Megadeth is the brain child of thrash metal genius Dave Mustaine. Dave has taken the bands from all time lows to all time highs. In the bands stellar 20 year career, Megadeth have gone from thrash gods to pop icons and back again. Megadeth was formed after Mustaine had been booted out of Metallica. On the bus ride back home, Dave had already been planning for revenge against his former bandmates by creating another band. On the back of a leaflet he had, he began writing 'Megadeth,' which would eventually be the band's name and the song would be renamed 'Set the World Afire.' At his apartment in LA, Dave came in contact with a bass player named David Ellefson who lived under him in his apartment. After this, Dave recruited Gar Samuelson and Chris Poland to form the first of many lineups for Megadeth. After hearing Megadeth's demo, Combat records was fast to snatch Megadeth and rush them into the studio. The result was Killing is my Business...And Business is Good!, a poorly recorded but highly revelled album in the underground thrash scene of the early '80s. After the semi-success of the album, Megadeth signed on to Capitol records and they released their sophomore album--an album which nobody anticipated would be a thrash classic. Peace Sells...But Who's Buying? went multi-platinum and was a huge stepping stone for Megadeth. Due to internal problems and drug abuse, Gar and Chris were replaced by Jeff Young and Chuck Behler before Megadeth released their third album, So Far, So Good...So What! The album brough a significant change to Megadeth's sound and brought a bigger fanbase to the band. The line up didn't last, though, as Jeff and Chuck were fired soon after the release. The band nearly collapsed because of it. Dave finally sobered up, however, and recruited the now classic lineup with Nick Menza and Marty Friedman and released Megadeth's second Peace Sells in the form of Rust in Peace. RIP was a bigger success than Peace Sells. After this release, Megadeth were to release their best selling album yet--Countdown to Extinction. Countdown to Extinction reached No. 2 on the music charts. (it fell to Metallica's Black Album) After Dave had nearly killed himself, he sobered up and Megadeth released a more radio friendly album, Youthanasia. Many old school Megadeth fans were disappointed, but the album attracted a wider fanbase and was almost a big of a hit as Countdown to Extinction was. A year later, Megadeth released their "cut tracks" album, Hidden Treasures. In 1997, Megadeth were to release yet another pop metal album, Cryptic Writings. After this release, it seemed that the Megadeth of the '80s was replaced by a fake pop metal band of the '90s. Hopes were high of a Megadeth return in their next release, Risk. The album turned out to be a huge failure. With more internal problems, Dave was forced to make another lineup change, this time recruiting ex-Savatage guitarist Al Pitrelli and Suicidal Tendencies drummer Jimmi DeGrasso. After the release of Megadeth's "Best of..." album, Capitol Punishment, Megadeth released The World Needs a Hero and with it, a turn back to the metal they had used to play. The album was a hit and drew back Megadeth's old fanbase with songs like 'Burning Bridges' and 'Return to Hangar.' It seemed that Megadeth was on a roll when they released their first live contemplation, Rude Awakening. However, the band was dealt a crushing blow after this. In a freak accident, frontman Dave Mustaine damaged nerve tendons in his left hand which rendered him unable to play guitar. It was questionable if he would ever play again. This brought about his declarance of the break up of the powerhouse Megadeth. The remaining members and old guitarist Marty Friedman are going on to create their old band while Dave is still recuperating and is thinking about going solo. Whichever direction he takes, it's bound to end up with a one day reunion of Megadeth. For more information on metal bands, please visit my website.
Bio written by: bunkum |
|
Add to Profile
