Megadeth Debut in Top 20 of Billboard Top 200 Chart; RISK tops releases by Red Hot Chili Peppers, TLC and Jennifer Lopez

Business Wire, Sept 9, 1999

NEW YORK--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Sept. 9, 1999--

Megadeth continue their success with their latest release RISK. With a more than respectable debut at No. 16 on the Top 200, Megadeth continue to do what they do best...make great, hard-edged music. While other bands struggle to march in-step to the latest thrash and metal party lines, Megadeth is plotting its own adventurous course into the next millennium. RISK comes from a place where speed and groove intersect -- where feedback segues into emotive violin (on the opening "Insomnia"), and futuristic guitar raves are embellished with classical string lines, Middle Eastern melody, and throbbing electronic beats. The new album rips open a page from U.K. techno and rave machinery -- even as it thrills the masses with Megadeth's trademark crunchy, distorted guitar riffwork and sneering vocals on a heap of new titles, "Prince of Darkness," "Seven," and "Doctor's Calling" among them.

Even critical music press are taking notice of Megadeth's mix of the old metal with far eastern influences. The "LA Times" gave the release an amazing 3 *** review. It stated, "Richer arrangements (strewn with stings and sitar) add an exotic allure, but it's the sharper songwriting that gives this album more bite."

RISK, Megadeth's second album with Nashville producer Dann Huff (co-produced by Dave Mustaine) got off to a fast head start with its first lead-track: the hard rock anthem "Crush 'Em," from the movie soundtrack of Universal Solider: The Return, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme and WCW wrestling champion Bill Goldberg. Both men were on-board for the filming of the video in Los Angeles earlier this summer.

RISK is the long-awaited follow-up to Cryptic Writings (released July 1997), produced by Dann Huff (co-produced by Dave Mustaine), which boasted no less than 4 consecutive top 20 radio hits spanning nearly 15 months on Billboard's highly-competitive Mainstream Rock Tracks chart: "Trust," "Almost Honest," "Use the Man," and "A Secret Place." Since that album's release, Megadeth has co-headlined OZZfest, been nominated for their seventh career Grammy, performed for Howard Stern's Birthday Bash, and been featured on a series of critically acclaimed soundtrack albums: Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, Strangeland, Songs Of the Witchblade, and ESPN X-Games, for which they recorded the theme song.

After spending the late-summer on-tour in Europe with Iron Maiden, Megadeth will commence an extensive U.S. tour starting in October. Megadeth is: Dave Mustaine (lead vocals, guitar); Marty Friedman (lead guitar); David Ellefson (bass); and newest member Jimmy DeGrasso (drums).