Since getting Megadeth off the ground in 1983, vocalist-guitarist Dave Mustaine has thrust his unique brand of politically incendiary, caustically sneered, menacingly thrashed and impeccably soloed brand of thrash into the upper crust of metaldom.
For more than 40 years, Mustaine and a revolving cast of rock-solid players have conquered clubs and arenas worldwide countless times over, and sold in excess of 50 million copies of a clutch of albums that helped shape the first wave of thrash. They’re charter members of the Big 4, and first-ballot of Hall of Famers to many. This is all to say, if Megadeth is their business… then business has been pretty damn good.
But what is the one single Megadeth song the fans want to see most in-concert. The one that truly sets the world afire and gets the heads a-rattlin’. We asked this of Revolver readers, and they ranked Megadeth’s hallowed war chest accordingly.
“Peace Sells”
What do you mean, you don’t think “Peace Sells” is a top-tier Megadeth tune? Our readers have been voting it in every day since we launched this poll.
The early-days crush of “Peace Sells” crystallizes what a lot of folks love about Mustaine’s iconic outfit — hard-chunking, fist-raising fury; anti-authoritarian spitballing; back-to-back-to-back-to-back solo mastery. Indeed, this one hits all that and more, and the song has remained a memorable touchstone and concert must-hear forevermore.
We the people have spoken, and “Peace Sells” is still pretty sick.
“Symphony of Destruction”
Here’s a scientifically-proven formula for you all: You take a mortal man, and you put him in control of his own thrash band, and you watch him become a god across a series of beloved metal LPs.
The first single to 1992’s Countdown to Extinction was perhaps Megadeth’s biggest bid for mainstream crossover — an outright elephantine stomp of an anthem with hooks for days. Mustaine and Co. were already heavy legends by this point, but the song pied piper’d even more music fans into venues to get up close and sway to their “Symphony of Destruction.”
“Tornado of Souls”
Rust in Peace is home to a number of all-time Megadeth cuts, and one such song that swept fans up right from the start was “Tornado of Souls.” In other words: We’ve all grown to love its name.
The heartfelt banger still blows listeners away with its mix of relation-based candor and precision-dialed riffage, all of which being pushed into the extreme onstage.
While it was Marty Friedman that first hit us with a cyclone of neoclassical sweeps and melodic shred, players including Chris Broderick, Kiko Loureiro and most recently Teemu Mäntysaari have all tried to put their own unique spin on the “Tornado of Souls” solo.
“Hangar 18”
No matter how the lineup has looked over the years, there’s one thing that’s certain: When Megadeth rip into Rust in Peace’s “Hangar 18” in concert, you know you’re in store for some out-of-this-world back-to-back soloing.
The band’s conspiratorial anthem — written about how the military may be studying cryogenically-preserved aliens within an inescapable steel fortress — is one of the crown jewels in the Megadeth catalog, and while they certainly take some time to show you its tightly-written, tension-building front end, a mid-song tempo pivot jolts you to attention with its awesomely unrelentingly solo trade-offs.
Possibly we’ve seen too much, but you can never hear enough of “Hangar 18.”
“Holy Wars…The Punishment Due”
Megadeth’s songbook is full of pointed critiques — whether personal or political. It’s crystal clear that Rust in Peace’s classic “Holy Wars…The Punishment Due” is firmly in the latter camp, a world-powers-weary barnstormer that remains one of Mustaine’s most defining statements.
Triggered off by a positively monstrous opening gallop, the tune finds Mustaine sneering out his thoughts on eternal struggle, and the heavy suggestion that conflict is always just around the corner. Yet while “brother will kill brother,” metal fans have been rallying together to salute this classic track since it atom-bombed our collective consciousness in 1990.
Megadeth have played “Holy Wars” nearly 1,800 times in concert (per setlist.fm), making it the second most-performed track of theirs behind only “Peace Sells.” But, when it comes to Revolver readers’ favorite Mustaine-made metal anthem, this one handily won the war.