

Mustaine had asked original Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland to rejoin the band, with Poland tracking lead guitar parts on a few demos. The search for a new guitarist was a drawn out process Mustaine examined a number of guitarists for the job, including Dimebag Darrell of Pantera and Jeff Waters of Annihilator, and the former was initially offered the job before declining. Nick Menza, previously Behler's drum tech, was hired as the band's new drummer. Further issues within the band caused frontman and guitarist Dave Mustaine to fire drummer Chuck Behler and guitarist Jeff Young, and cancel their scheduled 1988 Australian tour. The band performed to an audience of more than 100,000 people and was soon added to the "Monsters of Rock" European tour, but dropped out after the first show due to bassist David Ellefson's drug problems. In 1988, Megadeth appeared at the Monsters of Rock festival at Donington Park in the UK, alongside Iron Maiden, Kiss, Helloween, Guns N' Roses, and David Lee Roth.

At the 1991 Foundations Forum, the album received a Concrete Foundations Award for "Top Radio Album" and the single " Hangar 18" won "Top Radio Cut" award. The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance at the 33rd Grammy Awards. Since its release, Rust in Peace has often been named as one of the best thrash metal records of all time, by publications such as Decibel and Kerrang!, and listed in the reference book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. A remixed and remastered version of the album featuring four bonus tracks was released in 2004. The Punishment Due" were released as singles. It was the first Megadeth album to feature lead guitarist Marty Friedman and drummer Nick Menza. Rust in Peace is the fourth studio album by American thrash metal band Megadeth, released on September 24, 1990, by Capitol Records.
