MEGADETH's 'Rust In Peace Live' CD, DVD First-Week Sales Revealed

MEGADETH's "Rust In Peace Live" CD — which captures the final night of the band's historic month-long "Rust In Peace" 20th anniversary tour — sold around 3,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to debut at position No. 161 on The Billboard 200 chart. Meanwhile, the DVD version of "Rust In Peace Live" shifted around 2,600 units to land at No. 3 on the Top Music Videos chart.

On March 31, 2010, at this incredibly special show at the legendary Hollywood Palladium, not far from where Dave Mustaine formed the band in 1983, MEGADETH played their landmark, genre-defining 1990 "Rust In Peace" album in its entirety, in addition to other MEGADETH favorites. "Rust In Peace Live" also marks the return of original bassist David Ellefson (MEGADETH 1983-2002) to the iconic multi-platinum group after eight years. Ellefson (bass),joins Mustaine (lead vocals, guitar),Shawn Drover (drums) and Chris Broderick (guitar).

"Rust In Peace Live" features the entire "Rust In Peace" track listing, including all-time classics "Holy Wars...The Punishment Due" and "Hangar 18" along with bonus fan favorites from various other MEGADETH releases such as "Symphony For Destruction", "Peace Sells" and "Skin O' My Teeth".

MEGADETH founder/frontman/guitarist Dave Mustaine explains, "We are pumped to be able to share the 'RIP Live' concert with you all around the world. The anniversary and David Ellefson coming back was better than a facelift and a bottle of Viagra for old [MEGADETH mascot] Vic."

The 80-minute "Rust In Peace Live" DVD (5.1 Dolby Surround 16:9 Widescreen) and Blu-ray (5.1 DTS Master Audio 1080p High Definition) were directed by Kerry Asmussen (GREEN DAY, JAY-Z, Coachella). The DVD and Blu-ray also includes behind-the-scenes footage, including a rare glimpse of the band rehearsing in their dressing room as they prepare to take the stage.

"Rust In Peace" is considered one of the best metal albums of all time by fans and critics and debuted at #23 on the Billboard Top 200 Album Chart in the U.S. and #8 in the U.K. The album showcased a much tighter sound, with Mustaine's writing style adopting a rhythmically complex progressive edge, prompting All Music Guide to cite "Rust In Peace" as "MEGADETH's strongest musical effort." The album received Grammy nominations in 1990 and 1991 for "Best Metal Performance." Emphasizing the massive impact of "Rust In Peace" in the July 2010 issue of Guitar World, writer Richard Bienstock calls it "one of the pinnacles of the first wave of thrash metal." He continues, "A defining quality of MEGADETH's sound — and the one that perhaps most sets them apart from their 'Big Four' thrash brethren, METALLICA, SLAYER and ANTHRAX — has always been the band's fiery mix of speed-metal ferocity and progressive instrumental virtuosity… nowhere has this combination been displayed better than on 'Rust In Peace'."

The full track listing for the "Rust In Peace Live" CD, DVD and Blu-ray is as follows:

"Rust In Peace" Live:

01. Holy Wars...The Punishment Due
02. Hangar 18
03. Take No Prisoners
04. Five Magics
05. Poison Was The Cure
06. Lucretia
07. Tornado Of Souls
08. Dawn Patrol
09. Rust In Peace...Polaris

Bonus Content:

10. Skin O' My Teeth (Countdown To Extinction)
11. In My Darkest Hour (So Far, So Good…So What!)
12. She-Wolf (Cryptic Writings)
13. Trust (Cryptic Writings)
14. Symphony Of Destruction (Countdown To Extinction)
15. Peace Sells (Peace Sells…But Who's Buying?)
16. Holy Wars – Reprise (Rust In Peace)

The "Holy Wars...The Punishment Due" performance clip, taken from the "Rust In Peace Live" DVD, can be viewed below (courtesy of AOL's Noisecreep).