Megadeth is one of the most important bands in the American music scene. For more than 25 years of history, the band managed to release 15 studio albums. Some of them have become metal classics.
We bring to your attention the biography of this group, a member of which happened to experience both ups and downs.
The beginning of Megadeth's career
The group was formed back in 1983 in Los Angeles. The initiator of the creation of the team was Dave Mustaine, who to this day is the unchanging leader of the Megadeth group.
The group was created at the peak of the popularity of such a genre as thrash metal. The genre gained worldwide fame thanks to the success of another Metallica group, of which Mustaine was a member. It's likely we wouldn't have had another big band in the American metal scene if it wasn't for the controversy. As a result, members of the Metallica group put Dave out the door.
Resentment served as an impetus for the creation of his own group. Through it, Mustaine hoped to wipe the nose of his former friends. To do this, as the leader of the Megadeth group admitted, he tried to make his music more evil, faster and more aggressive than that of sworn enemies.
The first musical recordings of the Megadet group
It was not very easy to find like-minded people capable of playing such fast music. For a long six months, Mustaine was looking for a vocalist who could take a seat at the microphone.
Desperate, the leader of the group decided to take over the duties of the vocalist. He combined them with writing music and playing the guitar. The band was joined by bass guitarist David Ellefson, as well as lead guitarist Chris Poland, whose playing technique met Mustaine's requirements. Behind the drum kit was another young talent, Gar Samuelson.
Having signed a contract with an independent label, the new team began to create their debut album Killing Is My Business ... and Business Is Good. $8 was allocated for the creation of the album. Most of them were spent by the musicians on drugs and alcohol.
This greatly complicated the "promotion" of the record, which Mustaine had to deal with on his own. Despite this, the album Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good was well received by critics.
You can hear the heaviness and aggression in it, which is typical of the thrash metal of the American school. Young musicians immediately "burst" into the world of heavy music, declaring themselves publicly.
This led to the first full American tour. In it, the musicians of the band Megadeth went along with the band Exciter (the current legend of speed metal).
Having replenished the ranks of fans, the guys started recording their second album, Peace Sells… but Who's Buying?. The creation of the album was marked by the transition of the group to the new label Capitol Records, which contributed to a serious commercial success.
In America alone, over 1 million copies have been sold. The press already then called Peace Sells ... one of the most influential albums of all time, while the music video for the song of the same name took a firm place on the air of MTV.
Global success Megadet
But the real popularity was waiting for the musicians yet to come. After the resounding success of Peace Sells…, Megadeth went on tour with Alice Cooper, playing to an audience of thousands. The success of the group was accompanied by the use of hard drugs, which began to seriously affect the lives of musicians.
And even rock veteran Alice Cooper has repeatedly said that Mustaine's lifestyle will sooner or later lead him to the grave. Despite the warnings of the idol, Dave continued to "live to the fullest", striving for the pinnacle of world fame.
Album Rust in Peace, released in 1990, became the pinnacle of the creative activity of Megadeth, which they never managed to surpass. The album differed from the previous ones not only by the high quality of the recording, but also by the virtuoso guitar solos that became the new hallmark of Megadeth.
This is due to the invitation of a new lead guitarist, Marty Friedman, who impressed Dave Mustaine at the audition. Other candidates for the guitarist were such young stars as: Dimebag Darrell, Jeff Waters and Jeff Loomis, who subsequently achieved no less success in the music industry.
The band received their first Grammy nomination, but lost out to direct competitors Metallica. Despite this setback, Rust in Peace went platinum and also peaked at number 23 on the US Billboard 200 charts.
Departure towards traditional heavy metal
After the resounding success of Rugst in Peace, which turned Megadeth musicians into world-class stars, the band decided to change direction to more traditional heavy metal. The era associated with the popularity of thrash and speed metal is over.
And in order to keep up with the times, Dave Mustaine relied on heavy metal, which is more accessible to the mass listener. In 1992, a new full-length album, Countdown to Extinction, was released, thanks to the commercial focus of which the band gained even greater success. The single Symphony of Destruction became the band's calling card.
On subsequent records, the group continued to make their sound more melodic, as a result of which they got rid of their former aggression.
The Youthanasia and Cryptic Writings albums are dominated by metal ballads, while on the album Risk the alternative rock is completely gone, which has led to an abundance of negative reviews from professional critics.
The "fans" also didn't want to put up with the course set by Dave Mustaine, who traded rebellious thrash metal for commercial pop rock.
Creative differences, Mustaine's bad temper, as well as his many drug rehabilitation courses, eventually led to a protracted crisis.
The band entered the new millennium with The World Needs a Hero, which did not feature lead guitarist Marty Friedman. He was replaced by Al Pitrelli, which was not very conducive to success.
Although Megadeth attempted to return to their roots, the album received mixed reviews due to the lack of any originality in the sound.
Mustaine has clearly written himself, being in both a creative and personal crisis. So the subsequent break was simply necessary for the group.
The collapse of the team and the subsequent reunion
Due to serious health problems caused by Mustaine's hectic lifestyle, he was forced to go to the hospital. Kidney stones were just the beginning of the trouble. Some time later, the musician also suffered a serious injury to his left hand. As a result, he was forced to learn to play almost from scratch. As expected, in 2002 Dave Mustaine announced the dissolution of Megadeth.
But the silence didn't last that long. Since already in 2004 the band returned with the album The System Has Failed, sustained in the same style as the band's previous work.
The aggression and directness of 1980s thrash metal was successfully combined with the melodic guitar solos of the 1990s and a modern sound. Initially, Dave planned to release the album as a solo album, but the producers insisted that The System Has Failed album be released under the Megadeth label, which would have contributed to better sales.
Megadeth today
At this point in time, the Megadeth group continues its active creative activity, adhering to classic thrash metal. Having learned the mistakes of the past, Dave Mustaine no longer experimented, which gave the band's creative activity a long-awaited stability.
Also, the leader of the group managed to overcome drug addiction, as a result of which scandals and disagreements with the producers remained in the distant past. Despite the fact that none of the albums of the XXI century. never got close to the genius of the album Rust in Peace, Mustaine continued to delight with new hits.
The influence of Megadeth on the modern metal scene is enormous. Representatives of many well-known groups admitted that it was the music of this group that had a significant influence on their work.
Among them, it is worth highlighting the bands In Flames, Machine Head, Trivium and Lamb of God. Also, the compositions of the group have graced numerous Hollywood films of the past years, becoming an integral part of American popular culture.
