Symphony of Destruction

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"Symphony of Destruction"
Single by Megadeth
from the album Countdown to Extinction
Released	January, 1993
Recorded	Between January 6 and April 28, 1992
Genre	Heavy metal
Length	4:07
Label	Capitol
Writer(s)	Dave Mustaine
Producer	Max Norman and Dave Mustaine
Megadeth singles chronology
"Hangar 18" (1990) "Symphony of Destruction" "Foreclosure of a Dream" (1992)
Countdown to Extinction track listing
"Skin o' My Teeth" (1) "Symphony of Destruction" (2) "Architecture of Aggression" (3)

"Symphony of Destruction" is a 1993 single by the American heavy metal band, Megadeth, from the band's 1992 double platinum selling album, Countdown to Extinction. The song is a fan-favorite and is a live staple in Megadeth's shows.

"Basically what this song is about is, you take a person - a typical stereotype numbskull - and you give him the old shit, shower, and shave, throw him in a monkey suit and he can run the country. As he starts to become more this political puppet, things start to get worse." (Mustaine, 1992) ^[1]

"It's about the masses being led to their own destruction by a leader who's more or less a puppet of a phantom government. Just about every leader we've had that hasn't ended up with a bullet in his head is a political puppet." (Mustaine, 1992) ^[2]

"This was really a stroke of luck for me. I can remember it like it was yesterday. Driving down Riverside Drive in Toluca Lake to my house and jotting everything that I could down on paper. I even wrote lyrics on the back of my arrest paperwork from the time I went to jail." (Mustaine, 2001) ^[3]

"This was as close to a 'hit' as we got. The original version of this song was much longer but we edited a lot of it in pre-production for Countdown... I really like this as a Megadeth song because it is simple and the beat doesn't really change much. A solid track." (Friedman, 2002) ^[4]

Single track listing

1. "Symphony of Destruction" - 4:02
2. "Peace Sells (Live)"*

• Recorded live at the Clash of the Titans, Wembley Arena, October 1990

Music video

This description is also seen in the music video for the song. The video depicts people protesting against a new leader, and shows the leader being assassinated as Dave Mustaine sings "Before the head explodes".

Covers and remixes

The song has been covered by the following bands:

• Al Jourgensen with Trent Reznor
• Alghazanth
• Arch Enemy - For a Kerrang! CD entitled High Voltage! A Brief History of Rock, which featured modern bands set to define rock music for the next 25 years playing covers of bands that influenced them.
• J.B.O. parodied the Song as "Symphonie der Verstopfung" (Symphony of Constipation).
• Black Warrant of his Electric album.
• Fury - For the album Megaded - A Tribute To Megadeth
• Hellsongs - For the album Hymns In The Key Of 666
• Katalepsy - Track seven from the album Musick Brings Injuries
• Paul Di'Anno - For his compilation album The Living Dead.
• Emil Bulls - A live version on the tour editon of there album The Black Path
• Nightwish - A live performance of the song included in "The Siren" single and in the Kuolema tekee taiteilijan single. Nightwish have since performed the song live but these versions are not available on official releases^[5].
• Seeds of Sorrow

The original Megadeth version was remixed by Nine Inch Nails as the 'Gristle' mix.

Appearances

A cover version of the song is featured in the PlayStation 2 video game Guitar Hero.

A remix was used in the video game WWE SmackDown! vs. Raw 2006 and Full Auto 2: Battlelines.

The song is featured in the video games True Crime: Streets of L.A. and FlatOut 2.

The song's name is the basis for the title of Dave Mustaine's instructional column in Guitar World magazine, "Symphony of Instruction".

The music video for the song is featured in the Beavis and Butt-head episode, Blood Drive.

References