text: countdown to extinction countdown to extinction is the fifth studio album by american thrash metal band megadeth , released on july 14 , 1992 through capitol records . it was the group 's second studio release to feature the " classic " lineup of dave mustaine , marty friedman , david ellefson and nick menza , with all of them contributing to songwriting on the album . the album features some of the band 's best known songs such as " symphony of destruction " , " sweating bullets " and " skin o ' my teeth " , which enjoyed significant chart success and made a great musical impact . countdown to extinction received positive reaction from music critics , who noted its politically oriented lyrics and simplified sound in comparison to their previous record . the album entered the billboard 200 at number two , the band 's highest position ever . it eventually achieved double platinum status and became their most commercially successful album . the record was nominated for best metal performance at the 1993 grammy awards , while the album 's title track won the humane society 's genesis award for raising awareness for animal rights issues . in 2012 , in recognition of the album 's 20th anniversary , megadeth kicked off a 20th anniversary tour in south america , playing the album in its entirety . in addition , a 20th anniversary special edition of the album was released in november 2012 , and a live album featuring a performance of the full album was released in september 2013 . production and musical style countdown to extinction is megadeth 's fifth studio album , and the second to feature the line - up of dave mustaine , marty friedman , david ellefson and nick menza . in an interview for billboard at the time , mustaine admitted that he fired past members chuck behler and jeff young because they resisted his pleas to seek rehabilitative counseling . he added that it was a " major accomplishment " that all four members of megadeth contributed material to the album , unlike their earlier releases which were " nearly all mustaine " . mustaine also revealed that producer max norman had significant input to the album by making " a lot of suggestions and a lot of great artistic ideas " . guitarist marty friedman said that unlike rust in peace , the creation of this record was " completely different " . he further stated that the band had changed the songs " a million times " before recording them on demo and entering the studio . the music for countdown to extinction was written in two different sessions . the first session was done following the conclusion of clash of the titans tour , while the second session took place after a one - month break , in the fall of 1991 . the album was recorded in the first half of 1992 , when the rodney king riots took place . these events negatively affected the recording process , as the band was forced to leave the studio every night at six o 'clock because of the enacted curfew . dave mustaine shared his experience : " there ’ s nothing worse than getting a creative moment and you have to leave . it was like a school bell ringing . " the record was produced by mustaine and max norman at the enterprise in burbank , california , while the mixing was handed by norman with the help of fred kelly . referring to the recording process , mustaine said that countdown to extinction " was one of those records where everything was firing on all 12 cylinders and you just know it " . he also said that it didn 't take the band a long time to record the album because " records were a lot easier to make back then because the pressure wasn 't quite as hard " . following metallica 's mainstream breakthrough in 1991 , mustaine stripped down megadeth 's sound , though the music remained as technically perfectionist as their previous releases . drummer nick menza explained : " metallica has definitely opened the doors for other bands to step through . we 're obviously the next band to step through that doorway . " musically , countdown to extinction saw megadeth beginning to incorporate more melody and mid - tempos into its traditional sound . bassist david ellefson noted that the band 's goal was to " create music that had more of a groove to it , " capitalizing on the melodic playing style employed by friedman , and further assisted by the input of producer norman . author thomas harrison wrote that with this album , megadeth 's music became " more virtuosic than noisy and took the next step towards widespread acceptance " . lyrics like its predecessor , many of the songs on the album have political and military undertones . however , the opening track " skin o ' my teeth " was speculated being about suicide , a theme which differs from the rest of the album . " symphony of destruction " , with lyrics written by dave mustaine , details a story about a regular citizen as the head of a puppet regime , as the country is run by a phantom government . the song was noted by critics for its great social and philosophical impact . " architecture of aggression " explores the nature of global conflict ; mustaine revealed that the song was about former iraq president saddam hussein , who was engaged in the gulf war at the time . " foreclosure of a dream " deals with economic concerns and social inequality . according to music critic eduardo , " perhaps no other megadeth song in history deals as directly and soberly " with these issues . the song sampled then - u.s. president george h. w. bush 's infamous " read my lips " speech , making a statement about taxation endangering the " american dream " . billboard praised the track , along with " symphony of destruction " , for being " socially conscious " and described them as " powerful statements for hard rockers " . the fifth track , " sweating bullets " , shows mustaine 's battle with his inner selves , which is presented throughout conversational singing style . " sweating bullets " was written during the second recording session and was released as the album 's third single . its lyrical theme deals with paranoia . david ellefson commented that the song 's lyrics were " perfect " and sounded like " the inside of a crazed lunatic 's mind " . the title track was inspired by environmental concerns about the future of the planet . the name was suggested by nick menza , who had read a story in time magazine entitled " the countdown to extinction " . " high speed dirt " focuses on skydiving . " captive honour " is a song about prison and the consequences of crime , while " " was written about the marvel comics character deathlok . the album 's closing track , " ashes in your mouth " , concentrates on the negative aftermaths of war . the longest tune on the record , it is performed at intense tempo and features shredding guitar leads . critical reception countdown to extinction received generally positive reaction from critics . spin wrote that the album " may just be the finest thrash metal album ever made , although purists may find it a bit too polished and easy to swallow " . allmusic reviewer steve huey said that " megadeth guns for arena thrash success and gets it on countdown to extinction " . however , huey noted the simplification of megadeth 's sound on the album in response to metallica 's commercially successful self - titled album released the previous year . sputnikmusic reviewer mike stagno praised mustaine 's vocals as well as a number of the album 's tracks . despite calling this effort " megadeth 's first step into the world of mainstream music " , he also noted that " the band still maintains its identity " . reflex described the sound as " impressively clean , streamlined , and sharp , brimming with killing riffs " . they highlighted the vocal delivery on the record , saying " mustaine 's never sounded more confident , verbally and vocally " . popmatters writer craig hayes opined that countdown to extinction was " either an exemplary illustration of nimble - fingered thrash metal that introduced megadeth to a legion of new fans " or " an unimaginative , artistically cynical stab at arena - baiting commercial success " . according to greg sandow from entertainment weekly , megadeth 's " music has lost its former hurricane verve but keeps its crunch , and feels more rooted , even more melodic " . chad bowar from about.com raved the album 's 20th anniversary edition , describing the songs as " more straightforward " and the lyrics predominantly being " politically charged " . jon hadusek , writing in consequence of sound , labeled countdown to extinction as mustaine 's " political record " and said that the record " saw megadeth moving away from thrash metal and closer to generic hard rock , a sonic shift they would embrace on subsequent albums " . in an unfavorable review , karen of rolling stone wrote that " while countdown echoes the band 's earlier work thematically , it 's stylistically disappointing " . by contrast , holger stratmann of rock hard concluded that the disc is " a compact album with a few strokes of genius " . reviewing the album 's deluxe edition for record collector , journalist joel mciver eulogized it as a " masterpiece of technical , melodic thrash " and a showcase of megadeth " at their best and most coherent " . sales and impact countdown to extinction was released on july 6 , 1992 through capitol records and debuted at number two on the billboard 200 with first week sales of 128 , 000 copies . it was prevented from entering the chart at number one because of billy ray cyrus ' long chart - topping reign with some gave all . the album was acknowledged as the band 's commercial breakthrough , and according to authors pete prown and harvey p. newquist , megadeth " reached the heights of popularity and critical acclaim " with this particular record . two years after its original release , countdown to extinction was certified double platinum and became the band 's most commercially successful album , confirming that they had retained their audience in the wake of grunge . the record was nominated for best metal performance at the 1993 grammy awards , while the album 's title track won the humane society 's genesis award for raising awareness for animal rights issues . the record enjoyed similar chart success outside of the united states . it managed to peak within the top 5 on the charts in the united kingdom and new zealand , and charted for eight weeks on both of them . it also entered the top 10 on the japanese and norwegian albums chart , while it charted slightly lower in several other countries as well . it was eventually certified three times platinum from the canadian music association for shipping 300 , 000 copies and received a silver award from the british phonographic industry for having a shipment of 60 , 000 copies . asked how does he think that the album has aged , dave mustaine responded : " i think it 's timely and timeless at the same time , and i think that 's one of the most difficult things for a musician to do . very few records in our genre are like that . musically it 's heavy and the lyrics are very symbolic . " in the liner notes of the album 's 20th anniversary edition , music journalist kory grow wrote that " thanks to a perfect balance of hard - rock song structures , epic choruses , and fleet - fingered guitar work , countdown to extinction became an instant classic , benefiting from copious mtv and radio play . " artistdirect editor in chief rick florino called the album a " seminal " release and commented that it " changed the game by preserving the band 's thrash intensity and impressive technical prowess , while dropping some of the biggest hooks the genre had ever seen " . in a retrospective review of the album , craig hayes from popmatters wrote that countdown to extinction 's " status as a gateway metal album is indisputable " and its " popularity speaks volumes about its significance in the metal canon " . touring the group started the countdown to extinction tour in 1992 with pantera and suicidal tendencies as the opening acts . they headlined the roskilde festival in copenhagen on june 27 the same year , and continued with dates in europe during the summer . the tour carried on throughout 1993 , with the band making appearances on a number of large festivals . in january they performed in the united states with stone temple pilots as the supporting act . although these two bands had scheduled tour dates in japan during the month of may , the dates were subsequently canceled . in june 1993 , megadeth played at the milton keynes national bowl with diamond head and later opened for iron maiden and metallica on their european tour . after finishing their major european tour , the band began a us tour which eventually ended on december 8 , 1993 . megadeth honored the 20 - year jubilee of the album 's release with a headlining tour on which they played the record in its entirety . the tour began in september 2012 with live performances in south america , and continued the following two months with shows in north america . during this tour , three songs from the record ( " architecture of aggression " , " " and " captive honour " ) had their live premiere , and a couple of others ( " this was my life " and " high speed dirt " ) have been performed for the first time in many years . david ellefson shared his impressions from playing the set live with newer members shawn drover and chris broderick by saying that they " executed [ the songs ] to 100 % perfection " . a live album which features a performance of the full album was released on september 24 , 2013 . reissues in july 2004 , capitol records released a remastered version of the album with four bonus tracks . the remixed edition was a part of the band 's reissued catalog during their tenure at capitol . dave mustaine himself was in charge during the remixing process . in june 2006 , two audiophile remasters of the album were released ; an ultradisc ii gold cd version by the mobile fidelity sound lab , and a 180 gram vinyl version , both mixed by mustaine . a 20th anniversary edition was released on november 6 , 2012 . this release features the original album on disc one , omitting the bonus tracks from the 2004 re - release . disc two features a recording of the band 's performance at san francisco 's cow palace in 1992 , a show never before released in its entirety . additionally , a 24 " x 36 " poster and four collectible postcards are included in the package . the liner notes have also been written by music journalist kory grow , and the reissue includes a poster and four postcards featuring head shots of each member from the album 's lineup . track listing all songs written and composed by dave mustaine , except where noted . personnel credits are adapted from the album 's liner notes . charts certifications