Rust in Peace

Rust in Peace is the fourth album by Megadeth. Megadeth is an American thrash metal band. Capitol Records released it on September 24, 1990. It was the first Megadeth album with guitar player Marty Friedman and drummer Nick Menza. The album had two singles: "Hangar 18" and "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due". Megadeth released a remastered version of the album in 2004.
Magazines such as Decibel and Kerrang! have called Rust in Peace one of the best thrash metal records of all time. Rust in Peace was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1991, but did not win.
Background
In 1988, Megadeth played at Monsters of Rock, a music festival in the United Kingdom. The band played for more than 100,000 people there. The band was added to the Monsters of Rock European concert tour, but stopped after the first show because bass player David Ellefson was addicted to drugs. Dave Mustaine made drummer Chuck Behler and guitarist Jeff Young leave the band because he had problems with them. Mustaine also canceled Megadeth's planned 1988 Australia tour. The band had to find a new guitarist because Jeff Young was no longer with the band. Finding a new guitarist took a long time. Mustaine looked at many guitarists for the job, including Dimebag Darrell from the band Pantera and Jeff Waters from Annihilator. Darrell was offered the job, but did not want it. Mustaine asked Chris Poland, a guitarist who had played with Megadeth before, to join the band again. Poland almost joined, but his manager told him not to, so he did not. Marty Friedman, an American guitarist, sent Mustaine a copy of Dragon's Kiss, an album he played guitar on. Mustaine listened to the album and liked it. He hired Friedman to play for Megadeth.
The album title was taken from a sticker on the back of a car that Mustaine saw. The sticker said 'may all your nuclear weapons rust in peace'. Mustaine liked the sticker, so he used it for the title of the album.
The album's art was made by artist Ed Repka, who did art for Megadeth albums before. It shows the band's mascot, Vic Rattlehead, and many world leaders from 1990 looking at an alien body. The leaders on the cover are Toshiki Kaifu, Richard von Weizsacker, Mikhail Gorbachev, George H. W. Bush, and a man from the United Kingdom.
Content
The lyrics on the album are about many topics, such as religion, politics, war, Mustaine's trouble with drugs and alcohol abuse, UFO theories, and the Punisher. The first song on the album, "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due", is inspired by The Troubles. Mustaine has said that when he was at a concert in Antrim, he found fake Megadeth shirts being sold. However, when he was told that the money from the shirts was going to "The Cause", he allowed the fake shirts to continue to be sold. This was because he was told "The Cause" was a group of people that were keeping peace. Mustaine played "Anarchy in the U.K." in support of it. This made the people at the show start rioting. The band had to travel in a bulletproof bus after the show. These events gave Mustaine the idea to make the song.
"Rust in Peace... Polaris" is about nuclear war. the word "Polaris" is about the UGM-27 Polaris, a long range nuclear missile. Mustaine has said that he wrote the song before he was with Metallica. Nick Menza helped write "Hangar 18". This song is about Area 51, UFOs, and space aliens.
Release
Rust in Peace was released on September 24, 1990 by Capitol Records. In 1994, the album sold one million copies in the United States. It was certified platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America, a group that gives out awards for albums that sell many copies. Rust in Peace was remastered in 2004.
When it was released, a lot of people liked the album. Greg Kot, a music writer for the Chicago Tribune, said it was Megadeth's "most accomplished" album. Robert Palmer, a musician and writer for Rolling Stone, wrote that the album showed how far "thrash" can go without being "boring". Mike Stagno from Sputnikmusic said that Mustaine's songwriting for the album was "top-notch".
Legacy
Rust in Peace has had a big influence on thrash metal. Metal magazine Decibel said the album was a "genre-defining work". IGN named Rust in Peace as the fourth best metal album of all time. The album was put in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.
In 2010, the band started a concert tour around North America for the album's 20th anniversary. The band played the whole album at every concert. Because fans liked the tour, Megadeth also played in South America and Mexico.
"Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" was put in the music game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock, and "Hangar 18" was put in Guitar Hero II. The whole album was released as music for the game Rock Band, sold as the "Rust in Peace download package". The song "Tornado of Souls" was in Brutal Legend, a video game released in 2009.
A sequel to the song "Hangar 18", named "Return to Hangar", was put on Megadeth's ninth studio album, The World Needs a Hero.
Track list
Charts
Awards
References
Megadeth albums
1990 albums
Capitol Records albums