"Mechanix" | |
---|---|
Song by Megadeth | |
from the album Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! | |
Released | June 12, 1985 |
Recorded | December 1984 – January 1985 |
Studio |
|
Genre | |
Length | 4:20 |
Label | Combat |
Songwriter(s) | Dave Mustaine |
Producer(s) |
|
"Mechanix" is a song by the American thrash metal band Megadeth. It is the eighth and final track from their debut studio album, Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! , which released in 1985 under Combat Records. "Mechanix" has been featured on many Megadeth releases, including multiple greatest hits albums, as well as live albums.
The song was performed live by frontman Dave Mustaine's first two bands, Panic [3] and Metallica, [4] and was included on many Metallica demo tapes, including Power Metal [5] and No Life 'Til Leather . [6] After kicking Mustaine out, Metallica reworked the song into "The Four Horsemen", which was featured on their debut album, Kill 'Em All (1983). Mustaine claims that the idea for the title "The Four Horsemen" came from his suggestion that Metallica play a cover of the Gamma song "Four Horsemen". [7]
"Mechanix" was originally written by Mustaine while he was in the band Panic. [3] After the dissolution of Panic, Mustaine joined the band Metallica, bringing "Mechanix" with him. The song was recorded on their 1982 No Life 'Til Leather tape, which was the second demo the band released. [8] After his departure from Metallica, the band added in more sections (also written by Mustaine) and re-wrote the lyrics, creating "The Four Horsemen". The version of "Mechanix" played by Metallica was the same speed as "The Four Horsemen", but once Mustaine was kicked out, he sped up the songs he wrote, including "Mechanix". He "wanted to be faster and heavier than them". [9]
Lyrically, "Mechanix" is about having sex at a gas station and was inspired by Mustaine's time as a gas station attendant. [10]
When Mustaine was kicked out of Metallica, he reportedly told the band to not use his songs. [11] However, the band not only used solos and riffs, but some of Mustaine's entire songs, including "Mechanix". [12] [13] Metallica frontman James Hetfield wrote lyrics about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and added a bridge and a slower "Sweet Home Alabama" inspired part with a guitar solo in the middle (Mustaine claims the authorship of the latter). [14] The two songs have sparked debate between many metal fans over which one is better. [15] In an interview after Megadeth's second show (which took place at The Stone in San Francisco), Mustaine talked about the set they played, and said "... and then (we) go into the Mechanix, off of the No Life 'Til Leather demo. Exactly that way. Not with this 'Four Horsemen' wimp shit". [16]
There is some dispute regarding songwriting credits for the song. Metallica lists the song as a James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich and Mustaine composition on their official website, [17] while Megadeth credits the song as solely by Mustaine. The dispute over songwriting royalties caused a planned reissue of No Life 'Til Leather to be canceled, according to Mustaine. [18]
Year | Publication | Country | Accolade | Rank |
---|---|---|---|---|
2022 | Louder Sound | United States | The Top 20 Best Megadeth Songs Ranked [19] | 12 |
2018 | Billboard | United States | The 15 Best Megadeth Songs: Critic's Picks [20] | 11 |
Production and performance credits are adapted from the liner notes of Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! . [21]
Megadeth
Production
| 2002 remix and remaster
The Final Kill 2018 remix and remaster
|
Ride the Lightning is the second studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, released on July 27, 1984, by the independent record label Megaforce Records. The album was recorded in three weeks with producer Flemming Rasmussen at Sweet Silence Studios in Copenhagen, Denmark. The artwork, based on a concept by the band, depicts an electric chair being struck by lightning flowing from the band logo. The title was taken from a passage in Stephen King's novel The Stand, in which a character uses the phrase to refer to execution by electric chair.
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist and guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrumentals and aggressive musicianship made them one of the founding "big four" bands of thrash metal, alongside Megadeth, Anthrax and Slayer. Metallica's current lineup comprises founding members and primary songwriters Hetfield and Ulrich, longtime lead guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo. Guitarist Dave Mustaine, who formed Megadeth after being fired from Metallica, and bassists Ron McGovney, Cliff Burton and Jason Newsted are former members of the band.
Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along with Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer, responsible for the genre's development and popularization. Their music features complex arrangements and fast rhythm sections, dual lead guitars, and lyrical themes of war, politics, religion, death, and personal relationships.
Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! is the debut studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on June 12, 1985, by Combat Records. At the beginning of 1985, the band was given $8,000 by Combat to record and produce its debut album. The band was forced to fire their original producer and produce the album by themselves, after spending half of the album's budget on drugs, alcohol, and food. Despite the poor production, the album was a well-received effort that obtained strong reviews in various music publications. Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! played an essential role in establishing thrash metal as an authentic subgenre of heavy metal music. It explores themes of death, occultism, and violence.
Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? is the second studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on September 25, 1986, through Capitol Records. The project was originally handled by Combat Records, resulting in the original mix of the album being co-produced by Randy Burns. Capitol Records then bought the rights to the album and hired another producer named Paul Lani to mix it himself. The recording of the album was difficult for the band, because of the ongoing drug issues the members had at the time. Drummer Gar Samuelson and guitarist Chris Poland were fired shortly after the album's promotional tour for drug abuse, making Peace Sells Samuelson's last Megadeth album. Poland reappeared as a session musician on Megadeth's 2004 album The System Has Failed. The title track, noted for its politically conscious lyrics, was released as the album's second single and was the band's first music video. The album's cover art, featuring the band's mascot Vic Rattlehead in front of a desolated United Nations Headquarters, was created by Ed Repka.
David Scott Mustaine is an American musician. He is the co-founder, frontman, primary songwriter and sole consistent member of the thrash metal band Megadeth. Mustaine has released sixteen studio albums with Megadeth, sold over 38 million records worldwide, with six albums platinum-certified, and won a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2017 at the 59th Grammy Awards, for the title track of their fifteenth studio album, Dystopia.
David Warren Ellefson is an American musician, best known for his long tenure as the bassist and backing vocalist for thrash metal band Megadeth across two stints.
Clifford Lee Burton was an American musician who served as the bassist for the heavy metal band Metallica from 1982 until his death in 1986. He is renowned for his musicianship and influence.
Kill 'Em All is the debut studio album by the American heavy metal band Metallica, released on July 25, 1983, through the independent label Megaforce Records. After forming in 1981, Metallica began by playing shows in local clubs in Los Angeles. They recorded several demos to gain attention from club owners and eventually relocated to San Francisco to secure the services of bassist Cliff Burton. The group's No Life 'til Leather demo tape (1982) was noticed by Megaforce label head Jon Zazula, who signed them and provided a budget of $15,000 for recording. The album was recorded in May with producer Paul Curcio at the Music America Studios in Rochester, New York. It was originally intended to be titled Metal Up Your Ass, with cover art featuring a hand clutching a dagger emerging from a toilet bowl. Zazula convinced the band to change the name because distributors feared that releasing an album with such an offensive title and artwork would diminish its chances of commercial success.
James Alan Hetfield is an American musician. He is the lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist, co-founder, and a primary songwriter of heavy metal band Metallica. He is mainly known for his intricate rhythm playing, but occasionally performs lead guitar duties and solos both live and in studio. Hetfield co-founded Metallica in October 1981 after answering an advertisement by drummer Lars Ulrich in the Los Angeles newspaper The Recycler. Metallica has won nine Grammy Awards and released 11 studio albums, three live albums, four extended plays, and 24 singles. Hetfield is often regarded as one of the greatest heavy metal rhythm guitar players of all time.
Chris Poland is an American guitarist, best known as the former guitarist of the thrash metal band Megadeth. Since 2002, Poland has been the guitarist of the instrumental rock/jazz fusion bands OHM and OHMphrey, among others, and has appeared on several projects and albums from a variety of different genres.
Gary Charles "Gar" Samuelson was an American musician best remembered for being the drummer for thrash metal band Megadeth from 1984 to 1987, contributing to their first two albums, Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! (1985) and Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? (1986). He is considered one of the most influential drummers of thrash metal, having pioneered the incorporation of jazz fusion into the subgenre.
Ronald J. McGovney is an American semi-retired musician, best known as the original bass guitarist in the thrash metal band Metallica from October 1981 to December 1982.
"Jump in the Fire" is a song by American heavy metal band Metallica. It was released as the second and final single from their debut album, Kill 'Em All. The single was accompanied by fake live performances of "Phantom Lord" and "Seek & Destroy" which were alternate studio recordings with sounds of a crowd overdubbed in.
Metal Forces is a British publication founded in 1983 which promotes the music genres heavy metal and hard rock. Metal Forces was well known for its coverage of unsigned bands through its Demolition feature and championed the likes of Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, HellsBelles, Overkill, Death and Poison long before they had secured record deals. They are credited as contributing in this fashion to the success of the band Anacrusis. Dave Reynolds, a former writer for Metal Forces, has claimed that the magazine was the first to coin the terms thrash metal and death metal. A Metal Forces compiled vinyl album, Demolition – Scream Your Brains Out!, based on the magazine's popular Demolition column, was released in 1988 through Chain Reaction Records featuring Anacrusis, Atrophy, Hobbs' Angel of Death, Aftermath and the Chris Barnes fronted Leviathan. In addition to metal acts, the magazine also featured interviews with alternative rock acts such as Nirvana.
Metal Massacre is a series of compilation albums released through Metal Blade Records. It is famous for "shedding light" on bands such as The Obsessed, Trouble, Overkill, Metal Church, Metallica, Slayer, Virgin Steele, Hellhammer, Voivod, Armored Saint, Lizzy Borden, Possessed and more.
William Lee Rauch was an American drummer who played in several thrash metal bands based in California from 1983 to 1987.
"Set the World Afire" is a song by the American thrash metal band Megadeth. It is the second track from their third studio album, So Far, So Good... So What!, which was released in 1988 by Capitol Records.