MEGADETH: Behind-The-Scenes Footage From 'Public Enemy No. 1' Video Shoot

January 25, 2012

Behind-the-scenes footage from the making of MEGADETH's video for the song "Public Enemy No. 1" can be viewed below. The clip was shot on September 17, 2011 in Santa Clarita, California on a movie set where old Westerns are filmed. Bassist David Ellefson stated in a video message about the "Public Enemy No. 1" clip, "We have never shot a video like this before; there's actually animals in the movie and that's all we can say."

On the topic of how the song "Public Enemy No. 1" came together, Ellefson told Music Radar in a recent interview, “We started writing this song during a soundcheck in Croatia last year, and we finished it in Vienna, Austria a short while later. Funnily enough, earlier this year we wrote another song on the record called 'Never Dead' in the same venue in Austria. So that place has magic in it. It's another New Wave Of British Heavy Metal-type song, at least as far as what I do. I loved the early DEF LEPPARD records, and I'm copping a bit of a Rick Savage bass approach on it. I really tried to write around the vocals. I love to hear as much of the band, especially the vocals, when I record a bass part. As a player, I want to be the mortar between the blocks that glue the building together. Once the vocal melody developed, Johnny [K., producer] and I worked with Dave [Mustaine, vocals/guitar], and that allowed me to put down a strong bass part. It was a fun way to record. I had a lot of note choices available to me, and there's a cool moving bassline in the B section of the verse as well as the chorus. As a listener, none of that matters, but hopefully, you'll feel the song jump."

MEGADETH is among the nominees for the 54th annual Grammy Awards, which will be held on Sunday, February 12 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. The band's tenth Grammy nomination is for its new single, "Public Enemy No. 1", off MEGADETH's latest album, "TH1RT3EN", which came out on November 1.

"Public Enemy No. 1" actually marks the second Grammy nomination for music from "TH1RT3EN", as the song "Sudden Death" was first unveiled in the 2010 video game "Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock" and received a "Best Metal Performance" nod.

"TH1RT3EN" sold 42,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 11 on The Billboard 200 chart. The band's previous CD, 2009's "Endgame", opened with 45,000 units to debut at No. 9. This was slightly less than the 54,000 first-week tally registered by 2007's "United Abominations", which entered the chart at No. 8. 2004's "The System Has Failed" premiered with 46,000 copies (No. 18) while 2001's "The World Needs A Hero" moved 61,000 units in its first week (No. 16).

Making of "Public Enemy No. 1":

"Public Enemy No. 1" video:

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