Youthanasia is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Megadeth, released on November 1, 1994, through Capitol Records. It is stylistically similar to their previous album, Countdown to Extinction (1992). The 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 clothes line, a direct reference to a line in the title track.
Cover art by Hugh Syme
Dave Mustaine later credited the entire line-up for writing Youthanasia as a tribute to the band's success at the time.
Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along with Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer, responsible for the genre's development and popularization. Their music features complex arrangements and fast rhythm sections, dual lead guitars, and lyrical themes of war, politics, religion, death, and personal relationships.
Megadeth performing in June 2018. Left to right: David Ellefson, Dirk Verbeuren, Dave Mustaine, and Kiko Loureiro.
Dave Mustaine formed Megadeth in 1983, after being fired from Metallica.
Megadeth performing at the Sloss Furnaces in Birmingham, Alabama, in July 1991
Guitarist Marty Friedman left Megadeth at the end of 1999, citing "musical differences".
