This song starts with a fairly boring bass line that’s eventually joined by some equally boring guitar chugs, but then about 60 seconds in it snorts a huge line of crank and takes off like a supercharged McLaren. Way better than “Runnin’ with the Devil,” anyway. Now pass the blow!” If you’re learning how to play bass, this is a solid tune to start with. I feel like Dave Ellefson wouldn’t stop playing this bass riff while they were in the studio and Mustaine was finally like, “Fine, we’ll fucking record it, but I’m gonna do some half-assed spoken word over the top. I like this little ditty, but it’s not really a proper song so it has to bat at the bottom of the order. Let’s be real: every song on Rust in Peace rules, but just for the sake of argument (and feel free to argue away in the comments section below), let’s go through and rank them from worst to best.

This is the line-up that pushed Megadeth to the next level and cemented their spot at the top of the thrash food chain. Fortunately, the noobs came in the form of Marty Friedman and Nick Menza-two of the most technically gifted players that metal has ever seen. So when the band introduced another new lead guitar player and another new drummer, fans were understandably wary. Along with Master of Puppets and Far Beyond Driven, Rust… was my gateway to a glorious world that I never left, so it’ll always have a warm place in my blackened heart.Īnd it could have been a total fucking disaster! Megadeth was less than a decade old in 1990 but had already gone through several lineup changes, and their inconsistency was threatening to push them to the wayside as bands like Metallica and Slayer rode the momentum of several successful albums and tours. It was everything I loved about metal-fast, dramatic and stuffed with guitar solos (I had just started to play three years prior).

When I listened to the album again, I was embarrassed to think that I had ever been scared by it. It wasn’t until I was 13 that I revisited Rust in Peace, after my seventh grade classmate thoroughly schooled me in the ways of Metallica, Slayer and Pantera. So I did what any rational 7-year-old would do…pretended like I had to go to the bathroom and sat in the living room until my mom came to pick me up.

I asked Jason if we could stop listening to the tape and go outside, but he was too busy playing air guitar and jumping around like a maniac. When “Hangar 18” began six minutes later, I actually started to feel physically ill. At that point, even Guns N’ Roses were too chaotic for my sheltered ears. I’d heard about this kind of “hard metal” before, but I had never actually encountered it. And then Jason hit “play.” As soon as the opening guitar gallop of “Holy Wars…The Punishment Due” hit, I knew I fucked up. The way Vic Rattlehead was holding that glowing pyramid as he caressed an encapsulated alien in front of a bunch of creepy politicians…it just seemed wrong. I remember staring at the cover of Rust in Peace and feeling a vague sense of unease. Looking back, it still blows my mind that his parents were rad enough to let an 8-year-old blast the devil’s music to his heart’s content, especially at a time when shit like Wilson Phillips ruled the airwaves.Īnyway, when the party was over, Jason and I went to his room to listen to his new tapes. It was my friend Jason’s birthday party, and along with the obligatory Nerf products and Stüssy shirts, his gift haul included two cassette tapes: Iron Maiden’s No Prayer for the Dying and Megadeth’s Rust in Peace (inducted into the Decibel Hall of Fame in May 2012, buy the issue here). I was 7 years old when the ’Deth dropped their fourth LP in 1990, and my first experience with the thrash masterpiece was not a pleasant one.

Megadeth rust in peace lyric booklet