Youthanasia
| Youthanasia | ||||
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| Studio album by Megadeth | ||||
| Released | November 1, 1994 | |||
| Recorded | 1994 in Phoenix, Arizona | |||
| Genre | Heavy metal | |||
| Length | 49:57 | |||
| Label | Capitol | |||
| Producer | ||||
| Megadeth chronology | ||||
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| Singles from Youthanasia | ||||
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| Professional ratings | |
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| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   |
| Entertainment Weekly | B− |
| Los Angeles Times | |
| Metal Forces | 7.5/10 |
| Q | |
| The Rolling Stone Album Guide | |
| Sputnikmusic | 4/5 |
Youthanasia is the sixth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on November 1, 1994 through Capitol Records. The album is not a large stylistic departure from the band's earlier recordings; however it marked the continuing evolution of Megadeth, following the footsteps of the previous album Countdown to Extinction (1992). The album's title is a play on words, implying that society is euthanizing its youth. The cover art features an elderly woman hanging babies by their feet on a seemingly endless clothesline; the artwork concept was directly inspired from a line of the title track.
Youthanasia received positive reviews upon its release. It was commercially successful, peaking at number 4 on the Billboard 200 chart, and was certified platinum for shipping one million copies in the United States—a distinction achieved in 1995. A remixed and remastered edition featuring several bonus tracks and detailed liner notes was reissued on July 27, 2004.
Megadeth's previous studio release, Countdown to Extinction, became the band's biggest commercial accomplishment, entering the Billboard 200 at number two and eventually becoming double platinum. As a result, they continually sold out arenas across North America, in addition to developing a strong following overseas. With the next album, Youthanasia, the band moved towards a more mainstream sound.
It was a time of problems and conflicts for Megadeth, that in every two weeks or so, according to frontman Dave Mustaine, there were "outrageous emotional interventions" in order to make the group a democracy. Many band meetings during this period concerned Mustaine's creative control over a "successful formula", so that the rest of the band could better exercise their creativity. Another problem was the indecision on where the recording would take place. Mustaine did not want to record in Los Angeles, so it was eventually decided to record in Phoenix, since the majority of the band resided in Arizona. The sessions for the album initially began in Phase Four Studios (Tempe) in January 1994, after a few weeks the sessions were moved to Vintage Recorders in Phoenix and continued there into May- this studio is often the location for scenes in the Evolver video. Producer Max Norman suggested that they build a new self-dedicated studio, in cooperation with the Band, Capitol and Max's funding a modular studio was built in a warehouse in South Phoenix. Talking about the recording process, Mustaine said that Youthanasia was written solely in the studio. "We weren't playing any old, cataloged material. None of the past really influenced the new record." He mentioned that he gave "more freedom" to the other members and called the album "very much a total band effort". Of interest is that this was hoped to be the "First" album recorded solely on hard drives ( rather than magnetic tape), Both Max and Dave were believers in being on the cutting edge of technology, Max had long been using computers to sample, tune and comp tracks. Digidesign was working on expanding ProTools from a single track to multitracking and it was hoped that as many as 48 digital tracks could be synced and used to record. The computers used were mostly Apple Quadra 400/500 models and with a great effort by all, it was soon evident that magnetic tape would have to be used.
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