MEGADEATH

Megadeth is an American heavy metal band from Los Angeles, California, formed in 1983. Founded by Dave Mustaine and bass player David Ellefson following Mustaine's departure from Metallica, the band has since released eleven studio albums, six live albums, two EPs, thirty singles, thirty-two music videos, and three compilations.

As a pioneer of the American thrash metal movement, Megadeth rose to international fame in the 1980s, but experienced numerous line-up changes, due partly to the band's notorious substance abuse problems. From 1983 to 2002, Mustaine and Ellefson were the only continuous members of the band.

Megadeth is known for a distinctive guitar style, often involving complex, intricate musical passages, and trade off guitar solos. Mustaine is also known for his original "snarling" vocal style, as well as his recurring lyrical themes, often involving politics, war, addiction, and personal relationships.

As one of the most commercially successful of all heavy metal bands, Megadeth has sold more than 20 million albums worldwide, with 6 consecutive albums being certified platinum in the USA. The band has also received great critical acclaim with seven consecutive Grammy nominations for Best Metal Performance. In the band's 24 active years, Megadeth has had 20 official members, with Dave Mustaine remaining as the driving force, main songwriter, and sole original member following the end of his musical partnership with David Ellefson in 2002, due to personal disagreements. Megadeth is hailed as one of the bands among the "Big Four of Thrash," along with Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax, who were responsible for creating and popularizing the genre in the 1980s.

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Megadeth - Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! (1985)

The Debut album by American thrash metal band Megadeth. It was originally released in 1985 on Combat Records. The album received positive reviews, even from mainstream music critics. The deluxe edition, completely remixed and remastered and featuring a new cover and several bonus tracks, was released by Loud Records in 2002. The album's artwork, featuring a plastic skull with tinfoil, was not intended to be the original artwork. Mustaine wanted a picture of Megadeth mascot Vic Rattlehead on the cover, however the studio lost the artwork, so they improvised the low-budget replacement. "These Boots" was on the original pressing of the album, but deleted from subsequent pressings due to legal issues with the song's writer, Lee Hazlewood. It was later added back onto the 2002 remaster, albeit with edit beeps everywhere a lyric change was made. On June 4, 2009, a newly available Limited Edition of the album in Digipack LP Miniature CD. The CD itself is made to look like a mini LP and is pressed on black plastic with grooves on the top to imitate a LP.

Tracks: (Listen Online or Download for study by clicking the song)
01. Last Rites/Loved to Death 04:39
02. Killing is My Business...And Business Is Good 03:07
03. The Skull Beneath the Skin 03:47
04. These Boots (Nancy Sinatra cover) 03:39
05. Rattlehead 03:43
06. Chosen Ones 02:55
07. Looking Down the Cross 05:02
08. Mechanix 04:23

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Megadeth - Peace Sells... But Who's Buying (1986)

Tracks: (Listen Online or Download for study by clicking the song)
01. Wake Up Dead 03:41
02. The Conjuring 05:04
03. Peace Sells 04:04
04. Devil's Island 05:06
05. Good Mourning / Black Friday 06:42
06. Bad Omen 04:05
07. I Ain't Superstitious 02:46
08. My Last Words 04:48

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Megadeth - So Far, So Good...So What! (1988)

Tracks: (Listen Online or Download for study by clicking the song)
01. Into the Lungs of Hell 03:29
02. Set the World Afire 05:49
03. Anarchy in the U.K. 03:01
04. Mary Jane 04:25
05. 502 03:28
06. In My Darkest Hour 06:17
07. Liar 03:21
08. Hook in Mouth 04:40

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Megadeth - Rust in Peace (1990)

Tracks: (Listen Online or Download for study by clicking the song)
01. Holy Wars... The Punishment Due 06:34
02. Hangar 18 05:13
03. Take No Prisoners 03:27
04. Five Magics 05:41
05. Poison Was the Cure 02:57
06. Lucretia 03:57
07. Tornado of Souls 05:20
08. Dawn Patrol 01:49
09. Rust In Peace... Polaris 05:36

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Megadeth - Countdown To Extinction (1992)
It is the band's best-selling album selling over two million copies and achieving Double platinum status. The album also produced the band's most successful hit singles: "Symphony of Destruction", "Sweating Bullets", "Skin O' My Teeth" and "Foreclosure of a Dream". Countdown to Extinction was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 1993 Grammy Awards.

Tracks: (Listen Online or Download for study by clicking the song)
01 Skin on My Teeth
02 Symphony Of Destruction
03 Architecture Of Agression
04 Foreclosure Of A Dream
05 Sweating Bullets
06 This Was My Life
07 Countdown To Extinction
08 High Speed Dirt
09 Psychotron
10 Captive Honour
11 Ashes In Your Mouth

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Megadeth - Youthanasia (1994)

A remixed and remastered version, featuring several bonus tracks, was released in 2004. It saw Megadeth continuing a trend toward slower, more melodic hard rock songs which began with their commercial breakthrough album, Countdown to Extinction. Lyrically, the album displays a variety of influences: mythology ("Elysian Fields" and "Blood of Heroes"), rape and incest ("Family Tree"), nuclear war ("Black Curtains"), gambling ("Train of Consequences"), and a hit that is about the last moments in life, "À Tout le Monde". The title is a pun on euthanasia, implying that society is euthanizing its youth, which would be consistent with bandleader and principal songwriter Dave Mustaine's views.

Tracks: (Listen Online or Download for study by clicking the song)
01. Reckoning Day
02. Train of Consequences
03. Addicted To Chaos
04. A Tout Le Monde
05. Elysian Fields
06. The Killing Road
07. Blood Of Heroes
08. Family Tree
09. Youthanasia
10. I Thought I Knew It All
11. Black Curtains
12. Victory

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Megadeth - Hidden Treasures (1995)

Tracks: (Listen Online or Download for study by clicking the song)
01. No More Mr. Nice Guy
02. Breakpoint
03. Go To Hell
04. Angry Again
05. 99 Ways to Die
06. Paranoid
07. Diadems
08. Problems

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Megadeth - Cryptic Writings (1997)

Tracks: (Listen Online or Download for study by clicking the song)

01. Trust - (Mustaine, Friedman) 5:12
02. Almost Honest - (Mustaine, Friedman) 4:09
03. Use the Man - (Mustaine, Friedman) 4:04
04. Mastermind - (Mustaine) 3:48
05. The Disintegrators - (Mustaine) 3:05
06. I'll Get Even - (Mustaine, Friedman, Ellefson, Howe) 4:19
07. Sin - (Mustaine, Ellefson, Menza) 3:06
08. A Secret Place (Mustaine) 5:25
09. Have Cool, Will Travel - (Mustaine 3:40
10. She-Wolf - (Mustaine) 3:38
11. Vortex - (Mustaine) 3:23
12. FFF - (Mustaine, Friedman, Ellefson, Menza) 2:47

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Megadeth - Risk (1999)

Risk is the last original Megadeth release to feature long time Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman. This album is the first Megadeth recording with drummer Jimmy DeGrasso.

The title stems from a comment by Lars Ulrich from Metallica, who suggested to Dave Mustaine that he take more "risks" with his music. This decision resulted in mixed reviews for both the band and the album; a good portion did not favor the new sound and image, while other praised the band for attempting something different and experimenting rather than sticking to their roots.[citation needed]

This is the last album not to feature Vic Rattlehead in a physical form, although his head does appear on a mousetrap shown repeatedly in the album's booklet.

Tracks: (Listen Online or Download for study by clicking the song)
01. Insomia
02. Prince Of Darkness
03. Enter The Arena
04. Crush Em
05. Breadline
06. The Doctor is Calling
07. I'll Be There
08. Wanderlust
09. Ecstacy
10. Seven
11. Time: The Beginning
12. Time: The End

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Megadeth - Still Alive, And Well (2002)

Tracks: (Listen Online or Download for study by clicking the song)
01. Time Use The Man
02. Conjuring
03. In My Darkest Hour
04. Sweating Bullets
05. Symphony Of Destruction
06. Holy Wars
07. Moto Psycho
08. Dread And The Fugitive Mind
09. Promises
10. The World Needs A Hero
11. Burning Bridges
12. Return To Hangar

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Megadeth.MD.45 - The Craving (Remastered 2004)

Tracks: (Listen Online or Download for study by clicking the song)
01. Hell's Motel
02. Day The Music Died
03. Fight Hate
04. Designer Behavior
05. The Creed
06. My Town
07. Voices
08. Nothing Is Something
09. Hearts Will Bleed
10. No Pain
11. Road Man
12. Chutney [Previously unreleased]
13. Segue: Cartoon/Circus/Alley Cat (Instrumental) [Previously released on limited versions only]
14. The Creed (Megadeth Demo) [Previously unreleased]
*Dave Mustaine - Vocals on all tracks

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Megadeth - The System Has Failed (2004)

Tracks: (Listen Online or Download for study by clicking the song)
01. Blackmail The Universe 04:33
02. Die Dead Enough 04:18
03. Kick The Chair 03:58
04. The Scorpion 05:59
05. Tears In A Vial 05:22
06. I Know Jack 00:41
07. Back In The Day 03:28
08. Something That I'm Not 05:07
09. Truth Be Told 05:40
10. Of Mice And Men 04:05
11. Shadow Of Deth 02:15
12. My Kingdom Come 03:04

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Megadeth - United Abominations (2007)

The 11th studio album released on May 8, 2007, United Abominations is the first Megadeth release distributed through Roadrunner Records, and was recorded with an all new lineup excluding the band's singer, guitarist, songwriter, and frontman Dave Mustaine. While touring to promote the album, guitarist Glen Drover left the band for personal reasons and was replaced by Chris Broderick.

United Abominations was well received by critics and debuted at No.8 on the Billboard 200, the highest chart position for the band since 1994's Youthanasia. Greg Prato of Allmusic stated Megadeth "sound reborn" on United Abominations. The lyrics of the album deal with politics and the state the world is in, with Ed Thompson of IGN stated the album is the band's most politically charged. The album was named the number one metal album of 2007 by Guitar World.

Tracks: (Listen Online or Download for study by clicking the song)

01 Sleepwalker
02 Washington is Next
03 Never walk Alone... A call to Arms
04 United Abominations
05 Gears of War
06 Blessed are The Dead
07 Pray for Blood
08 A tout le Monde (Set me Free)
09 Amerikhastan
10 You're Dead
11 Burnt Ice

NOTE: "ÀTout le Monde (Set Me Free)" is a remake of "À Tout le Monde" originally appearing on the 1994 album Youthanasia. The song is a more uptempo version of the original song, and features Lacuna Coil vocalist Cristina Scabbia singing backing vocals. Scabbia stated she was "really surprised about it because 'À Tout Le Monde' is a song that I've always loved. It was a big surprise for me to get this invitation —I was really honored to be part of it." Mustaine chose Scabbia over three other choices because of her "reign in the heavy-metal business"