Hangar 18 is a song by Megadeth from their 1990 studio album Rust in Peace. Released on February 4, 1991. The song was inspired by a mythical building purportedly located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio, where an alien spacecraft or bodies were supposedly stored. The song reached number 25 on the Irish Singles Chart, also reached number 26 on the UK Singles Chart.
The cover of Rust in Peace, the album on which the song appears, depicts the band’s mascot,Vic Rattlehead, and a number of world leaders viewing an alien in a cryogenic chamber, a clear reference to the track. Both the album’s cover and single art were designed by the same artist, Ed Repka.
The “Hangar 18” video is themed after the song’s lyrical concept. It depicts the torture of aliens and, at the end, shows all the band members in freezing chambers. The video was shot at the Scattergood Generating Station. It was filmed in one of the main power generating buildings and it was directed and produced by Primetime Emmy Award Winning Visual Effects Supervisor, Paul Stephen Boyington, Some of the performances and the visual effects for the video were created and produced at Boyington‘s visual effects studio in Culver City CA. Paul S. Boyington also created the visual effects for Tim Burton‘s film Ed Wood. Coincidentally, the band would film the video for “Crush ‘Em” on this same site nine years later. An edited version of “Hangar 18” is typically shown on MTV2 which has the song length cut down drastically. During the intro to the video the song “Dawn Patrol” from the Rust in Peace album can be heard in the background.
Tracklist:
- Hangar 18 (AOR Edit)
- Hangar 18 (LP Version)
- The Conjuring (Live)
- Hook in Mouth (Live)
Credits:
Dave Mustaine: guitars, vocals
Marty Friedman: guitars
David Ellefson: bass
Nick Menza: drums
Nicholas Menza (July 23, 1964 – May 21, 2016)
