Symphony of Destruction

MTV played the video for "Symphony of Destruction" heavily at first, with no concern. Then the scene in which a political candidate is assassinated was cut because MTV felt it was too harsh, and the edited version kept running to a smaller degree. Dave Mustaine defended the change, saying it mattered more that the band's point got across than whether a scene had to be softened or lost. Wayne Isham directed the clip, which Capitol Records produced in 1992 to promote the song as a single from Megadeth's album Countdown to Extinction.

Mustaine said the song came to him as a stroke of luck. Driving down Riverside Drive in Toluca Lake, Los Angeles, he was hit by a headache and began writing lyrics on the back of a sushi receipt. The lyrics concern the masses led toward their own destruction by political leaders. The legend of the Pied Piper of Hamelin appears in them. The first version was much longer and was edited heavily before the album.

The track opens with an orchestra tuning, followed by a short choral passage from Mozart's Requiem, before a heavy guitar riff takes over. Trent Reznor and Chris Vrenna produced an industrial metal remix called the Gristle Mix. Among cover bands, 3 Doors Down played it live nearly 70 times.