• Tweet

Megadeth’s classic album Countdown to Extinction is 20 years old this year. To celebrate, the band is reissuing a special edition of the album and then hitting the road for a tour to celebrate the milestone.

The new 20^th Anniversary Edition of the album will be released November 6, and the group will perform the record in its entirety during 18 shows throughout November and December. The first show will be at Lupo’s at the Strand in Providence, R.I. on November 9, and the trek is scheduled to run through December 7 when the band plays at the Fox Theatre in Pomona. In between, the tour will visit cities including Wallingford, Conn.; Atlantic City; Myrtle Beach, S.C.; Charlotte, N.C.; Atlanta; Salt Lake City and Las Vegas.

With over two million copies sold, Countdown to Extinction is the group’s best-selling albums to date, featuring well-known songs like “Symphony for Destruction,” “Skin O’ My Teeth” and “Sweating Bullets.” The new packaging comes with a bonus live CD chronicling a Megadeth concert at San Francisco’s Cow Palace from 1992, the year of the original record’s release.

The 2CD version of the 20^th anniversary album comes in a lift-top box along with a 24” x 36” poster and four collectible postcards. A digital version will be available as well, and both versions will include a booklet with new liner notes and an essay by music journalist Kory Grow.

The album is the group’s fifth studio album, and went on to earn a Grammy nomination for Best Metal Performance. The title track of the album earned a Genesis Award from the Humane Society to recognize its efforts in raising awareness for animal rights issues. The band was (and still is) led by singer and guitarist Dave Mustaine, who personally oversaw the new packaging for the album.