Youthanasia is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Megadeth, released on November 1, 1994. A remixed and remastered version, featuring several bonus tracks, was released in 2004. The title is a pun on euthanasia, implying that society is euthanizing its youth, which would be consistent with bandleader and principal songwriter Dave Mustaine's views. Youthanasia continued the band's trend toward slower, more melodic hard rock songs which began with Megadeth's commercial breakthrough album, Countdown to Extinction. Lyrically, the album displays a variety of influences: mythology ("Elysian Fields" and "Blood of Heroes"), rape and incest ("Family Tree"), nuclear war ("Black Curtains"), gambling ("Train of Consequences"), and a hit that is about the last moments in life, "À Tout le Monde". Megadeth's previous album, Countdown to Extinction, was tremendously successful and the band was faced with the daunting task of making an album to follow it. It was a time of problems and conflicts for Megadeth, in that every two weeks or so according to Mustaine, there were "outrageous emotional interventions" in order to make the group a democracy. Many band meetings during this period concerned Mustaine's creative control over a "successful formula", so that the band could better exercise their creativity. Another problem was the indecision on where the recording would take place. Mustaine did not want to record in Los Angeles, so the band eventually decided to record in