2-CD and Digital Collection Captures Megadeth’s Biggest Hits, An Unreleased Demo, Plus Two Rare Live Recordings
HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Aug. 19 /TMRZoo.com/ — Following the successful 2007 release of the coveted 4-CD+DVD Warchest box set, Megadeth is back with a vengeance with Anthology: Set The World Afire. The career-spanning 2-CD and digital collection, to be released September 30 by Capitol/EMI, features Megadeth’s top hits and fan favorites, a previously unreleased demo and two rare concert recordings.
Anthology: Set The World Afire is loaded with 35 electrifying tracks, among them Megadeth’s top hits, including “Trust,” “A Tout Le Monde,” “Insomnia” and “Train of Consequences.” Also included are rare 1992 concert recordings of “Peace Sells” and “Symphony of Destruction,” previously available only in limited release, the latter having never been released in the U.S. “High Speed Dirt” is a demo version, previously unreleased.
Iconic frontman Dave Mustaine pioneered the hugely successful metal band, Megadeth after his departure from Metallica. Beginning with the band’s 1985 debut album, Killing Is My Business … And Business Is Good!, and evolving through a shifting series of lineups, Megadeth crafted a dynamic, intelligent style that combined the aggressiveness of thrash metal, the improvisational nature of jazz, and cynical, articulate, politically-charged lyrics into an innovative mix that built a rabid worldwide following.
In 1992, Megadeth burst into the mainstream with their fifth album, Countdown To Extinction, which debuted at #2 on Billboard’s Top 200 Albums chart and went on to sell more than two million copies in the U.S. alone. 1994’s Youthanasia followed with a #4 debut, while 1997’s Cryptic Writings yielded four Top 20 hits at rock radio, including “Trust” and “Almost Honest.”
After a brief hiatus in 2002, Megadeth made a bold return when their tenth studio album, The System Has Failed, debuted at #18 on Billboard’s Top 200.
In recent years, Mustaine has also overseen the broad remastering campaign for Megadeth’s Capitol Records catalog, which began with the band’s second album, Peace Sells … But Who’s Buying? Mustaine spent months remixing, remastering, restoring — and in some cases, reconstructing — the band’s Capitol catalog to bring it as close to his original vision as possible. Each reissue and last year’s career-spanning Warchest box set is packed with unreleased tracks, demos and alternate mixes, as well as new liner notes by the iconoclastic Mustaine.
For the majority of three decades, Megadeth has yanked heavy metal into the future — musically, lyrically, and culturally — and worked the raw soil into something desirable and dangerous. With defiance and grace, through unusual quality and intelligence, Megadeth has raised a generation on a diet of truth serum and bitter pills. Instead of being kicked to the curb for their insolence, they’ve been rewarded with seven Grammy nominations and five platinum and multi-platinum albums.
On September 30, Megadeth will continue to build on this powerful legacy with Anthology: Set The World Afire and will prove once again that they are an indispensable part of heavy metal history.