I spread disease like a dog.
Rust in Peace is the fourth studio album by Megadeth, released on September 24, 1990, by Capitol Records.
The album's title and title track were inspired by a bumper sticker frontman Dave Mustaine saw on a vehicle while driving in California, reading: "May all your nuclear weapons rust in peace". The songs "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" and "Hangar 18" were released as singles and received music videos. Considered one of the greatest Thrash Metal albums of all time, Rust in Peace gave the band their first Grammy nomination and was played in its entirety on their 2010 tour. A live recording of the album, called Rust in Peace Live, was released September 7, 2010, in the same month as the album's 20th anniversary.
Tracklist:
- "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" (6:36)
- "Hangar 18" (5:14)
- "Take No Prisoners" (3:28)
- "Five Magics" (5:42)
- "Poison Was the Cure" (2:58)
- "Lucretia" (3:58)
- "Tornado of Souls" (5:22)
- "Dawn Patrol" (1:50)
- "Rust in Peace... Polaris" (5:36)
Principal Members:
- Dave Mustaine - Lead vocals, guitar
- David Ellefson - Bass
- Marty Friedman - Guitar, backing vocals
- Nick Menza - Drums, backing vocals
Next thing you know, they'll take my tropes away:
- Area 51: An influence on "Hangar 18". It's even more apparent in the video, which features staff experimenting on aliens held captive in the titular hangar.
- Audience Participation Song: The instrumental second half of "Hangar 18" has a breakdown with a barely audible "Megadeth" for the audience to shout at concerts.
- Break-Up Song: "Tornado of Souls" is about Mustaine's ex-girlfriend, Diana.
- Call-and-Response Song: The first verse and ending of "Take No Prisoners""Got one chance (Infiltrate them)
Get it right (Terminate them)
Panzers will (Permeate them)
Break their pride (Denigrate them)
And their people (Retrograde them)
Typhus (Deteriate them)
Epidemic (Devastate them)
Take no prisoners (Cremate them)"
[...]
"Take no prisoners, take no shit!" (x4) - Epic Instrumental Opener: "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" takes about a minute and a half for the vocals to start. "Five Magics" takes about two minutes.
- Epic Rocking: "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" (6:36).
- Heavy Mithril: Unusually for the band, "Five Magics" leans heavily into fantasy themes as it is based on Master of the Five Magics.
- Horrible History Metal:
- "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" is about The Troubles.
- "Hangar 18" refers to a hangar at a military base in Ohio that is speculated by conspiracy theorists to house a spaceship taken from Roswell.
- Longest Song Goes First: "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" (6:36) is the longest song on the album.
- Miniscule Rocking: Bass-driven interlude "Dawn Patrol" (1:50).
- Pun-Based Title: Rust in Peace is a pun on "Rest in Peace".
- Religion Rant Song: "Holy Wars":"Killing for religion, something I don't understand."
- Roswell That Ends Well: The inspiration for "Hangar 18" is a conspiracy theory that a spaceship from Roswell was taken to the titular hangar at a military base in Ohio.
- Walking Wasteland: Polaris from the title track is the personification of nuclear weapons.
- War Is Hell:
- "Holy Wars" is about the senselessness of fighting for religion.
- "Take No Prisoners" is about not only war but the ruin of the soldiers.
- Possibly I've troped too much
