Originally published by L.S. Media. October 1st 2010.

In 1990, a seismic shift in the world of Heavy Metal was about to happen. For the later part of the eighties the genre of big hair and exuberant stage shows had ruled over the basic down and dirty inhabitants of Heavy and Thrash.

The likes of Metallica and Slayer had gone some way to bringing the days of early Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden back but with an American twist. Among those early pioneers of Thrash Metal were Megadeth. Fronted by the Californian colossus that is Dave Mustaine, the band went through several line-up changes during the first few albums and even though each album got subsequently more interesting and better produced, there was still the thought in some critics eyes that the band were nothing more than Metallica wannabes.

Rust in Peace changed all that. Each song on the album was delivered with precision and passion. Whereas So Far, So Good, So What had further opened the band to even more acclaim with its somewhat clichéd ideas of Metal, the themes that were explored in Rust In Peace of warfare, relationships and surprisingly the environment struck a chord with those living with the idea of the first Gulf War being a destructive force, not just on civilisation but on nature itself.

Twenty years on the two remaining musicians from that time Dave Mustaine and Dave Ellefson took the album out on the road in a huge celebration of their massive achievement, covering all the usual suspects and areas that bands of this magnitude frequent. Although surprisingly not doing much in the British Isles where they are held with deep affection, the band culminated part of the tour with a live recording at the sold out gig at the Hollywood Palladium.

Joined by current band members Shaun Drover on drums and the excellent Chris Broderick on bass, the band roar through the entire album from start to finish and faithfully recreate the sound that brought the band out of the shadows of Metallica and made them the prime movers in the genre.

The live recording of Rust in Peace is one that will grab you by your gut and beat you over the head with the force of an untamed nuclear assault. The sound is as near perfect as you can get with any live set and Dave Mustaine still comes across as a musician with an agenda that he strives to keep to every time he steps on stage.

One of the finest Metal bands and one of the best live recordings have made for a potent mix that demands to be played as loud as possible and then turned up just a notch more.

Ian D. Hall