"Public Enemy No. 1" 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 David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter of the thrash metal band Megadeth, as well as their sole consistent member. Mustaine has releas ...

. It is the first single and second track from their thirteenth studio album ''

Thirteen Thirteen or 13 may refer to: * 13 (number), the natural number following 12 and preceding 14 * One of the years 13 BC, AD 13, 1913, 2013 Music * 13AD (band), an Indian classic and hard rock band Albums * ''13'' (Black Sabbath album), 2013 * ...

'', which was released on November 1, 2011. The song was commercially released as a single on September 13, 2011, which was Mustaine's 50th birthday. A music video for the song was released on November 5, 2011.

Performances

The song debuted live in

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, Germany on July 4, 2011, prior to its release as a single. On October 31 (

Halloween Halloween or Hallowe'en (less commonly known as Allhalloween, All Hallows' Eve, or All Saints' Eve) is a celebration observed in many countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Saints' Day. It begins the observanc ...

), 2011, the band performed the song on the American late-night talk show ''

Jimmy Kimmel Live! ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel, broadcast on American Broadcasting Company, ABC. The nightly hour-long show debuted on January 26, 2003, at Hollywood Masonic Temple in Hollywood, Los ...

''. As it was a Halloween edition of the show, the band members were almost unrecognizable, dressed in full costume:

Frankenstein's monster Frankenstein's monster or Frankenstein's creature, often referred to as simply "Frankenstein", is a fictional character who first appeared in Mary Shelley's 1818 novel ''Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus''. Shelley's title thus compares ...

David Ellefson David Warren Ellefson (born November 12, 1964) is an American musician, best known for his long tenure as the bassist for thrash metal band Megadeth. Ellefson initially became an accomplished bassist and honed his songwriting skills while leadin ...

as a

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, Chris Broderick as the Phantom of the Opera and

Shawn Drover Shawn Drover (born May 5, 1966) is a Canadian drummer, best known for his work with the American heavy metal band Megadeth. He began playing the drums at the age of 13. In 1993 he founded the power metal band Eidolon with his brother Glen. H ...

as a Bela Lugosi-style

Dracula ''Dracula'' is a novel by Bram Stoker, published in 1897. As an epistolary novel, the narrative is related through letters, diary entries, and newspaper articles. It has no single protagonist, but opens with solicitor Jonathan Harker taking ...

. The band also performed "

Symphony of Destruction "Symphony of Destruction" is a song by American heavy metal band Megadeth, released as a single from the band’s fifth studio album, ''Countdown to Extinction'' (1992). The lyrics explore the hypothetical situation where an average citizen is p ...

", but only a small portion aired over the ending credits. The full performance was made available for view exclusively on the ''Jimmy Kimmel Live!'' website.

Lyrical meaning

Mustaine has said that "Public Enemy No. 1" was written about 1920s gangster

Al Capone Alphonse Gabriel Capone (; January 17, 1899 – January 25, 1947), sometimes known by the nickname "Scarface", was an American gangster and businessman who attained notoriety during the Prohibition era as the co-founder and boss of the ...

. The inspiration was a possible haunting incident while the band was recording in an old building in Tennessee, which Mustaine described as being a "hideaway" of Capone's.

Music video

On September 20, 2011,

announced that the band was filming a Western-themed music video for the song in

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, Valencia and the Municipalities of Spain, third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is ...

, California. The video includes live animals and footage of the band.Archived a
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The video was released on November 4, 2011.

Critical reception

Graham Hartmann of ''

Loudwire ''Loudwire'' is an American online media magazine that covers news of hard rock and heavy metal artists. It is owned by media and entertainment business Townsquare Media. Since its launch in August of 2011, ''Loudwire'' has secured exclusive ...

'' gave the single three-and-a-half stars out of five, commenting that the song follows the standard Megadeth formula: "aggressive thrash and blistering guitar work", combined with Mustaine's "somewhat" clean vocals.

Track listing

CD single # "Public Enemy No. 1" (Radio Edit) – 3:57 # "Public Enemy No. 1" – 4:15

Charts

Personnel

; Megadeth *

–

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected stri ...

vocals Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, 1st and 3rd

guitar solo A guitar solo is a melodic passage, instrumental section, or entire piece of music, pre-written (or improvised) to be played on a classical guitar, electric guitar or an acoustic guitar. In 20th and 21st century traditional music and popular m ...

s * Chris Broderick – guitars, 2nd and 4th guitar solos *

–

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 ...

–

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 ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

; Production *

Produced Producer or producers may refer to: Occupations *Producer (agriculture), a farm operator *A stakeholder of economic production *Film producer, supervises the making of films **Executive producer, contributes to a film's budget and usually does not ...

Johnny K John Karkazis, better known as Johnny K, is an American record producer, engineer, mixer, musician, and songwriter. He owns Groovemaster Recording Studios in Chicago. In addition to the studios, his music complex includes a gymnasium, rehears ...

* Music and Lyrics – Dave Mustaine, Johnny K

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Public Enemy No. 1 Megadeth songs 2011 singles Songs written by Dave Mustaine Song recordings produced by Johnny K 2011 songs Cultural depictions of Al Capone