded with Capitol Records (up to 1999's Risk).
Rust in Peace was re-released in 2004 with a new sound and four new bonus tracks. During the audio mixing process, Mustaine found that the original lead vocal tracks for "Take No Prisoners", "Five Magics" and "Lucretia" were missing - he had no choice but to re-record the vocals on "Take No Prisoners" and use alternate takes for "Lucretia" and "Five Magics".