“I’m going to get into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame one way or another and Lars Ulrich can’t keep me out!” How Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine used old rivalries as fuel for the Endgame album
After a lean period in the late 90s, the 2000s saw Megadeth bouncing back in a big way. By 2009, they’d released the acclaimed Endgame, an album which called back to their thrash roots. Metal Hammer found mainman Dave Mustaine in feisty form at the time, taking sly shots at former bandmates and revealing that he could see the end of his career in sight.
Cometh the hour, cometh the man. If ever there was a perfect moment for Dave Mustaine to come riding over the crest of the rock’n’roll hill, with a gleaming Flying V slung across his back and a head full of freshly-minted rage, then this is undeniably it.
Megadeth have just made the finest metal album of 2009 and one of the very best records in the band’s lengthy career. It’s called Endgame, it’s harder, faster and more furious than anything to bear the Megadeth name since Rust In Peace and it’s going to annihilate the competition like a runaway combine harvester in a field full of crippled rabbits. No wonder Dave Mustaine is in a ridiculously cheerful mood, roaring with laughter when we ask him if he has returned to teach a new generation of metal bands how this shit is supposed to be done…
“Have I returned to crush the infidels?” he drawls. “Well, I did it once before with Metallica and I did it again in Megadeth, and it would be really great to have a third coming and to be able to watch this generation of guitar players do their thing too. There’s a lot of guys out there that are better than I am and there are guys that can do any one of the things I can do better, but as far as doing everything? You need to be able to use those colours differently. Do you think there’s a reason why all of Picasso’s stuff looks like it was painted by a cross-eyed retard? He found something that worked and he got stuck in it. I just don’t get it. I like something that you can look at and you don’t have to have acid to get. So maybe that’s what we’re bringing with this new record. The guys that know about heavy metal seem to like it so far!”
It’s unlikely that many people reading this will need reminding that Dave Mustaine has made a huge and lasting contribution to metal over the last three decades. As an original member of Metallica, he pioneered and defined the souped-up version of metal that would become widely known as thrash.
After being unceremoniously booted out of that band and fuelled with youthful anger and febrile creativity, he formed Megadeth and took the music further than any of his contemporaries, bringing complexity and technicality to a form that often preferred to play it safe and simple. With albums like Rust In Peace, Countdown To Extinction and Youthanasia, he proved that artistic integrity, monstrous riffs, timeless anthems and huge commercial success could go hand in hand.
He spent the first few years of the 90s as a permanent fixture in the US charts and on US rock radio and very nearly survived metal’s inexorable downturn with his dignity intact (give or take a Risk or two). By the time he steered Megadeth into the 21st century, he was very much an elder statesman of a scene that was about to experience a massive resurgence. The band have never been closer to or more comfortable with metal’s cutting edge. If 2007’s United Abominations – a great record by anyone’s standards – proved anything, it was that Dave Mustaine has learned from his mistakes and he knows what his fans want to hear, and on Endgame that’s all they’re going to hear.
“I made mistakes and we should’ve gone back towards the metal roots sooner,” he concedes. “It took time for us to find out how we’d lost our way, but right now the most important thing for me is that I’m happy. I can kind of agree that our last couple of records had something missing, because I was struggling. I had line-up problems, I had marital problems, I had physical problems with my back, but I’m a little wiser and a little older right now and I know what I can handle and I know what’s right and what’s not right for me and for Megadeth.”
As strong as it was, United Abominations was not universally hailed as a stone-cold classic, perhaps because it didn’t feature quite enough of the ferocious and ferociously technical thrash that many Megadeth fans regard as their signature sound. Nonetheless, it was a storming return to form; a fact made more remarkable in light of the chaos and turmoil that was going on behind the scenes during its gestation. Notoriously, the band’s then-new label, Roadrunner, were rumoured to have returned the first incarnation of the album to a stunned Dave, demanding that he make it heavier and more in keeping with current trends. Today, he acknowledges that the rumours are true, but reserves most of his vitriol for one particular bit of label interference.
“The president of the record label told me that I need to change the title of A Tout Le Monde, a song that’s been out for 13 years, to ‘Set Me Free,’” he snarls, with audible disbelief. “I said, ‘No! Whose dumb idea was that?’ They said it was the president’s and he really believed it. He wanted me to change it because he said there are people in the South that aren’t gonna be able to pronounce the title. So I said, ‘Well, luckily for them [shouts] they’re gonna have the song to listen to!’ And I said, ‘Why don’t we just film Cristina Scabbia’s mouth saying ‘a tout le monde’ with a little lipgloss and that sexy aura she has, and I guarantee that every fucking redneck south of the Canadian border will be able to speak French! It got to the point where I felt so disrespected that I was ready to say, ‘I’m done!’ But it didn’t get to that point and I’m happy with the way the label is working now.”
Not surprisingly for a man who has had his fair share of controversies, calamities and moments of conflict to deal with, the road to Dave Mustaine’s current state of health and happiness was never likely to be a trouble- free or uneventful one, but since the release of United Abominations, there has been a real sense in and around the Megadeth camp that finally this band are poised to receive some long-overdue recognition for being principal forebears of today’s metal scene. If you listen to anyone from Lamb Of God and Devildriver to Dream Theater and Dragonforce, it’s abundantly clear that the precision, dexterity and songwriting intelligence that have long been a part of the Megadeth ethos have all trickled down to successive generations of bands, and although Dave has never quite reached the commercial heights of Metallica or attained Iron Maiden’s level of universal adulation, their position as one of the greatest metal bands of all time is beyond dispute.
“Something I heard that was really great was that one of my friends went up to Canada to do a story on a concert we did and while she was there she did another story on skater-punks,” says Dave. “She went to one of the skate parks up there and she told me that all the kids that were there skating, all these little punk rockers wearing flannels and most of them had taken Megadeth shirts and cut the artwork off the shirt and sewn it on the back of their flannels, so you had this army of little skaters with Megadeth on their backs.
“She said this one kid was so great. He’d totally taken his shirt, taken his time and sewn everything on the back, and she said, ‘So, what’s the deal? Is Megadeth your band?’ and he said, ‘Fuck yeah! You can take pictures of us for an hour but after an hour we’re out of here, man, because we’ve got to go to the Megadeth concert tonight with https://www.loudersound.com/features/slayer-albums-ranked-from-worst-to-best,’ and I’m thinking, ‘I like the way you’re saying that! The Megadeth concert… with Slayer.’ I like that. As long as he doesn’t turn his shirt inside out and it says something else on the other side, you know? We like to have exclusivity!”
Even though the days when he would shoot his mouth off without engaging his brain first ended many years ago, Dave is still a man for whom honesty is simply the only acceptable policy. Thankfully, this means that he doesn’t flinch or evade the issue when you ask him about slightly more sensitive issues than his ongoing return to metallic glory. Specifically, it would seem a missed opportunity not to find out what he thinks about Metallica and Death Magnetic. So we ask him.
“The thing is, it doesn’t really matter right now,” he responds, cheerfully. “I’m happy! I made a great record and, you know, I heard their record and it’s good but it doesn’t sound like the Metallica that I know. I think there’s a lot of bands out there right now that are way more exciting for me to listen to because they’ve got brand new fresh ideas, a new voice and new songs and new solos, and that’s what’s really neat, man, you know?”
The hatchet that Dave carried around for many years, while seemingly consumed with resentment in spite of his own considerable successes as a musician and songwriter, genuinely seems to have been buried in recent times. But it doesn’t take a genius to realise that there is a degree to which the Megadeth man will never truly resolve his issues with his former band, a fact that may explain his reluctance to accept an invitation from Lars Ulrich to be present at Metallica’s induction into America’s Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame back in April.
When the subject is raised, Dave allows himself a wry chuckle, before wearily saying: “Lars said: ‘If you were on the record you got inducted, if you weren’t on the record, you didn’t’ and would I come along and hang out and watch them get inducted? I was like, ‘Dude, that’s so typical!’ It makes for the same kind of mentality as a guy watching some other guy fuck his girlfriend. I just said, ‘I’m flattered and I’m proud of you guys and I wish you well. I’ll be there if I’m being inducted, but if I’m gonna watch then I’ve got better things to do.’
“To say that I’m not on the record, well, I’d say that there are 40 million fans with Megadeth and Metallica records in their collections that would say that Dave is on the Metallica records because my name’s on there, but I guess Lars never really looked past the word ‘Ulrich’. He just stopped there and read it again, over and over and over! Bottom line is, I’m going to get into the Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame one way or another and he can’t keep me out! When I do, I’m going to ask him to induct us and I’m gonna give eggs to everyone in the front row! Ha ha ha!”
Whether still harbouring an ancient grudge or not, Dave can at least savour the fact that his new album is manifestly superior to anything that any of his thrash metal peers have put out in the last decade. Endgame is the consummate modern metal album; diverse, intelligent, destructive and sonically immaculate. Partial credit for the last of those qualities can be fairly traced back to the contribution of renowned metal producer Andy Sneap, who started a working relationship with Megadeth when he remixed United Abominations prior to its release. It’s a partnership that looks likely to continue for the foreseeable future, not least because both parties seem to have enjoyed it so much.
“Andy is such a great guy,” says Dave. “I love that guy. He had a lot to do with the honesty and the integrity of this record. I had this one song called Bite The Hand That Feeds, and the first line says ‘We ball-gagged Lady Justice’, and I said, ‘You know what, Andy? I think I’m gonna change this to ‘We all gagged Lady Justice’ because I think ‘ball-gagged’ is a little bit too colourful, and he said, ‘It’s fucking staying, Mustaine!’ Ha ha! You know, I would never have let anybody talk to me like that unless I really loved them and respected them and Andy’s such a great guy and together we’ve made what I believe is my best record.”
Another reason that Endgame seems likely to be hailed as the best Megadeth album in a long time is that the current line- up have coalesced into an astonishingly tight and focused unit. Anyone who saw them on their 2008 UK tour will already know how impressive drummer Shawn Drover, bassist James Lomenzo and recently recruited lead guitarist Chris Broderick really are, and Endgame is the perfect studio showcase for their collective talents. Understandably, Dave is full of pride and eager to sing their praises.
“We have a great gunslinger in Chris,” he states. “Listening to him play, it was mind- blowing because everything I wanted to do on guitar, he could do it! We’ve got somebody with fantastic drum chops like Shawn coming to the fore, and James, he’s a great bass player, and we have a lot of fun playing with him and he really locked it down. There was a period when the fans wanted (original Megadeth bassist) David Ellefson back in the band, but that kind of went away. There’s a lot of grumblings about people wanting the Rust In Peace reunion before I retire, and I think that would obviously be cool, but not while I have a band that’s working right now, because I love playing with these guys.”
Like all Megadeth albums, Endgame is full of songs written from Dave’s unique perspective, and whether you agree with his politics, his well-documented religious beliefs or share his obsessions with cars (see the petrol-drenched 1,320), medieval torture devices (the brutal Head Crusher) or twisted relationships (warped semi-ballad The Hardest Part Of Letting Go…), this is plainly an album designed to make you bang your head while your brain whirrs inquisitively away. But leaving lyrical themes aside, the album’s title does also beg the question: is the end of Megadeth in sight? The answer, which comes without hesitation, is perhaps more direct than even Dave’s fans would expect.
“Yeah, I’ve only got one more record after this and I’m done,” he says. “My hands are falling apart and I’ve got to go get back surgery, so as much as I’d love to continue to play, I know when it’s time to pass the baton to the next generation and it’s time. I’m gonna do this record and then after that point I’m gonna decide if I’ve even got the desire to do the last record and if I’m going to continue on with these boys or if I’m gonna make a disco record! Ha ha ha!”
When you hear Endgame for the first time, there’s a good chance that you’ll wonder how exactly the world of metal is going to cope without Dave Mustaine when he eventually hangs up his guitar. But save those concerns for another day. For now, Megadeth have reclaimed their status as one of the most important metal bands on the planet, and they’ve done it with style and the kind of calm assurance that only older and wiser masters of the metallic arts can truly harness. Watch and learn, young pretenders. This is metal. This is how it’s done.
“A lot of people struggle with fame,” states Dave. “When you become a famous musician, it’s really hard to put into perspective. Most guys tend to forget that we all put our pants on one leg at a time. I’ve got two little teeny dogs and you know what? They shit. Guess who has to pick it up? It’s me! At the end of the day, I try really hard to be decent and honest to people. That’s what makes people go, ‘You know what? I love this metal band because these guys come in and they kick ass, they know how to party but they also know how not to leave a trail of destruction in their wake!’ That’s the best kind of warrior: the guy that never leaves proof that he was there. Not a bunch of dumbasses that leave crushed-up beer cans on the front lawn! Ha ha ha!”
Originally published in Metal Hammer issue 196