With Rust in Peace, Megadeth reached musical maturity. While not as slick and stripped-down as their later releases, it does bring the style developed on their earlier albums-basically, high-speed progressive metal-to a high point. Guitarist and singer Dave Mustaine and guitarist Marty Friedman are in fine form here, making technically complex passages sound easy. The lyrics aren't as smooth, but it's almost not worth quibbling over when the music is so good. It's all gut-wrenchingly aggressive, from "Holy Wars" to "Lucretia" to "Five Magics" to "Dawn Patrol," but "Hangar 18" and the title track are two high points, standing above the rest on what is already a fine album. --Genevieve Williams