Talk:Countdown to Extinction

No basis at all

This album has many elements from Megadeth's '80s era. It's not hard rock. And without a verifiable citation, it should be taken down. Megadeth is a thrash metal and heavy metal band. If you people want "hard rock", go listen to Metallica's '90s stuff and see if it compares to anything except "Risk." Yes, Countdown was more mainstream heavy metal, but learn terminology; that doesn't make it hard rock. -MetalKommandant (talk) 11:37, 26 September 2008 (UTC)

I agree. What is the rationale and where is the source for hard rock? AlanZhan (talk) 20:33, 17 November 2008 (UTC)

Well? I changed this because of no source, but it was silently reverted. Source? 75.111.124.82 (talk) 05:41, 7 January 2010 (UTC)

Deathlok

Wikipedia page shows that the song Psychotron is based on Marvel's character Deathlok. I heard this somewhere else too, and I want to be certain, is there a confirmation of this? Please send me a message so I will be notified. Nefzen (talk) 23:11, 4 April 2009 (UTC)

I have One Problem with this. you say that there is no Vic Rattlehead on the cover. Well, look at the botton right hand corner. You will see two little ones on plates. So whist he is not a main feature, he is on there Thanks, and keep baning hard! MikeyCMS —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.154.82.181 (talk) 17:13, 10 June 2010 (UTC)

Genre Discussion

Discuss any genre changes here. Any unsourced/undiscussed changes to the status quo going back several months (Heavy metal, hard rock, thrash metal) WILL be reverted.--L1A1 FAL (talk) 06:09, 18 March 2011 (UTC)

Why. Hard. Rock. !. ?.

Please note that this is primarily a heavy metal album, and though the rock-like influences might seem prominent, the they are definitely a part of the heavy part of the songs, classifying them as heavy metal, just like Iron Maiden. As a matter of fact, exactly like Iron Maiden. And there is a noticeable amount of thrash in these songs: Skin O' My Teeth, Architecture of Aggression, Foreclosure of a Dream, Sweating Bullets, High Speed Dirt and especially Ashes In Your Mouth. 117.195.36.192 (talk) 10:13, 17 June 2013 (UTC)

Captive Honour?

Does anyone know why Megadeth/Mustane & Ellefson (both Americans) chose to spell the word honour (the British/Irish/Commonwealth way) rather than the American spelling of honor? Does it have any specific significance (like spelling the band Megadeth instead of Megadeath - "We spell the name phonetically because the meaning to us is the same as you get out of the dictionary") or was it just a personal choice (possibly aesthetic somehow)? If it was spelled like that for a reason that should probably be documented on here. Alphathon /'æl.f'æ.θɒn/ ^(talk) 19:40, 24 May 2011 (UTC)

Symphony Of Destruction

Whilst it states that this is available on Guitar Hero, covered by another band, I feel it should also mention that Megadeth's Symphony Of Destruction performed by themselves is also available as down-loadable content from Guitar Hero: Warriors Of Rock and onwards.94.1.163.118 (talk) 22:11, 8 September 2011 (UTC)

Is is downloadable for those? If you can find a RELIABLE source, please feel free to add it, but only alongside the mention of it being in the original GH; it doesn't need it's own paragraph.--L1A1 FAL (talk) 22:22, 8 September 2011 (UTC)

Genre

Here are some extracts about the genre issue from all of the reviews:

About.com: They toned down the thrash somewhat in favor of a more traditional metal approach. There’s still plenty of intensity, but the tempos are generally slower.

AllMusic: Megadeth guns for arena thrash success and gets it on Countdown to Extinction. Following the lead of 1991's Metallica, Megadeth trades in their lengthy, progressive compositions for streamlined, tightly written and played songs more conducive to radio and MTV airplay.

Consequence of Sound: Countdown to Extinction saw Megadeth moving away from thrash metal and closer to generic hard rock (read: Metallica), a sonic shift they would embrace on subsequent albums.

Entertainment Weekly: The music has lost its former hurricane verve but keeps its crunch, and (a big mainstream plus) feels more rooted, even more melodic.

Rolling Stone: While Countdown echoes the band's earlier work thematically, it's stylistically disappointing: The music, which is considerably more subdued than anything Megadeth has ever done, sounds formulaic; the musicianship is pedestrian; and the album as a whole seems to have been written for marketability rather than merit. Nothing on the album compares with the brilliance of either "Holy Wars ... the Punishment Due" or "Hangar 18," on Rust in Peace. The only song that even begins to approximate the drive of earlier albums is "Ashes in Your Mouth."

Sputnik: Despite softening up the sound, the music still remains enjoyable and the band still maintains its identity, something that the band lacked in albums like Risk. Though the band opted for a lighter album (and it isn't exactly light to begin with) traces of the bands former thrash metal sound can still be found on songs such as Architecture of Aggression or Ashes in Your Mouth. Countdown to Extinction is no Rust in Peace, but it is a very enjoyable ride that anybody can enjoy.

My opinion: The only article that mentions hard rock as a term is Consequence of Sound, which I believe is not enough for that genre to be placed in the infobox. All of the remaining reviewers classify this effort simply as heavy metal, with the exclusion of the last two (RS and Sputnik) mentioning the existence of thrash metal in some of the tracks.--Вик Ретлхед (talk) 14:14, 20 July 2013 (UTC)

If you want to change it, just cite the reviews you listed above, and put a hidden note saying that further changes should not be done without talk page discussion first. Were you going to list thrash metal as a secondary, or just put heavy metal?--L1A1 FAL (talk) 16:01, 21 July 2013 (UTC)

What is your opinion? Should we add thrash metal in second place?--Вик Ретлхед (talk) 18:20, 21 July 2013 (UTC)

I think the best approach would be to only have "heavy" there, with cites. However, if you want to add thrash, then thats up to you, just include cites, whatever you do, cause either way, a genre troll is gonna come along and mess it up. With cites, at least there is basis for reverting to a version that was at least duscussed.--L1A1 FAL (talk) 21:23, 23 July 2013 (UTC)

I do think heavy metal is just fine. Mentioned thrash because I suspected that somebody might stick to the CoS review and insist on adding hard rock.--Вик Ретлхед (talk) 10:01, 24 July 2013 (UTC)

Genre (2nd discussion)

Why was heavy metal removed? If anything, there's more sources for that genre than there is thrash metal. 97.83.67.162 (talk) 21:23, 12 October 2013 (UTC)

It was removed because not one source (except for About.com, which is unreliable source for genres anyway) says "Countdown is a heavy metal album", "features heavy metal music" or something in that spirit. They just say the band "simplified their thrash metal sound" or "incorporated more melody and mid-tempos to the songs". Three reviewers called it thrash metal (Spin, Allmusic and Popmatters), and three others (Artistdirect, Allmusic bio and Patch.com) qualified in that category. You can not interpret the sources your way and put heavy metal based on "softening the sound" (Sputnik) or "nothing on the album compares with the brilliance of Rust in Peace" (Rolling Stone).--Вик Ретлхед (talk) 08:22, 13 October 2013 (UTC)

Nothing in that discussion establishes that About.com is an unreliable source for genres. Yes, Spin, Allmusic and PopMatters does call it a thrash metal album, but that doesn't mean that heavy metal (backed up with the source) can't be added as well. I'm not saying that thrash metal should be removed or anything, but heavy metal should at least stay as the second genre. 97.83.67.162 (talk) 15:27, 16 October 2013 (UTC)

Someone else might say "Why don't we put hard rock because Consequence of Sound wrote it contains some of those influences". The info-box should represent the general perception of the record. The minority view-points can be described in "Critical reception" section. There was a similar case with The System Has Failed, where thrash metal has been put without a single reviewer mentioning that genre.--Вик Ретлхед (talk) 21:34, 18 October 2013 (UTC)

GA Review

This review is transcluded from Talk:Countdown to Extinction/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.

Reviewer: EditorE (talk · contribs) 22:05, 4 November 2013 (UTC) Okay, GA review here we go! Lead and infobox look fine to me.

Recording and Production

• Since recording can be part of production and this section is also talking about the music of this album, I'd consider renaming this section to "Production and music". After all, a wikipedia album article would never be complete without a section that at least talks about the composition anyway, so it be worth for the reader to find where the info about the music of the album is being discussed. 和DITOREtails 22:05, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

Completely agree, the last paragraph is discussing the musical style, indeed. Consider it done.--Вик Ретлхед (talk) 22:59, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

• Aside from that, the section looks good.

Lyrics

• "The song was noted by critics for it's great social and philosophical impact." sources would be nice

Included the Rivaldivia description of the song.--Вик Ретлхед (talk) 23:24, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

• Can we also organize all the track info into the track number order? That would be way better.

I asked a fellow editor to take this task; I'm sure he can handle it better than me. I'd be very grateful if you can give me two or three days to resolve this issue.--Вик Ретлхед (talk) 00:37, 5 November 2013 (UTC)

Reception

• Did a few minor changes, but looks fine
  • "Spin wrote: "Countdown to Extinction may just be the finest thrash metal album ever made, although purists may find it a bit too polished and easy to swallow"" --> "Spin wrote that the album "may just be the finest thrash metal album ever made, although purists may find it a bit too polished and easy to swallow".  Fixed

Sales and impact

• Since this section is talking about the commercial performances of the album, could we also mention the international chart positions somewhere too?

Wrote a few sentences about charts outside its native country and received certifications as well.

Charts

• Any year-end chart positions?

Found the American year-end position; according to Hung Medien, the album didn't finish as best-seller in other countries.

The weekly and year-end charts need to have their own seperate tables.  Fixed

References and other comments

• Accessdate for ref 54, 55 or 56?

Done.

• Liner notes citation from 2004 reissue, cause we need it for the 2004 remix credits and the bonus track listing for it? Any info we can use from the liner notes of the 2012 anniversary box sex too in the article?

Added the booklet from the 2004 issue. The liner notes from the 2012 edition can be read at ref #17 (the Kory Grow text)--Вик Ретлхед (talk) 23:24, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

和DITOREtails 22:05, 4 November 2013 (UTC)

Thanks to EditorE for reviewing the article and to L1 for the help of getting it promoted.--Вик Ретлхед (talk) 06:24, 5 November 2013 (UTC)

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Release Date

Regarding the album's release date, different sources state different things. Megadeth's official website and Allmusic give a release date of July 14, but both British and American sales certifications say it was released on July 6. Who do we believe? 152.171.97.82 (talk) 14:26, 15 July 2022 (UTC)