Megadeth‘s 1990 album Rust in Peace is one of the best thrash albums ever made, but it was recorded in absolutely chaotic circumstances.
Dave Mustaine had fired most of his band in 1988: guitarist Jeff Young and drummer Chuck Behler were out. After auditioning many musicians, former Cacophony guitarist Marty Friedman joined the band while Behler’s tech Nick Menza took over on drums.
“By just about every conceivable standard, Rust in Peace was a watershed event for Megadeth,” Mustaine recalled in his 2010 autobiography Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir. “Funny thing was, it didn’t start out that well. We recorded at a place called Rumbo Recorders, which was owned by the Captain and Tennille, of all people. I was skeptical about Rumbo offering the right atmosphere, a feeling that was exacerbated one day when I walked in and saw our producer, Dave Jerden, eating a chili dog and smoking a cigarette at the controls. The place just reeked.”
According to engineer Micajah Ryan, the Megadeth frontman was swift in relieving Jerden of his post after a few days: “The quote was, ‘I think there’s too many guys named Dave around here, we’re gonna get rid of one of them.’ And Dave Jerden got fired.”
Producer Mike Clink also “got off on the wrong foot” with Mustaine when he revealed that he may have to leave the studio at a moment’s notice to work with Guns N’ Roses on their follow-up to Appetite for Destruction. It was another dog – this time an actual puppy – that ended this particular producer’s tenure.
“The damn dog ate a hole in the wall and then knocked over my guitar, and we just had to let him go,” remembered Mustaine. “But I want to be fair here. Mike Clink has always gotten credit for producing Rust in Peace, and I certainly wouldn’t deny his contributions. It’s a terrific record, start to finish.”
The artwork for the Megadeth single, Hangar 18 (Image credit: Capitol)
He’s not wrong. Rust in Peace is packed with highlights. The album spawned two Top 30 hit singles. The first was Holy Wars… The Punishment Due, inspired by the frontman’s unwise comments about the IRA during their show at the Antrim Forum in Northern Ireland.
The second single was political, too, but this time tapped into a popular UFO conspiracy theory that the US government allegedly hid alien lifeforms in an Ohio building belonging to the USAF.
“It was an idea that Nick came up with,” said Mustaine. “The idea’s based on a place in the Four Corners state region of the United States; it’s a place where the military intelligence is housing alien aircraft and alien life-forms. Not that I subscribe to this point of view or any of that kind of BS, but Nick is way into it. I mean, the guy thinks that Jesus was a Martian.
“But, I guess those of you who know Nick probably know that the possibility, the way he explains it, it could be real,” he conceded. “So we tried to bring it to you guys in a song form, and it’s up to your imaginations to see whether or not you believe it.”
Megadeth in 1991: Nick Menza, David Ellefson, Marty Friedman and Dave Mustaine (Image credit: Vinnie Zuffante/Getty Images)
Mustaine – a Christian – later told Rock Radio that Menza’s religious comments marked his card for a future dismissal.
“Menza is the guy who believes in UFOs,” he explained. “If you look at his website or if you listen to his solo music, it shows you where he’s at in his life. Nick said something that I found really juvenile and offensive. He told me that Jesus was an alien and he could levitate. That was the end of me taking Nick seriously – I believed in God ever since I was a kid.”
I’m sure that if I would’ve shown it to the guys, Metallica probably would’ve recorded that one also.
Dave Mustaine on his early version of Hangar 18, titled N2RHQ
Mustaine had the song’s riff lying around unused for around a decade or so, back when he was lead guitarist for his first band, Panic.
“It was called N2RHQ and it was about an environment that was up on another planet,” he told Rolling Stone. “As it morphed through going into Metallica and us deciding whether we were gonna do that song, I just waited to revisit it in Megadeth, just like in Panic, I had the song Rust in Peace … Polaris completely done; it was called Child Saint back at that time. And I’m sure that if I would’ve shown it to the guys, Metallica probably would’ve recorded that one also.”
Dave Mustaine during the Clash of the Titans tour in Belgium, 1990 (Image credit: Goedefroit Music/Getty Images)
Hangar 18 is one of the album’s most ambitious songs. Tempo-wise, it’s all over the shop and changes four times before Mustaine opens his mouth and the climax of the song quickens the pace further.
“In the middle of the break when we go to the first extended solo section, it’s a very Spanish ‘jazzy’ kind of part,” Mustaine told Total Guitar. “Then the end solo, when the guitar duel takes over, it’s no holds barred get the fuck out of the way.”
Indeed, Friedman and Mustaine trade a staggering 11 solos during the song. In a post on his website, Friedman recalls that it was producer Clink that offered words of inspiration before committing his part to tape.
It’s about aliens and Martians, so play something that sounds like you are coming from outer space.
Mike Clink’s advice to Marty Friedman in the studio
“He said: ‘Check out the lyrics of this song. It’s about aliens and Martians, so play something that sounds like you are coming from outer space.’
“That was good advice and from then on, I really paid a lot more attention to the lyrics in a song than I had before,” he added.
Hangar 18 was released as a single in February 1991 and was nominated in the ‘Best Metal Performance’ category at the Grammys held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City the following year.
During the ceremony, singer Johnny Mathis gave the band a shout-out during a pre-written bit with Dionne Warwick: “I just love the GRAMMYs. On what other list would I find my name between Madonna and Megadeth?”
Another band, whose name begins with M, were named as winners of their category for their self-titled album: Metallica. As the band accepted their gong, residents in Brooklyn could have probably heard Mustaine loudly complaining about this snub on his efforts despite writing a thrash classic for the ages.
