 The album was recorded at Oceanway and Emerald Entertainment in Nashville , Tennessee and at Phase Four Studios in Tempe , Arizona . In a promotional statement from Megadeth 's then @-@ label Sanctuary Records , Mustaine clarified that recording the album had been " liberating " , due to having more control over the record than he had had since the first two Megadeth records . Mustaine also noted that he initially took a casual approach to the album , starting out working three hours a night , four days a week . 
