Rude Awakening (Megadeth album)

Rude Awakening is the first live album by American heavy metal band Megadeth. The album was released by Sanctuary Records in 2002, and is the last release before the band broke up in 2002. It was released in both CD and DVD formats.

Rude Awakening
A person in a bed falling from a high floor of a multi-storey building to a road
Live album by
ReleasedMarch 19, 2002 (CD)
April 9, 2002 (DVD)
RecordedNovember 2001
GenreHeavy metal, hard rock, thrash metal
Length122:42 (CD)
107:00 (DVD)
LabelSanctuary
ProducerBill Kennedy, Dave Mustaine, Arthur Gorson (DVD)
Megadeth Live chronology
Rude Awakening
(2002)
That One Night: Live in Buenos Aires
(2007)
Megadeth video chronology
Exposure of a Dream
(1992)
Rude Awakening
(2002)
Video Hits
(2005)

The album was originally going to be recorded live at a concert in Argentina, but due to the September 11, 2001 attacks, the band decided to record it live in the United States.

Tracks on the album are taken from two live concerts, performed two nights in a row in November 2001. The first night was at the Rialto Theater in Tucson, Arizona, followed the next day by an almost identical performance (to ensure clean audio and video footage, and for a variety of editing options), at the Web Theater in Phoenix, Arizona. Dave Mustaine dedicated the performance of "A Tout le Monde" to the victims of the September 11th attacks and mentions this before performing it. Two previously unreleased tracks from the concert, "The Conjuring" and "Time: The Beginning"/"Use the Man" were released on Still Alive... and Well? (which also features "In My Darkest Hour", "Sweating Bullets", "Symphony of Destruction" and "Holy Wars... The Punishment Due"). "Silent Scorn" can be heard as a tape outro for the band during "Holy Wars".

The tracks on the DVD are all from the second show at the Web Theater in Phoenix, Arizona on November 17, 2001. For the bonus features of the DVD they used recordings from the show in Tucson, Arizona,

This is the only Megadeth album which does not include the band logo or title on the immediate cover. It is located on the side bar of the album instead. The album's cover was designed by graphic designer Storm Thorgerson (noted for his work with Pink Floyd)[1] and Peter Curzon.

This was the end of this line-up of the band. Al Pitrelli and Jimmy DeGrasso played their final show. Dave Ellefson left the band because he wasn't satisfied with his share of the band's earnings. In 2010 he returned to the band. The DVD was certified gold in the US and Canada.

Reception

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Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic      [2]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide      [3]

Brian O'Neill of AllMusic rated Rude Awakening a 3 out of 5, opining that, while he believes the album is "fraught with" limitations, it is "a far better encapsulation of the band's career to date than the spotty Capitol Punishment: The Megadeth Years compilation."[2]

The album won a 2002 Metal Edge Readers' Choice Award for Compilation/Live Album of the Year. Since it was generally believed to be Megadeth's swan song at the time (until their reformation in 2004), the magazine stated, "Megadeth's farewell gets the recognition it deserves."[4]

Track listing

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Disc 1
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Dread and the Fugitive Mind"Dave MustaineMustaine4:12
2."Kill the King"MustaineMustaine3:51
3."Wake Up Dead"MustaineMustaine3:26
4."In My Darkest Hour"Mustaine, Dave EllefsonMustaine5:28
5."Angry Again"MustaineMustaine3:22
6."She-Wolf"MustaineMustaine8:17
7."Reckoning Day"Mustaine, EllefsonMustaine, Marty Friedman4:24
8."Devil's Island"MustaineMustaine5:06
9."Train of Consequences"MustaineMustaine4:30
10."A Tout le Monde"MustaineMustaine4:49
11."Burning Bridges"MustaineMustaine4:56
12."Hangar 18"MustaineMustaine4:45
13."Return to Hangar"MustaineMustaine3:54
14."Hook in Mouth"MustaineMustaine, Ellefson4:40
Disc 2
No.TitleLyricsMusicLength
1."Almost Honest"MustaineMustaine, Friedman3:57
2."1,000 Times Goodbye"MustaineMustaine6:14
3."Mechanix"MustaineMustaine4:36
4."Tornado of Souls"Mustaine, EllefsonMustaine5:47
5."Ashes in Your Mouth"MustaineMustaine, Friedman, Ellefson, Nick Menza6:04
6."Sweating Bullets"MustaineMustaine4:38
7."Trust"MustaineMustaine, Friedman6:46
8."Symphony of Destruction"MustaineMustaine4:50
9."Peace Sells"MustaineMustaine5:22
10."Holy Wars... The Punishment Due"MustaineMustaine8:51
  1. Dread and the Fugitive Mind
  2. Wake Up Dead
  3. In My Darkest Hour
  4. She-Wolf
  5. Reckoning Day
  6. Devil's Island
  7. Burning Bridges
  8. Hangar 18
  9. Return to Hangar
  10. Hook in Mouth
  11. 1,000 Times Goodbye
  12. Mechanix
  13. Tornado of Souls
  14. Ashes in Your Mouth
  15. Sweating Bullets
  16. Trust
  17. Symphony of Destruction
  18. Peace Sells
  19. Holy Wars... The Punishment Due

DVD bonus features

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  1. Kill the King
  2. Angry Again
  3. Almost Honest
  4. Train of Consequences
  5. A Tout le Monde

Personnel

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Credits adapted from CD liner notes:[5]

Megadeth

Production

Charts

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Chart (2002) Peak
position
Canadian Albums (Billboard)[6] 100
French Albums (SNEP)[7] 93
UK Albums (OCC)[8] 129
US Billboard 200[9] 115

Certifications

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Region Certification Certified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[10] Gold 5,000^
United States (RIAA)[11] Gold 50,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

References

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  1. ^ Blair, Kevin. "Graphic Artist Storm Thorgerson, Who Designed Pink Floyd's 'Dark Side Of The Moon' Cover, Dies At 70". starpulse.com. Retrieved 21 April 2013.
  2. ^ a b O'Neill, Brian. "Rude Awakening - Megadeth". AllMusic. Retrieved February 4, 2005.
  3. ^ Brackett, Nathan; Christian Hoard (2004). The Rolling Stone Album Guide. New York City, New York: Simon and Schuster. p. 534. ISBN 0-7432-0169-8. Retrieved November 11, 2012. rolling stone megadeth album guide.
  4. ^ Metal Edge, June 2003
  5. ^ Rude Awakening liner notes (CD). Sanctuary Records. 2002. pp. 10–11.
  6. ^ "Megadeth Discography, 1997–2007". Rockdetector. Musicdetector Websites. Archived from the original on November 11, 2007. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  7. ^ "Megadeth – Rude Awakening". lescharts.com (in French). Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  8. ^ Zywietz, Tobias. "Chart Log UK: M – My Vitriol". Zobbel. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  9. ^ "Top 200 Albums". Billboard. April 6, 2002. Retrieved January 10, 2017.
  10. ^ "Canadian video certifications – Megadeth – Rude Awakening". Music Canada.
  11. ^ "American video certifications – Megadeth – Rude Awakening". Recording Industry Association of America.