"Dystopia" is a song by American heavy metal band

Megadeth 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 wit ...

, written by Dave Mustaine. It is the second and title track from their fifteenth studio album ''

Dystopia A dystopia (from Ancient Greek δυσ- "bad, hard" and τόπος "place"; alternatively cacotopiaCacotopia (from κακός ''kakos'' "bad") was the term used by Jeremy Bentham in his 1818 Plan of Parliamentary Reform (Works, vol. 3, p. 493). ...

'', which was released on January 22, 2016. The song was released early on streaming services on January 7, 2016.

Performances

The song debuted live in Las Vegas, Nevada, on February 26, 2016. The performance was entirely instrumental. It is the most performed song from the album, being played over 280 times as of September 2022.

Lyrical meaning

Mustaine has said that "Dystopia" was inspired by the movies " Total Recall", "

Twelve Monkeys ''12 Monkeys'' is a 1995 American science fiction film directed by Terry Gilliam, inspired by Chris Marker's 1962 short film '' La Jetée'', starring Bruce Willis, Madeleine Stowe, and Brad Pitt, with Christopher Plummer and David Morse in ...

", and The Terminator franchise.

Music video

The song's post-apocalyptic animated video follows on from the band's "The Threat Is Real" clip. It features a high-speed chase and a bloody fight in the futuristic war zone envisioned by Megadeth. About the video direction, Dave Mustaine told Mashable.com: "We had met with a guy in England, and I basically talked to him about this dystopian city that I had kind of visualized. You see all these movies like Armageddon, Independence Day, 12 Monkeys, Planet of the Apes and stuff, and there's always a moral at the end of the story: If you stand up for what's right, you won't have to give in to a dystopian world. It's just one of those things we grew up in. Explaining that concept to the artist - I thought he got what I was saying pretty clearly."

Critical reception

The song is the top rated track from the album on Metacritic. Rolling Stone called it, "The most radio friendly

single so far." It was ranked the best song from the album by Return Of Rock.

Grammy

"Dystopia" won the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance at the

2017 Grammy Awards The 59th Annual Grammy Awards ceremony was held on February 12, 2017. The CBS network broadcast the show live from the Staples Center in Los Angeles. The ceremony recognized the best recordings, compositions, and artists of the eligibility year, ...

, the band's first win after 12 nominations. Mustaine, Loureiro, Ellefson, and Verbeuren attended the ceremony; however, album drummer and award recipient Chris Adler did not. While accepting the award, the house band played Mustaine's former band Metallica's " Master of Puppets" causing some controversy among fans.

Charts

Personnel

; Megadeth * Dave Mustaine – lead and rhythm guitars,

lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of t ...

* Kiko Loureiro – lead guitars, backing vocals * David Ellefson –

bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in the bass range: ** Bass (instrument), including: ** Acoustic bass gui ...

, backing vocals *

Chris Adler Christopher James Adler (born November 23, 1972) is an American musician, best known as the founder and longtime drummer of heavy metal band Lamb of God from 1994 to 2019, and of Megadeth from 2015 to 2016. Adler played drums on Megadeth's f ...

–

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Dystopia Megadeth songs 2016 singles 2016 songs Songs written by Dave Mustaine Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance