Hangar 18

"Hangar 18"
Single by Megadeth
from the album Rust in Peace
Released	1990
Recorded	1990
Genre	Thrash metal
Length	5:11
Label	Capitol
Producer	Dave Mustaine
Megadeth singles chronology
"Holy Wars... The Punishment Due" (1990) "Hangar 18" (1990) "Symphony of Destruction" (1992)
Audio sample file info · help

"Hangar 18" is a song by American heavy metal band Megadeth from the 1990 album Rust in Peace. UFO conspiracy theories, or possibly Hangar 18, the 1980 film based on those theories, inspired drummer Nick Menza to write the lyrics. Shortly thereafter, frontman Dave Mustaine composed the music. Hangar 18 is located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, and it is speculated that an alien aircraft was brought there from Roswell in 1947. The song has notable similarities to Metallica's 'The Call Of Ktulu', which Mustaine contributed to before he was expelled from Metallica.

A sequel to this song called "Return to Hangar" was included on Megadeth's ninth album The World Needs a Hero. It tells the fictional story of the life-forms said to be contained in Hangar 18 coming back to life and killing those inside the building before escaping.

"Hangar 18" was nominated for Best Metal Performance at the 1992 Grammy Awards.

Analysis

This tune begins with three note chord voicings which change slightly every two bars. At :24 both guitars play pairs of arpeggiations which outline two voicings of the same chord, again changing every two bars. The descending lick at :47, played in harmony, outlines D natural minor, the primary mode upon which the song is based. Verse and chorus follow, which are very similar. Marty takes his first solo at 1:24 based around D pentatonic minor. His second phrase combines D minor triads, Bb major 7 and the D blues scale. Marty also takes the second solo, very similar to the first except at 2:39, where he plays a B diminished 7th arpeggio. At 2:48, Marty plays a C#7 arpeggio setting up the time feel change before he launches into his third solo. This time playing a very Arabian-Egyptian mode, D phrygian dominant. He also uses the F# blues scale and towards the end D pentatonic major. Dave Mustaine takes his first solo at 3:49, and from here Marty and Dave trade solos until Dave's final solo. These solos are primarily based around the F# blues scale figure. Dave's first solo alludes to F# dorian followed by Marty who adds alternate tensions to the F# blues scale. Dave's lick at 4:20 encorporates a very wide stretch which moves laterally across all strings sounding F#, C#, A, E and B minor triads. Marty's last solo begins with F# natural minor and ends with the F# blues scale.

Music video

The "Hangar 18" video is themed after the song's lyrical concept. It depicts the torture of aliens and, at the end, shows all the band members in freezing chambers. The video was shot in San Pedro, California at a Water & Power building. Coincidentally, the band would film the video for "Crush 'Em" on this same site nine years later.^[1] An edited version of "Hangar 18" is typically shown on MTV2 which has the song length cut down drastically. During the intro to the video the bass and drum track from the song Dawn Patrol from the Rust in Peace album can be heard in the background.

Cultural references

It is speculated that this song was the basis for a music track in the PC video game Doom II: Hell on Earth in the Entryway stage.^[2]

A cover of "Hangar 18" is featured in the music video game Guitar Hero II for PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360, where it's considered one of the hardest songs in the game.

The "Hangar 18" video is reminisced in the Duck Dodgers episode "In Space, No One Can Hear You Rock." In it, the title character resurrects Dave Mustaine (played by himself) from a freezing chamber to play enough heavy metal to overload an evil device.

CD single track listing

1. "Hangar 18 (AOR Edit)" - 3:18
2. "Hangar 18 (LP Version)" - 5:13
3. "The Conjuring (Live)" - 5:06
4. "Hook in Mouth (Live)" - 4:30
5. Special Message for Japanese Fans - 4:40

• Capitol Records DPRO-79462

Credits

• Dave Mustaine - rhythm and lead guitar, vocals
• Marty Friedman - rhythm and lead guitar
• David Ellefson - bass guitar
• Nick Menza - drums

References

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