Wiki
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Release Date
24 September 1990
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Length
13 tracks
Rust in Peace is the fourth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth. It was released on September 24, 1990, by Capitol Records and was produced by Mike Clink. Following the departure of Jeff Young and Chuck Behler in 1989, Rust in Peace is the first album to feature guitarist Marty Friedman and drummer Nick Menza. Rust in Peace received universal acclaim from fans and critics and was responsible for bringing Megadeth to the attention of a mainstream metal audience. It has been cited as one of the best thrash metal records of all time by publications such as Decibel and Kerrang! and listed as one of the 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The album was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 33rd Grammy Awards.
Two singles were released from the album: "Hangar 18" and "Holy Wars… The Punishment Due", which have become staples of the band's live performances. Rust in Peace features complex musical structures and lyrical themes such as nuclear war and UFOs. The album's cover art references "Hangar 18". A remixed and remastered version featuring four bonus tracks was released in 2004. In 2010, the band announced a North American tour to commemorate the album's 20th anniversary. The performance at the Hollywood Palladium was filmed and released as Rust in Peace Live on CD, DVD and Blu-ray later that year.
Background and production:
In 1988, Megadeth appeared at the Monsters of Rock festival at Donington Park in the UK, alongside Iron Maiden, Kiss, Helloween,Guns N' Roses, and David Lee Roth. The band performed to an audience of more than 100,000 people and was soon added to the "Monsters of Rock" European tour, but dropped out after the first show due to bassist David Ellefson's drug problems. Further issues within the band caused frontman and guitarist Dave Mustaine to fire drummer Chuck Behler and guitarist Jeff Young, and canceled their scheduled 1988 Australian tour. Nick Menza, previously Behler's drum tech, was hired as the band's new drummer. The search for a new guitarist was a drawn out process; Mustaine examined a number of guitarists for the job, including Dimebag Darrell of Pantera, who was initially offered the job before declining. According to Mustaine, one of the last guitarists he had heard about, Marty Friedman, had sent him a copy ofDragon's Kiss, on which Friedman played. Upon listening to the record, Mustaine had Friedman come into the audition and hired him. This would become the band's first stable lineup.
The title "Rust in Peace" was inspired by a bumper sticker that Mustaine saw on the back of a vehicle while driving home from Lake Elsinore, California. The sticker read: 'May all your nuclear weapons rust in peace'. Mustaine liked the concept and decided to use it as a title for Megadeth's upcoming album. Rust in Peace was recorded in Rumbo Studios with producer Mike Clink while the mixing was handled by Max Norman. Clink was brought in for his work in both Guns N' Roses' Appetite for Destruction and UFO's Strangers in the Night. The producer's work dealt mostly with the bass, drums, and Friedman's guitar. In a 2002 interview, Mustaine declared that they "really didn’t make the record with " as at the time he was focused on Guns N' Roses' Use Your Illusion I and II — which was also being recorded at Rumbo — and stated most of the work on the album was done by himself, Norman, and engineer Micajah Ryan.
The album artwork was created by artist Ed Repka, who previously had done the cover for Peace Sells… but Who's Buying? in 1986. It references "Hangar 18", and depicts band mascot Vic Rattlehead and world leaders of the era viewing an alien body. The depicted world leaders, right to left, are U.S. President George H.W. Bush, Soviet leaderMikhail Gorbachev, West German President (and later President of a reunified Germany) Richard von Weizsäcker, Japanese Prime Minister Toshiki Kaifu and British Prime MinisterJohn Major. In addition to creating the album's cover, Repka also supplied artwork for the album's two singles.
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