MEGADETH's Dave Mustaine has personally overseen a new 20th Anniversary Edition of the band’s most popular album, 1992’s double Platinum-certified Countdown To Extinction, to be released November 6th by Capitol/EMI. Megadeth will perform the album in its entirety on their North American Countdown To Extinction 20th Anniversary Tour this November and December.

Presented in a 2CD lift-top box and digitally, Countdown To Extinction’s new commemorative edition pairs the remastered original album with a 1992 concert, recorded live at San Francisco’s Cow Palace, which has never before been released in its entirety. The concert audio has been newly remixed for this release. The physical and digital versions both include a booklet with a new liner notes essay by music journalist Kory Grow, and the 2CD box also contains a 24” x 36” poster and four collectible postcards.

Countdown To Extinction, Megadeth’s fifth studio album, was recorded in Los Angeles in 1992 as rioting raged across the city in response to the Rodney King trial verdicts. American tensions weren’t limited to LA, by any means, as the Gulf War was still fresh in people’s minds, the state of the environment was becoming headline news, and President George H.W. Bush was seeking reelection in a heated campaign season. Out of this turmoil, Megadeth was inspired to create Countdown To Extinction, considered by many to be the band’s best and most accessible album. The group’s previous albums, including So Far, So Good…So What! and Rust in Peace, included songs that tackled topics like censorship and religious bloodletting in the Middle East. But none were as polemical as the sonic missiles launched by ‘Countdown’. Megadeth laced the songs with acid-tongued commentary about subjects ranging from the futility of war ('Architecture Of Aggression') to the senseless brutality of caged hunting ('Countdown To Extinction'). 'Foreclosure Of A Dream' sampled George Bush’s infamous “Read my lips” speech, making a statement about taxation endangering the American Dream.

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. Before long, songs like 'Symphony of Destruction', 'Sweating Bullets', and 'Skin O’ My Teeth' had entered metal’s canon of essential recordings. The album shot to #2 on the Billboard chart (it may have hit #1, if not for BILLY RAY CYRUS’ long chart-topping reign with Some Gave All), and it was certified double Platinum in the US within two years, with sales of more than two million copies.

Megadeth was in top form, with Mustaine, the band’s then 31-year-old singer and guitarist leading the album’s assault with lyrics like “You know your worth when your enemies praise your architecture of aggression,” not to mention his venomous rhythm guitar attack. His band mates completed the picture, as lead guitarist Marty Friedman blazed with memorable solos, bassist David Ellefson jammed dizzying arrays of low-end thunder, and drummer Nick Menza attacked his kit. Megadeth sounded hungry, and the band was rewarded when the album earned a Grammy Award nomination (Best Metal Performance) and when its title cut garnered a Genesis Award from the Humane Society for raising awareness for animal rights issues.

Countdown To Extinction (20th Anniversary Edition) tracklisting:

CD 1:

'Skin O’ My Teeth'

'Symphony Of Destruction'

'Architecture Of Aggression'

'Foreclosure Of A Dream'

'Sweating Bullets'

'This Was My Life'

'Countdown To Extinction'

'High Speed Dirt'

'Psychotron'

'Captive Honour'

'Ashes In Your Mouth'

CD 2 - Live At Cow Palace, 1992:

'Intro'

'Holy Wars... The Punishment Due'

'Skin O’ My Teeth'

'Wake Up Dead'

'Hangar 18'

'Countdown To Extinction'

'Foreclosure Of A Dream'

'This Was My Life'

'Lucretia'

'Sweating Bullets'

'In My Darkest Hour'

'The Conjuring'

'Tornado'

'Ashes In Your Mouth'

'Symphony Of Destruction'

'Peace Sells'

'Anarchy In The UK'

Video footage of Megadeth arriving at the Santiago, Chile stop of their Countdown To Extinction 20th Anniversary Tour Of South America on September 7th and 8th can be seen below:

Photos by Gonzata from the show have also been released and can be seen at this location.

Megadeth's South American tour schedule is below:

September

10 - Montevideo, Uruguay - Teatro de Verano
13 - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Estadio Cubierto Malvinas
14 - Buenos Aires, Argentina - Estadio Cubierto Malvinas
16 - Cordoba, Argentina - Orfeo
19 - Mexico City, Mexico - Pepsi Center WTC
20 - Mexico City, Mexico - Pepsi Center WTC
21 - Guadalajara, Mexico - Auditorio Telmex

Countdown To Extinction 20th Anniversary Tour dates for North America are as follows:

November

9 - Providence, RI - Lupo's at the Strand
10 - Huntington, NY - Paramount Theatre
11 - Worcester, MA - The Palladium
13 - Wallingford, CT - Oakdale Theatre
14 - Sayreville, NJ - Starland Ballroom
16 - Atlantic City, NJ - House Of Blues
17 - Niagara Falls, NY - Rapids Theatre
19 - Stroudsburg, PA - Sherman Theater
20 - Columbus, OH - LC Pavilion
24 - Myrtle Beach, SC - House Of Blues
25 - Charlotte, NC - Fillmore
26 - Atlanta, GA - The Tabernacle
28 - Kansas City, MO - Midland Theatre

December

1 - Salt Lake City, UT - Great Saltair
2 - Boise, ID - Knitting Factory
4 - Reno, NV - Grand Sierra Theatre
6 - Las Vegas, NV - House Of Blues
7 - Pomona, CA - Fox Theatre