thePULSEBy Patrick Douglas
If you want to start a conversation about Megadeth, the first words out of your mouth inevitably will be “Dave Mustaine.” That’s because the red-haired mad scientist has always been the foundation holding the band up. This is and always will be Mustaine’s special brew ~ with a few different flavors thrown in on each album.
Always hovering around controversy, Mustaine has gone through more musicians than the Arizona State marching band, he’s outspoken through his oftentimes politically charged music, and has a tumultuous relationship with the media and his fans.
Megadeth’s latest effort, Endgame, finds a Mustaine who’s secure in the knowledge that he and his band have done good. They hope the fans feel the same way, but no longer base their own sense of accomplishment on what their listeners think: “The problem is, whenever an artist puts out a record, they wanna believe that the latest offering is their best and sometimes it’s not and you’re convincing yourself that it’s your best,” he says. “I went through that with a couple of records, hoping against hope that the fans would embrace certain records. This record, I know for a fact in my heart that this is a good record. I don’t have to defend it.”
This isn’t one of those bands where one guy puts together all the music and forms a touring band on the side. Mustaine always surrounds himself with outstanding musicians to play with both in the studio and on the road. The latest line-up, perhaps the best in the band’s illustrious history, features former Nevermore shredder Chris Broderick, arguably one of the best wingman guitarists ever.
“Chris is by far the best of any of the players that we’ve had before. He’s a rugged guy, he’s good looking, he plays his ass off [and] he’s not a back talker although he’s his own man. We have a great working relationship,” said Mustaine. “He came to my house and I watched him play and I knew as soon as I watched him play that I wanted him in the band. I just wanted to see if he was real.”
On “Endgame,” you’ll find solos by both Mustaine and Broderick peppered throughout each song. There aren’t many metal musicians who can produce records in 2009 that stand shoulder to shoulder with the music they produced twenty five years ago, but Mustaine is certainly one of them ~ thanks to his relentless pursuit of speed. Like an exhausted athlete after a big game, Mustaine has to feel that he’s left everything on the field and didn’t hold back at all ~ and that mindset is obvious on the latest record. “As far as my three bandmates are concerned, we have done everything we can for this record. Everything. At this point, it’s up to the record label,” Mustaine said.
A living guitar hero (he referred to playing “Guitar Hero” as being “like faking an orgasm”), Mustaine has overcome substance abuse, an injury that knocked him out of music for a couple of years, and the collapse of the record industry. In the liner notes of “Endgame,” Mustaine holds his guitar in the air like a warrior who has conquered his last enemy ~ and fans young and old are responding to his call to arms.
“There’s been a huge groundswell of young people who are embracing older bands,” he says. “Maybe they just got sick of the bands that are out right now. I’m benefiting from that because I’m one of those bands. It’s cool for me, at the end of the day, to watch all of these changes happen.”
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