MEGADETH'S "CRYPTIC WRITINGS" STRIKES GOLD 2nd single "Almost Honest" tops rock radio charts first week out BAND RULES ROCKSTOCK '97 Third top-grossing North American concert New York - September 29, 1997 - As steady, consistent and on-target as Megadeth's 15-year career, their widely acclaimed June ('97) release "Cryptic Writings" (Capitol) has just rocketed past the gold mark. Described by the legendary Robert Palmer as "...mightily impressive," in the October issue of Live! Magazine, and awarded three and a half stars by Rolling Stone, the album debuted on the Billboard Top 200 at #10. This week also marked the release of the second single "Almost Honest" which garnered for Megadeth an unprecedented 89 adds at active rock radio. Airing in mostly heavy rotation to an audience topping 2 million listeners, the track follows the lead on the first single, "Trust" which locked in at #1 on the Billboard Monitor charts and starred as the #1 most requested song for 10 weeks running. This represents the strongest radio story the band has experienced. Megadeth recently wound up the first leg of their successful U.S. tour like a tidal wave with fierce momentum at Chicago's WRCX-FM ROCKSTOCK '97. Ranking as the third highest-grossing concert in North America for August according to Pollstar, Megadeth took 30,000 fans by storm, headlining the star studded stage, which also included Veruca Salt, Faith No More, Seven Mary Three, Helmet, Cracker, Local H, Silverchair, Gravity Kills, and The Nixons, to name a few. The set, which the Chicago Sun Times described as "brawny... [with] every move in place, a thing of beauty to witness" was the perfect finale for with their 33-date tour launched in Las Vegas, July 24. Megadeth are gearing up to hit Europe for a string of shows and head off to Japan where the record debuted at #1. The Megadeth "tidal wave" will be back state side late December for the 2nd leg of the "Cryptic Writings" U.S. tour. A 15-year career, 8 albums to their credit (the last three multi-platinum), unanimous critical acclaim and tremendous rock radio success of their latest, Megadeth is bound for world domination!