Rust in Peace

Untitled

Rust in Peace is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Megadeth. It was released by Capitol Records in 1990. A remixed and remastered version, featuring several bonus tracks, was released in 2004. A limited edition 180 Gram LP using the original mix was issued in the U.S. in 2008 by Capitol Records. This is the only remastered version of the original mix currently available.

According to "National Album Positioning Charts," Rust in Peace sold 1,116,700 albums in United States.

Singles featured on the album include "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due", () and "Hangar 18", () both of which were made into music videos.

This was the first Megadeth album to feature guitarist Marty Friedman and drummer Nick Menza.

Rust in Peace was also nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 1991 Grammy Awards.

The album was released for the Rock Band series on February 9, 2010.

Rust In Peace is considered one of the greatest heavy metal albums of all time by fans and critics alike.

In January 2010, the band announced that they will be doing a North American tour to commemorate the album's 20th anniversary. They will perform the whole album live including many tracks that have never been performed live, such as Poison Was the Cure, Rust in Peace, and Five Magics.

Production

After being released from a twelve-step program, Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine had hired drummer Nick Menza and guitarist Marty Friedman to record Rust in Peace, creating what would become the band's first stable line-up, lasting to 1998. Bassist David Ellefson along with Mustaine remained from the previous line-up. Rust in Peace was produced by Mike Clink, who previously co-operated with Whitesnake and Guns N' Roses. Clink's job as producer contributed to the outcome of the record, with Mustaine being satisfied with the results. Mike Clink was also Megadeth's first professional producer.

The album's name comes from a bumper sticker (below) that Dave Mustaine, the band's main songwriter, saw on the back of a vehicle. From an interview with Mustaine:

I was driving home from Elsinore... um, Lake Elsinore. 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.

— Dave Mustaine,

Lyrical themes

Politics, warfare and the environment are the main topics explored throughout the album, with songs such as "Rust in Peace... Polaris," which is about intercontinental ballistic missiles, and their effects on the world (Polaris refers to the Polaris missile); "Take No Prisoners," which is about prisoners of war; and "Holy Wars...The Punishment Due," which is a two-part song containing "Holy Wars," which is not referring to any historical place or event (although, according to some sources, was influenced by the reaction of the crowd to Mustaine's comment about unity of Ireland during a concert which took place there, despite the obvious reference to Israel on the lyrics) and "The Punishment Due," which is about the Marvel Comics character The Punisher, of which Mustaine was a huge fan at the time. "Dawn Patrol" is about the environment being destroyed by global warming and greenhouse gases.

"Five Magics" references to the obscure fantasy film Goreblade: Warrior King of the Universe, in which the hero who lives by the sword must master the five magics to become Warrior King and marry the princess, although he is warned that the power could corrupt him as it did the previous master.

Reception

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
Entertainment Weekly	(B+)
Allmusic
Sputnikmusic

Rust in Peace debuted at #23 on the Billboard 200 in the US, and #8 in the UK.

Allmusic cited Rust in Peace as "Megadeth's strongest musical effort".

The album was certified Platinum in 1994, and received Grammy nominations in 1991 and 1992 for Best Metal Performance.

IGN named Rust in Peace the 4th most influential heavy metal album of all time, after Metallica's Master of Puppets, Black Sabbath's Paranoid and Iron Maiden's The Number of the Beast.

Rust In Peace was selected by fans at the BNR Metal Pages as the greatest heavy metal album of all time, beating out classics as Slayer's Reign In Blood, Black Sabbath's Paranoid, Iron Maiden's The Number of the Beast and others. The poll was created using a tournament format, with Rust In Peace beating Metallica's Master Of Puppets in the final round.

Remaster

In 2002, Mustaine remastered the debut Megadeth album, Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!. 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" and possibly "Rust in Peace... Polaris" as the second verse differs slightly from the original.

Cover

The album's artwork was created by longtime Megadeth artist Ed Repka. It shows band mascot Vic Rattlehead and the leaders of the five major world powers (at the time) attending a secret meeting in Hangar 18, with Vic in the foreground presiding over the body of an alien.

The world leaders, from left to right, are former British Prime Minister John Major, former Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu, former German President Richard von Weizsäcker, former Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev, and former American President George H. W. Bush.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Dave Mustaine, except where noted

No.	Title	Music	Length
1.	"Holy Wars... The Punishment Due"		6:32
2.	"Hangar 18"		5:14
3.	"Take No Prisoners"		3:26
4.	"Five Magics" (Music: Dave Mustaine, Marty Friedman)		5:40
5.	"Poison Was the Cure"		2:56
6.	"Lucretia" (Music: Mustaine, David Ellefson)	Mustaine, David Ellefson, Friedman	3:56
7.	"Tornado of Souls" (Lyrics: Mustaine, Ellefson Music: Mustaine, Friedman)		5:19
8.	"Dawn Patrol" (Lyrics: Mustaine, Music: Ellefson)		1:51
9.	"Rust in Peace... Polaris"		5:44

2004 bonus tracks

No.	Title	Length
10.	"My Creation" (Music: Mustaine, Nick Menza)	1:36
11.	"Rust in Peace... Polaris" (demo)	5:25
12.	"Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" (demo)	6:16
13.	"Take No Prisoners" (demo)	3:23

Songs

"The lyrical content of this album is still as outspoken as previous material, but it's touching on different topics. It's not necessarily about politics; it's more about personalities and the differences between people. Whereas 'Peace Sells' was a full-on political song, so is 'Rust in Peace.' 'Hangar 18' is about the US government, and asking if there's been a UFO landing. "There's political shit in there. If I don't get picked up and locked away, I'll be very lucky, because the government's gonna be really bummed when they read 'Hangar 18,' if they ever read it. I know some idiot's gonna get it to somebody who's gonna say, 'Hey, this guy knows something.' Because all you've gotta do is watch the news. Half the news is pretentious bullshit." (Mustaine, 1990)

There is history behind all songs from the album and many topics were used, often involving war like tracks "Holy Wars", "Take No Prisoners", "Dawn Patrol" and title track "Rust in Peace... Polaris". The theme for the song "Hangar 18" involving the UFO conspiracy theories was also very controversial.

Holy Wars... The Punishment Due

For more details on this topic, see Holy Wars... The Punishment Due.

The song is the first track as well as single from the album. The lyrical theme of "Holy Wars" deals with the Northern Ireland conflict. In an interview with the UK magazine Guitarist, Mustaine says that he was inspired to write the song in Northern Ireland, when he discovered bootlegged Megadeth T-shirts were on sale and was dissuaded from taking action to have them removed on the basis that they were part of fund raising activities for "The Cause" (i.e. the Provisional Irish Republican Army). Mustaine also recently stated at a gig at Rock City (Nottingham, U.K. 18/02/2008) that it was at this venue that he wrote Holy Wars, after they travelled there from Ireland in a bulletproof bus. "The Punishment Due" is based on the popular Marvel comic book character, The Punisher.

"It's revolving around the way that war is immanent and it doesn't really matter what country it's in... Khadafi [Libya]... Khomeini [Iran]... It's funky how these guys have weird names, these idiots that lead different countries. But it shows you... war's war, no matter where you're at." (Mustaine)

"I had to fight to record the second electric solo in this tune the way I wanted! The first take I did as I was just warming up was the one that producer Mike Clink liked. When he heard it, he said, 'That's fine. Good job.' And I was like, 'Whooooaaaa! Wait a minute. I haven't even tuned my guitar yet. Let me play a real solo here.' He and Mustaine both thought it was fine and that we should move on to something else, so we left it at that. As the days went on and on, just knowing that solo was on there really bugged me. So I kept bringing it up to the guys that I wanted to redo it. Everybody liked the solo that was there, so I had no allies! Eventually I wore down Mike Clink's nerves and he had me come back in and re-cut the solo, and the new solo is the one that made the record." (Friedman, 2002)

Hangar 18

For more details on this topic, see Hangar 18.

The song is about UFO conspiracy theories, or possibly Hangar 18, the 1980 film based on those theories. Hangar 18 is located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, and it is speculated that an alien aircraft was brought there from Roswell in 1947.

A sequel to this song called "Return to Hangar" was included on Megadeth's ninth album The World Needs a Hero. It tells the fictional story of the life-forms said to be contained in Hangar 18 coming back to life and killing those inside the building before escaping.

"It was an idea that Nick came up with... The idea's based on a place in the four corner state region of the United States... it's a place where the military intelligence is housing alien aircraft and alien life-forms. Not that I subscribe to this point of view or any of that kind of BS, but Nick is way into it. I mean, the guy thinks that Jesus was a Martian! But, I guess those of you who know Nick probably know that the possibility, the way he explains it, it could be real. So we tried to bring it to you guys in a song form, and it's up to your imaginations to see whether or not you believe it." (Mustaine, 1990)

"Hangar 18 is a military installation that holds UFO artifacts and alien creatures as far as we know." (Menza, 1991)

"This tune was actually much longer, but got seriously edited. I remember walking into the studio and wading through the miles of 2 inch tape all over the floor. Clink said, 'Check out the lyrics of this song. It's about aliens and Martians, so play something that sounds like you are coming from outer space.' That was good advice, and from then on, I really paid a lot more attention to the lyrics in a song than I had before." (Friedman, 2002)

Take No Prisoners

The song is about prisoners of war.

"I was finally fed up with all of the shit that I had put up with from Jeff and Chuck and was having so much fun with Nick and Marty that I started writing the most obnoxious stuff that I could think of. I did not take into account that Marty was Jewish and singing about the panzer divisions and having him sing backups was not cool, now that I think about it. I do however say my favorite line that I always tell new bands at the end of this song, 'Take no shit from anyone ever!'" (Mustaine, 2001)

"There are some busy rhythm/lead breaks/stops in the middle of this song that were a bitch to play in time! This was before ProTools and quantizing so you really had to nail stuff." (Friedman, 2002)

Five Magics

The meaning of this song can be summarized by the line, "He who lives by the sword will surely also die," which is an adaptation of Matthew 26:52, "He who lives by the sword will die by the sword."

The speaker in the song lives under an evil, oppressive ruler and wants to overthrow him and become king. To do this, he masters five magics but in doing so, he becomes power-hungry and evil, just like the Abyss Lord that he opposes. Furthermore, the Abyss Lord already knows the five magics so he has the advantage and wins the fight.

"I'm quite pleased with the main solo in the middle of this tune. The rhythm underneath the solo is in some crazy time signature and I managed to do something with the solo that makes the whole section sound a little less progressive and a little more eerily aggressive. I was having a hard time nailing the fast thrashy pedaling rhythm part towards the end, so Clink gave me one of Slash's guitar picks that was lying around and then I nailed the part in one take. Magic!" (Friedman, 2002)

The song explores several concepts, typical of progressive metal, such as unusual time signatures, numerous changes of tempo, distinct musical passages and a general focus on the instrumental work. Thus, it is regarded as Megadeth's most progressive song. Its uniqueness has made it appealing to fans, but until the Rust In Peace 20th Anniversary Tour, which began March 1, 2010, it had never been played live.

This song is based on a movie from the 80's called Goreblade. The lyrics direct reflect the events of the movie, in which the protagonist must master five magics in order to "make sweet the breeze now defiled."

Poison Was the Cure

This song is a reflection of Dave Mustaine's former heroin addiction. The title is analogous to methadone, a narcotic often used in treating heroin addiction. In theory, doses of methadone will substitute those of heroin and can gradually be decreased until the patient is free of his addiction. Often, however, the patient's methadone addiction will simply replace his heroin addiction. Another interpretation is that when Mustaine first turned to drugs, his life was not going very well and he was looking for a cure. Drugs were the temporary cure but turned out to be poison.

The solo for this song is the first solo that Marty recorded for the album after joining the band.

The song is very technical, and among the fastest of Megadeth's catalogue, thus forming an integral part of Rust in Peace's composition. It was never performed live until the Rust In Peace 20th Anniversary Tour in 2010.

Lucretia

This song is about a ghost that lives in Mustaine's attic that he hangs around with every once in a while. He sneaks up there at night when everyone else is sleeping so no one thinks he's crazy.

"This solo is a great example of my playing. It's got it all. It sounds worked out, but it really wasn't. I follow all the chord changes differently, almost like a jazz player, which I definitely am not. To explain this solo technically would take a page and a half and a music professor. I'm quite pleased with this one." (Friedman, 2002)

Tornado of Souls

"'Tornado of Souls' is about me getting out of a dysfunctional relationship. It has nothing to do with killing anybody." (Mustaine, 1993)

"When I finished the solo to this one, Mustaine came into the studio, listened to it down once, turned around and without saying a word, shook my hand. It was at that moment that I felt like I was truly the guitarist for this band." (Friedman, 2002)

Mustaine also stated in an interview that the song was about a fiancée of six years, who he broke up with a few months back.

Tornado of Souls is one of Megadeth's most popular songs and is a live staple appearing on Rude Awakening, That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires, and Blood in the Water: Live in San Diego.

Marty Friedman's solo in this song is regarded one of the best heavy metal guitar solos in history, In part due to the fact it was improvised.

Dawn Patrol

This song examines the possibility of a nuclear holocaust; more specifically, what life would be like after the incident. Humans would be forced to live underground because the atmosphere would be so contaminated with radioactive pollution left over from the nuclear weapons. Dawn patrol is a military term referring to early-hours patrols by fighters.

"No guitar here, but in the original version, there was a heavy, dissonant guitar riff that was so strange I couldn't believe we were planning to record it. The song took shape in the studio." (Friedman, 2002)

Mustaine does not sing on the track, but simply speaks the verses. The intentionally unusual vocals were intended by Mustaine to sound "mole-like"; Mustaine was able to achieve that effect by drawing air over his bottom lip while biting down on his upper teeth.

In the rare live performances of this song, the two guitarists would exit the stage and leave it to David Ellefson, whose bassline is the main point of interest. Mustaine would then do the vocals from someplace backstage.

Rust in Peace... Polaris

This song is a protest of nuclear war, mocking and provoking a nuclear attack throughout with lines like, "Launch the Polaris, the end doesn't scare us," and suggesting they would be wasted resources if the war is not to be started, "The warheads will all rust in peace."

Mustaine revealed that the song was written prior to him being in Metallica. In fact, Mustaine wrote the drumming intro and main riff back when he was a member of the band Panic.

The song is usually regarded as being among the best of the album, by fans and critics alike . Interestingly, until the Rust In Peace 20th Anniversary Tour, the band never performed it live.

Polaris is a nuclear, submarine-launched, ballistic missile developed by the United States Navy in 1957, with the first being fired in 1960. The Polaris has since been replaced by the Trident missile. However, the British Royal Navy has several nuclear submarines still carrying them.

20th Anniversary Tour

In early 2010, the band announced a North American tour to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Rust in Peace. The tour will take place from March 1st to March 31st and will include 22 shows. In addition to other songs, the album will be played in its entirety, making the first concert on the tour the first time "Five Magics," "Poison Was The Cure" and "Rust In Peace… Polaris" will ever be played live.

Personnel

• Dave Mustaine – guitar, lead vocals
• Marty Friedman – guitar
• David Ellefson – bass, backing vocals
• Nick Menza – drums
• Chris Poland - lead guitar on demo tracks "Rust in Peace...Polaris", "Holy Wars...The Punishment Due" and "Take No Prisoners"

Charts

Album

Year	Chart	Position
1990	The Billboard 200	23
1990	UK Album Chart	8

Singles

Year	Single	Chart	Position
1990	"Holy Wars... The Punishment Due"	UK Singles Chart	24
1991	"Hangar 18"	UK Singles Chart	26