Like its predecessor, many of the songs on the album have political and military undertones. However, the opening track "Skin o' My Teeth" was speculated being about suicide, a theme which differs from the rest of the album.
"Symphony of Destruction", with lyrics written by Dave Mustaine inspired in part by the movie The Manchurian Candidate, details a story about a regular citizen as the head of a puppet regime, as the country is run by a phantom government. The song was noted by critics for its great social and philosophical impact. "Architecture of Aggression" explores the nature of global conflict; Mustaine revealed that the song was about former Iraq president Saddam Hussein, who was engaged in the Gulf War at the time. "Foreclosure of a Dream" deals with economic concerns and social inequality. According to music critic Eduardo Rivaldivia, "perhaps no other Megadeth song in history deals as directly and soberly" with these issues. The song sampled then-U.S. president George H. W. Bush's infamous "Read my lips" speech, making a statement about taxation endangering the "American Dream". Billboard praised the track, along with "Symphony of Destruction", for being "socially conscious" and described them as "powerful statements for hard rockers".
The fifth track, "Sweating Bullets", shows Mustaine's battle with his inner selves, which is presented throughout a conversational singing style. "Sweating Bullets" was written during the second recording session and was released as the album's third single. Its lyrical theme deals with paranoia. David Ellefson commented that the song's lyrics were "psychotically perfect" and sounded like "the inside of a crazed lunatic's mind". The title track was inspired by environmental concerns about the future of the planet, as well as criticisms of trophy hunting and the negative impact that it has. The name was suggested by Nick Menza, who had read a story in Time magazine entitled "The Countdown to Extinction". "High Speed Dirt" focuses on skydiving. "Captive Honour" is a song about prison and abuse that happens there, such as rape on new inmates, while "Psychotron" was written about the Marvel Comics character Deathlok. The album's closing track, "Ashes in Your Mouth", concentrates on the negative aftermath of war. The longest song on the record, it is performed at intense tempo and features shredding guitar leads.
The record enjoyed similar chart success outside of the United States. It managed to peak within the top 5 on the charts in the United Kingdom and New Zealand, and charted for eight weeks on both of them. It also entered the top 10 on the Japanese and Norwegian albums chart, while it charted slightly lower in several other countries as well. It was eventually certified three times platinum from the Canadian Music Association for shipping 300,000 copies and received a silver award from the British Phonographic Industry for having a shipment of 300,000 copies. The album was also eventually certified Gold in Japan and sold 100,000 copies.
Asked how does he think that the album has aged, Dave Mustaine responded: "I think it's timely and timeless at the same time, and I think that's one of the most difficult things for a musician to do. Very few records in our genre are like that. Musically it's heavy and the lyrics are very symbolic." In the liner notes of the album's 20th anniversary edition, music journalist Kory Grow wrote that "thanks to a perfect balance of hard-rock song structures, epic choruses, and fleet-fingered guitar work, Countdown to Extinction became an instant classic, benefiting from copious MTV and radio play." Artistdirect editor in chief Rick Florino called the album a "seminal" release and commented that it "changed the game by preserving the band's thrash intensity and impressive technical prowess, while dropping some of the biggest hooks the genre had ever seen". In a retrospective review of the album, Craig Hayes from Popmatters wrote that Countdown to Extinction's "status as a gateway metal album is indisputable" and its "popularity speaks volumes about its significance in the metal canon".
Megadeth honored the 20-year jubilee of the album's release with a headlining tour on which they played the record in its entirety. The tour began in September 2012 with live performances in South America, and continued the following two months with shows in North America. During this tour, three songs from the record ("Architecture of Aggression", "Psychotron" and "Captive Honour") had their live premiere, and a couple of others ("This Was My Life" and "High Speed Dirt") have been performed for the first time in many years. David Ellefson shared his impressions from playing the set live with newer members Shawn Drover and Chris Broderick by saying that they "executed [the songs] to 100% perfection". A live album which features a performance of the full album was released on September 24, 2013.
Credits are adapted from the album's liner notes.
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