Countdown to Extinction
| Countdown to Extinction | ||||
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| Studio album by Megadeth | ||||
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Publication |
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| Label (s) | Capitol , EMI | |||
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running time |
47:31 |
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| occupation | ||||
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Studio (s) |
The Enterprise, Burbank , California (USA) |
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Countdown to Extinction (" Countdown to Extinction ") is the fifth studio album by US thrash metal band Megadeth . It was released on Capitol Records in 1992. It was the second Megadeth album with Marty Friedman and Nick Menza . It is the band's best-selling album and reached double platinum status in the US with two million units sold. It has sold around three million times worldwide. In 1993 it was nominated for a Grammy for Best Metal Performance.
Four singles were released: Symphony of Destruction , Skin o 'My Teeth , Foreclosure of a Dream and Sweating Bullets (in chronological order).
Emergence
After overcoming drug addiction, frontman Dave Mustaine and bassist David Ellefson, who had also gotten clean, had put together a stable line-up with drummer Nick Menza and guitarist Marty Friedman, and in 1990 the band released the album Rust in Peace . The subsequent tour was criticized because of the sometimes weak live performances. This happened because Mustaine, according to his own statement, still suffered from the consequences of the withdrawal at times. In early January 1992 the band went into the studio to record Countdown to Extinction . Producer Norman had already mixed Rust in Peace . Mustaine highly praised Norman's work and called him a “genius in the studio”. The preproduction was done by Ryan Greene . The single Symphony of Destruction was released in advance in June , the video was also played on MTV . Released in July, the album debuted at number 2 on the US Billboard charts and sold excellently in other countries. Tour activities followed in autumn and winter 1992 as well as in the following year. a. with Pantera and Suicidal Tendencies .
Music genre
Especially in the aftermath of the self-titled Metallica album released in 1991 , on which the band became more accessible and played slower, and in line with the development of other Thrash Metal bands at the time, the songs also fell on Megadeth's Countdown to Extinction " shorter, more compact, less playful and considerably more melodious ”. Instead of thrash or speed metal, the band tended towards a form of heavy metal that was sometimes suitable for radio , but Sustaine's voice was a little rougher than on its predecessor. The record produced by Mustaine with Max Norman had a metallic, differentiated and dry sound. For the first time all four band members contributed to the songwriting , even if Mustaine is involved in all the pieces. Samples were used in several pieces, for example the samples at the beginning of Symphony of Destruction come from a recording of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's Requiem ( Domine Jesu ).
Song content
The text for the title track of the record and thus also the album title come from drummer Nick Menza. The piece is directed against a certain type of hunt in the USA, so-called "canned hunts". Symphony of Destruction deals with military dictatorships , but can also be associated with political power in general with the help of the accompanying video in which an apparently corrupt politician is shot. Skin o 'My Teeth is about Sustaine's previous suicide attempts . This Was My Life deals with a previous love affair with Mustaines in which he felt hemmed in and hatred for his partner and a sudden desire to kill her, which he did not. Psychotron treats a Russian machine called "Lida", which, implanted in the head of a person, could control it, with which the person could be used for military purposes. The story is "verifiable". Mustaine later said he saw this on TV and didn't really believe in the idea, calling it a “fantasy story” like the earlier songs Black Friday and Bad Omen . High Speed Dirt is about skydiving and the case that the parachute does not open. Sweating Bullets describes the phenomenon of schizophrenia . Foreclosure of a Dream by Dave Ellefson is a text about a personal setback, in this case the loss of his parents' farm in the Reagan era. At the same time, however, it can also be related to the rise and fall of political ideologies . It contains a sample of a well-known quote from the then US President George HW Bush : " Read my lips ".
Cover design
Megadeth deliberately decided not to work with Ed Repka , who was responsible for earlier Megadeth covers. The image of the screaming, half-naked old man, a motif similar to Metallica's The Unforgiven video at the time , was created by Hugh Syme. Several skulls are also shown. The Megadeth "mascot" Vic Rattlehead appears differently than before only on the back of the album and in the booklet. Mustaine connected the artwork “indirectly” with the theme of the song Countdown to Extinction . The main thing he wanted was “a provocative, interesting cover” that “arouses curiosity about the content”.
Track list
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Chart positions Explanation of the data |
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| Singles | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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- Skin o 'My Teeth - 3:14 (Mustaine)
- Symphony of Destruction - 4:02 (Mustaine)
- Architecture of Aggression - 3:34 (Mustaine, Ellefson)
- Foreclosure of a Dream - 4:17 (Mustaine, Ellefson)
- Sweating Bullets - 5:03 (Mustaine)
- This Was My Life - 3:42 (Mustaine)
- Countdown to Extinction - 4:16 (Mustaine, Menza, Ellefson, Friedman)
- High Speed Dirt - 4:12 (Mustaine, Ellefson)
- Psychotron - 4:42 (Mustaine)
- Captive Honor - 4:14 (Mustaine, Menza, Ellefson, Friedman)
- Ashes in Your Mouth - 6:10 (Mustaine, Menza, Ellefson, Friedman)
reception
Steve Huey of www.allmusic.com wrote that Megadeth had become more radio and television compatible with this album, but allegations of the sell-out were pointless given the artistic quality. Some of the songs on the album, such as the “megahit” Symphony of Destruction, were among the band's best. Four out of five stars were awarded. Holger Stratmann from German Rock Hard discovered "more level of songwriting" than his predecessor, but called the first three albums "unequaled". He awarded nine out of ten points. In the book "Best of Rock and Metal", which according to the editors of Rock Hard the best albums, the record is listed at number 445. Jenny Rönnebeck called Countdown to Extinction "one of the records where everything is right: production, songwriting and first-class cover artwork." The cynicism in the critical lyrics is "convincing".
Chart placements
| Charts | Top ranking | Weeks |
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| Chart placements | ||
 Germany (GfK)
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15th (20 weeks) | 20th |
 Austria (Ö3)
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12 (10 weeks) | 10 |
 Switzerland (IFPI)
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16 (7 weeks) | 7th |
 United Kingdom (OCC)
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5 (8 weeks) | 8th |
 United States (Billboard)
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2 (58 weeks) | 58 |
Web links
- Countdown to Extinction at Allmusic (English)
- Countdown to Extinction on MusicBrainz
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b www.allmusic.com: Megadeth biography by Stephen Thomas Erlewine
- ^ Megadeth biography , accessed January 29, 2010, no longer available
- ↑ a b c www.rockhard.de: Review Countdown to Extinction by Holger Stratmann
- ↑ a b c d Holger Stratmann: After the Chaos ... , in: Rock Hard, No. 64, September 1992, pp. 14-15.
- ↑ a b c www. megadeth.rockmetal.art.pl: Jodi Summers: Deth Metal , in: Metal Hammer, US edition, March 1992, accessed January 29, 2010.
- ↑ a b c d Steffen Chirazi: The countdown is running , in: Rock Hard, No. 63, July / August 1992, pp. 12-14.
- ↑ Charts UK Charts US
- ↑ www.allmusic.com: Review Countdown to Extinction by Steve Huey
- ↑ Rock Hard: Best of Rock and Metal , p. 31.
- ↑ officialcharts.de: Chartdiskographie Deutschland (GfK)
- ↑ austriancharts.at: Chartdiskographie Österreich
- ↑ hitparade.ch: chart discography Switzerland
- ↑ officialcharts.com: Official Charts
- ↑ billboard.com: US chart history (Billboard) US chart positions (Allmusic)