10 Most Underrated Megadeth Songs
2. Reckoning Day
Revenge is a dish best served cold.
It's a testament to just how good 'Youthanasia' is that, despite the general acclaim and legacy it has accumulated, half the songs could still pass for underrated. Tracks like 'Reckoning Day' are Megadeth at their absolute best: pedal to the metal, technically sound thrash dripping with bad lyrical attitude.
Focusing on the concept of suffering for one's past mistakes, this payback-obsessed, bloodthirsty tune is beautifully composed. The changes in tempo and pitch perfectly reflect the increased anxiety of Mustaine's lyrics as a looming destruction draws ever closer.
The title itself is reportedly a nod to the modern classic western 'Tombstone'. In it, Val Kilmer's Doc Holliday (arguably the greatest performance of the one time Batman's career) discusses an enemy's motivations with Kurt Russell's Wyatt Earp, "Make no mistake, it's not revenge he's after. It's a reckoning."
This near five minute track ends on an incredibly ominous machine gun blast of drums. It's a great piece of atmosphere-building work from Nick Menza, allowing the song to close on an ominous, instrumental epilogue.
It's simply an epic piece of heavy metal history that encompasses everything the thrash genre is about. Songs like this really hammer home how far ahead of most of the thrash scene Megadeth's talents have been over the decades.