Megadeth
was formed when guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustain left Metallica
in 1983. Though Megadeth followed the basic blueprint of Metallica's
relentless attack, Mustaine's group distinguished themselves
from his earlier band by lessening the progressive rock influences,
adding an emphasis on instrumental skills, speeding the tempo
up slightly, and making the instrumental attack harsher.
By streamlining the classic thrash metal
approach and making the music more threatening, as well as
making the lyrics more nihilistic, Megadeth became one of
the leading bands of the genre during the mid-'80s and late
'80s. Each album they released went at least gold, and they
continually sold out arenas across America, in addition to
developing a strong following overseas. By the early '90s,
they had toned their music down slightly, yet that simply
increased their following; all of their proper '90s albums
debuted in the Top Ten.
Throughout Megadeth's many lineup changes,
the two core members were bassist Dave Ellefson and
guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine (born September 13,
1961), who was the band's official leader. Mustaine grew up
in the suburbs of Southern California, where he was raised
by his mother in a broken home; frequently, his mother left
him to be raised by aunts and uncles, who never encouraged
his musical inclinations and often belittled him for his fondness
for heavy metal. In 1981, he formed Metallica with James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich.
Mustaine spent two years with Metallica, developing a strong
cult following in California's underground metal scene, before
he was kicked out of the group in 1983, allegedly over his
substance abuse. Immediately following his firing, he formed
Megadeth with Ellefson, Slayer guitarist Kerry King,
and drummer Lee Rauch. This lineup was extremely short-lived,
and Mustaine and Ellefson soon recruited guitarist Chris Poland
and drummer Gar Samuelson.
For the next few years, Megadeth toured
and gained a following, signing with the independent label
Combat in late 1984. The following year, the group released
their debut, Killing Is My Business...And
Business Is Good!, which received strong reviews, not
only in metal-oriented publications, but also in mainstream
music magazines. The album sold very well for an independent
release, which attracted the attention of major record labels.
By the end of the year, the group had signed with Capitol.
Megadeth's first major-label album, Peace
Sells...But Who's Buying?, was released in the fall
of 1986. Like its predecessor, Peace Sells was greeted by
strong reviews and sales; it eventually went platinum.
Although the band's fortunes were on the
upswing, Mustaine was beginning to sink deeper into drug abuse,
specifically heroin. Soon, his addictions began to affect
his work. Many stories concerning his erratic behavior were
circulating within the metal community, and they seemed to
be proven correct when he fired both Poland and Samuelson
before the recording of the band's third album; they were
replaced by Jeff Young and Chuck Behler, respectively. The
new lineup debuted on So Far, So
Good...So What!, released early in 1988. So Far, So
Good peaked at number 28 on the charts and also eventually
went platinum (despite less enthusiastic reviews); it also
featured a notorious cover of the Sex Pistols' "Anarchy
in the UK" with incorrect lyrics.
In the years immediately following the
release of So Far, So Good...So What!, Mustaine was impaired by his drug addictions. In early 1990,
he was arrested for driving under the influence and entered
a rehabilitation program. By the end of the year, he was not
only sober, but he had reconvened the band, firing Young and
Behler and replacing them with guitarist Marty Friedman and
drummer Nick Menza. This lineup recorded Megadeth's fourth
and most progressive album, Rust
in Peace. The record peaked at number 23 on the American
charts and went platinum. 1991 saw Metallica break through
to the mainstream, and sensing the possibility for similar
success, Mustaine followed suit in stripping down the band's
sound, though it remained as technically perfectionist as Rust in Peace. The result, Countdown to Extinction, was
released in 1992, entering the charts at number two; the record
went double platinum and became the band's biggest hit, confirming
that they had retained their audience in the wake of grunge.
Now one of the most popular metal bands
in the world, Megadeth moved further toward the mainstream
with Youthanasia in 1994,
which entered the charts at number four and, like its predecessor,
went platinum. The following year, the group released Hidden
Treasures, a rarities collection that featured some
of the soundtrack tunes that had helped expand the group's
MTV audience in the early '90s. 1997's Cryptic Writings found
Megadeth fully embraced by album rock radio, which formerly
would never have touched the band. Ex-Suicidal Tendencies
drummer Jimmy DeGrasso signed on in 1998, in time for the
following year's Risk. In
2000, following the release of The
Best-of Capitol Punishment, Marty Friedman followed
Nick Menza out the door; he was replaced by former Savatage
and Alice Cooper guitarist Al Pitrelli. After signing with
the BMG subsidiary Sanctuary, Megadeth debuted its new lineup
on 2001's The World Needs a Hero.
While on break from touring, Mustaine suffered
a serious injury in January 2002 while staying in Texas. He
was diagnosed with having radial neuropathy shortly thereafter,
a condition that prevented him from playing guitar. The compressed
radial nerves in his left arm and hand were strained, leaving
Megadeth little recourse but to disband in April 2002, after
almost 20 years in the music industry. During his time off,
Mustaine prepared an elaborate reissue campaign, re-mastering
each album and reissuing them all with bonus material. This
campaign set the stage for a Megadeth revival, which came
in 2004-2005 with a surprising comeback album, The
System Has Failed, and some heavy touring. Capitol
released a new best-of, simply titled Greatest Hits, just
as Megadeth hit the summer concert circuit, headlining Mustaine's
own Gigantour festival. In 2007 Megadeth released the politically
charged United Abominations.
Even through massive lineup changes and
personal problems plaguing the band not to mention the ever
irksome feud with Metallica, the band carved out a place in
the Metal genre which few other bands have been able to. With
their boundless energy on stage and in studios Megadeth plan
to record a new album by the end of 2009.
Trivia:
1) When Marty Friedman was auditioned to join Megadeth, he
studied the songs from their first three albums, and nothing
from the new stuff because they were afraid that if he didn't
make it, he would steal all their ideas.
2) Dave Mustaine dedicated the last song they played at
Woodstock '99 to Gar Samuelson, who had died 11 days earlier.
3) Killing Is
My Business... And Business Is Good! was re-released in 1996 without the Nancy Sinatra cover "These
Boots", because Nancy Sinatra demanded to much money for the
song.
4) All Japanese editions of Megadeth albums since Countdown to Extinction had previously unreleased bonus
tracks.
5) "Set the World Afire" was originally titled "Megadeath",
but it was retitled to "Burnt Offerings" after Dave Mustaine
decided to call the band Megadeth. "Burnt Offerings" was played
at the first Megadeth live show and then it was once again
re-titled to "Set the World Afire".
6) The first version of "FFF" (with different
lyrics) was titled "Bullprick" and it was supposed
to be released on the B-side of A Tout Le Monde single.
7) Wanderlust" was originally titled "Smoking Gun"
and it was written when Cryptic Writings was
recorded, but it wasn't released until Risk.
8) "Hangar
18" is about a military installation that holds alien
creatures
9)
The
videos for "A Tout Le Monde" and "Reckoning
Day" were "banned" from the MTV.
10) Megadeth's
"Mechanix" and Metallica's "The Four Horsemen"
are the same song with different lyrics. when
Nine Inch Nails' Trent Reznor remixed "Symphony of Destruction,"
he also used a riff from "Take No Prisoners".
