Latest / Booked On Rock with Eric Senich / The Rise Of Megadeth: 1983 - 2002 [Episode 310]

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The Rise Of Megadeth: 1983 - 2002 [Episode 310] · Booked On Rock with Eric Senich

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: Coming up on this episode of Booked on Rock, it's
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  Speaker 1: the story of Mega Death with author Greg Prato. We're
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  Speaker 1: totally rock and roll.
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  Speaker 2: I mean gotta leave you. You're reading Little Hans says,
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  Speaker 2: it's time to roll.
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  Speaker 1: Up. We are totally booked. Welcome back to Booked on Rock,
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  Speaker 1: the podcast for those about to read and rock. Emeric Senich.
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  Speaker 1: Author Greg Prato back with a brand new book, this
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  Speaker 1: one titled the World's State of the Art speed metal
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  Speaker 1: Band The Mega Death Story nineteen eighty three to two
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  Speaker 1: thousand and two. Greg, welcome back.
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  Speaker 2: All right, Hello, Now, I know I've asked this before,
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  Speaker 2: but I have to have set the record for most
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  Speaker 2: I mean the guests with most appearances right on Booked
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  Speaker 2: on Rock.
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  Speaker 1: I think I gotta do an official count. But you
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  Speaker 1: have to be you.
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  Speaker 2: Is there like some kind of prize or something I'm
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  Speaker 2: gonna receive you.
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  Speaker 1: There's a prize. You get a jacket. You get the
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  Speaker 1: velvet jacket which you can't wear because it's too hot
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  Speaker 1: where you are and it's too hot where I am.
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  Speaker 2: You're in the only time. This something that I know
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  Speaker 2: we talked about last time, but I could really use
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  Speaker 2: a pair of Davidly Groth's buttless leather chaps.
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  Speaker 1: Oh yeah with that, Yes, that would work very well,
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  Speaker 1: that would actually, isn't Dave come around your way as solo?
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  Speaker 1: He is?
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  Speaker 2: He is a little bit like sold out that show
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  Speaker 2: sold out very very fast.
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  Speaker 1: Good good for him many and Dave still doing his thing,
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  Speaker 1: still give his thing. So let's talk about Megadeth for
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  Speaker 1: this book, a lot of interviews, some that you some
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  Speaker 1: interviews from before, but there's some exclusive interviews just for
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  Speaker 1: this book.
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  Speaker 2: Yes, exactly, exactly, yeah, yeah, what it is is I've
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  Speaker 2: interviewed a lot of the members of Megadeth over the years,
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  Speaker 2: for all the sites I write for and also for
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  Speaker 2: some of the books I've done. I've indeed Dave Mustaine
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  Speaker 2: several times. David Ellison I've spoken to the most. I
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  Speaker 2: must have interviewed him like at least ten times over
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  Speaker 2: the years. I've also interviewed Chris Poland, Marty Friedman, Mike
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  Speaker 2: Klink who produced Rust in Peace, and of course also
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  Speaker 2: Guns n' Roses Appetite for Destruction. But yeah, then I
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  Speaker 2: did a bunch of brand new interviews for this as well.
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  Speaker 2: I interviewed KK Downing of Judas Priest. I indeed Richard
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  Speaker 2: Christi from The Howard Stern Show, who's also a great
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  Speaker 2: drummer and he's a longtime fan of also Megadeth. I
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  Speaker 2: also interviewed Ricky Rackman, the former host of the MTV
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  Speaker 2: show called a Headbanger's Ball. Don Jamison. I also interviewed
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  Speaker 2: generally in Paris Mayhew who was the guitarist for the
• 2:18
  Speaker 2: band the Cromags, and the Cromags played some shows on
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  Speaker 2: a great bill. It was Motorhead, Megadeath, Cromags, and that
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  Speaker 2: was when Motorhead, excuse me, that was when Megadeth was
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  Speaker 2: touring in supportive p Cells, which is my favorite album
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  Speaker 2: of there, So that would have been a fantastic bill
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  Speaker 2: to a catch. But yeah, but those are There's probably
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  Speaker 2: one or two people that I'm overlooking right now. But yeah,
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  Speaker 2: I kind of merged kind of like archival interviews with
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  Speaker 2: some of the interviews I've done over the years, with
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  Speaker 2: also some brand new interviews and also some pretty cool
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  Speaker 2: pictures I was able to get as well.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, a lot of great photos. Dave Mustain, of course,
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  Speaker 1: is the guy when we talk about Megadeath. Chapter one
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  Speaker 1: gets into his story. He had a pretty tough childhood,
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  Speaker 1: but his dad was an alcoholic, could be rough on
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  Speaker 1: him and his mom, and his life had a sad ending.
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  Speaker 1: He went from being the West Coast branch manager of
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  Speaker 1: Bank of America to working on cash registers because of
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  Speaker 1: his alcoholism, and then he died at fifty six of
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  Speaker 1: a brainanjurism, And sadly, Dave didn't learn from his father's
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  Speaker 1: demise right at least not right away.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, which is sad. I mean you would think that
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  Speaker 2: if you see what happened to your father, and just
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  Speaker 2: how his father treated him so badly at certain points
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  Speaker 2: as well due to I'm sure it was due to
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  Speaker 2: his alcoholism and also the father that also his ex
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  Speaker 2: to me, the way that his father was also treated
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  Speaker 2: when his father was young too. He talks about that
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  Speaker 2: he was also abused by his father as well. So yeah,
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  Speaker 2: we just kind of passed down from generation. I mean,
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  Speaker 2: not not the abuse, but just the I guess alcoholism,
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  Speaker 2: because yeah, in the eighties, Dave himself got strung out
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  Speaker 2: on heroin and he also had a drinking problem as well.
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  Speaker 2: It actually wasn't just heroin he talks about in the book.
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  Speaker 2: There's a quote where he makes like a long list
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  Speaker 2: of all these drugs he was on when he I
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  Speaker 2: guess when he finally was gonna get serious about getting clean.
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  Speaker 2: When he checked into the rehab facility, they had him
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  Speaker 2: make a list of all the drugs he was on.
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  Speaker 2: It was like a laundry list. It was like, it's
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  Speaker 2: insane that he was able to. I mean that he's
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  Speaker 2: like still living pretty much from all the drugs he's done.
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  Speaker 1: And that did affect his status with Metallica, as we know.
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  Speaker 1: That's the story that most people know about a lot
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  Speaker 1: of drinking when he was in the band, and he
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  Speaker 1: had a volatile temper. He got into fights defending his
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  Speaker 1: bandmates but also with bandmates, right he punched James Hatfield.
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  Speaker 2: He did. Yeah, there's a famous story that Dave Mustaine
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  Speaker 2: had a dog and because he was supposedly dealing drugs
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  Speaker 2: at the time, and his dog would kind of he
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  Speaker 2: was using for protection as like a watchdog. So the
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  Speaker 2: dog I think was going on Ron McGovney's car and
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  Speaker 2: maybe scratching it or something like that. And Ron McGovney's
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  Speaker 2: metallic was original bassist and Ron and James I didn't
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  Speaker 2: particularly care for that, and I think the story goes
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  Speaker 2: that James may have kicked the dog and that really
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  Speaker 2: pissed off Dave, so he wound up yet punching James
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  Speaker 2: Headfield in the mouth, and I think they got into
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  Speaker 2: a big fight. But that was not when Dave Mustaine
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  Speaker 2: was thrown out. He actually stayed in the band for
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  Speaker 2: a while longer after that, because that was before even
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  Speaker 2: Cliff Burton was in the band, so that may have
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  Speaker 2: been like maybe six months before he was kicked out.
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  Speaker 2: But yeah, you know one thing that people don't really
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  Speaker 2: talk about, and I talked a little bit about this
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  Speaker 2: in the book, is you know, I'm a fan of
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  Speaker 2: Metallica like everyone else's, but people tend to let them
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  Speaker 2: off the hook the way that they mistreated Dave Mustaine.
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  Speaker 2: If you think about it, they made him drive through
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  Speaker 2: excuse me driving it. It was a U haul attached
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  Speaker 2: to like it was a James Headfield's truck attached to
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  Speaker 2: a U haul or something like that. Everyone the whole
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  Speaker 2: band drove from West coast to East coast under horrible conditions.
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  Speaker 2: They almost died in like when they hit some kind
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  Speaker 2: of icy road or something like that. So and then
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  Speaker 2: Dave Mustaane talks about that you had that some people
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  Speaker 2: part of their group had to stay inside the U
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  Speaker 2: haul and it was pitch black and not even heated.
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  Speaker 2: So that's like a horrible existence. So they make Dave
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  Speaker 2: Mustaane and everyone drive from the West coast to the
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  Speaker 2: East coast, and then shortly after they get there they
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  Speaker 2: fire him and send him back in a on a bus. Meanwhile,
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  Speaker 2: they're flying Kirk Hammet through the air, through a you know,
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  Speaker 2: to to New York. You would think maybe they shouldn't
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  Speaker 2: have made Dave Mustaine come all the way out to
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  Speaker 2: the East Coast just to fire him. And if you're
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  Speaker 2: gonna fire him, maybe try to scrape up enough money
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  Speaker 2: to at least fly him back. And I'd have to,
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  Speaker 2: you know, because if you think about that must be
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  Speaker 2: totally torturous to be in a bus for that long
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  Speaker 2: thinking about how you fucked up and everything like that.
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  Speaker 2: And you know, Dave Mustaine's famous quoat, which I talk
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  Speaker 2: about in the book, is when they told him he
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  Speaker 2: was fired, his first question was what no second chance?
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  Speaker 2: Which I think is a pretty valid question on his part.
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  Speaker 1: The way they fired him was described by Lars as
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  Speaker 1: almost being like execution style. Talk about the day they
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  Speaker 1: fired how they went about that.
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  Speaker 2: Well, what it is behind Dave Mustaine's back. They already
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  Speaker 2: had the They already had lined up that kirk Hamet
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  Speaker 2: knew he was either trying at or maybe he already
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  Speaker 2: had the gig, Like they were already scheming how he
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  Speaker 2: was going to come out and everything like that, because
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  Speaker 2: at the time, kirk Hammett was in the band Exodus,
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  Speaker 2: which was obviously a very popular and also legendary thresh
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  Speaker 2: mental band from also the Bay Area in San Francisco.
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  Speaker 2: And yeah, so they had when so Dave Mustaine wakes
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  Speaker 2: up one morning there the whole band is around him.
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  Speaker 2: They're like, look, you're fired, pack up all your shit.
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  Speaker 2: Your bus leaves in like an hour or something like that.
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  Speaker 2: And then Dave Mustains his first question was what no
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  Speaker 2: second chance, and they're like, no, you're out. So then
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  Speaker 2: they just drove him to the bus terminal. And while
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  Speaker 2: this is going on, I would imagine kirk Hammett's in
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  Speaker 2: the air at that point, flying to New York. He lands,
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  Speaker 2: they get to their rehearsal space in Queens, New York,
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  Speaker 2: and he tries out and he gets the gig right away.
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  Speaker 2: So that all happened within twenty four hours. If you
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  Speaker 2: believe that.
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  Speaker 1: There may be two sides to mustaines firing, but there's
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  Speaker 1: no denying what his contributions were to Metallica.
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  Speaker 2: No, you're right, Yeah, you know.
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  Speaker 1: The thing is he's on the first album.
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  Speaker 2: He didn't play on the first album, but a bunch
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  Speaker 2: of his songs he has co writes on the first album,
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  Speaker 2: the second album, and he's claimed that he co wrote
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  Speaker 2: at least one song on Master of Puppets, but he
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  Speaker 2: did not receive proper credits for that. But he's never
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  Speaker 2: took the best of my knowledge, he's never taken the
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  Speaker 2: court over that. So that kind of leads me to
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  Speaker 2: believe that it's either not true or there's no way
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  Speaker 2: to prove if it was true or not. But yeah,
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  Speaker 2: his thing when he got fired, his only request was
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  Speaker 2: that he didn't want them to use any of his
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  Speaker 2: music because I guess his thought was that he was
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  Speaker 2: going to use it for whatever his next project was
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  Speaker 2: going to be. But like I talk about in the book,
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  Speaker 2: I mean, that's obviously a blessing in disguise that they
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  Speaker 2: used his material because he obviously got paid over the
• 8:52
  Speaker 2: years for the sale, for the publishing or whatever from
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  Speaker 2: Kill Them All. And also Ride the lighting that have
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  Speaker 2: sold millions and millions of copies, so all of them.
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  Speaker 2: I think it probably worked out probably for the best
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  Speaker 2: for him.
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  Speaker 1: Yeah, I thought for some reason he might have been
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  Speaker 1: on a track or two from that first one.
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  Speaker 2: No, no, no, no, yeah. See that's one of the big
• 9:09
  Speaker 2: you know what ifs are big like tragedies in rock?
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  Speaker 2: Is that? For me? Personally? My favorite Metallica lineup was
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  Speaker 2: the Headfield, Mustaine Burton Ulric lineup that to me was
• 9:21
  Speaker 2: like the American Black Sabbath right there, you know, that's
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  Speaker 2: how you know, just totally amazing that lineup was, I think.
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  Speaker 2: But yeah, no, they fired him like right before they
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: were going to go into the studio to record Kill
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  Speaker 2: them All. In fact, they instructed Kirk Hammett to pretty
• 9:38
  Speaker 2: much just copy a lot of Dave Mustaine solos. If
• 9:41
  Speaker 2: you go back and listen to some of the early
• 9:42
  Speaker 2: Metallica demos, he's pretty much just copying what Dave Mustaine
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  Speaker 2: is doing solo wise at that point.
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  Speaker 1: So Mega Death, David mits this was a way to
• 9:52
  Speaker 1: get revenge on his Metallica bandmates. Former Metallica bandmates. How
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  Speaker 1: does Megadeth form? It's a short lived early lineup.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, well, there's a famous story. So he comes home.
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  Speaker 2: He's living in an apartment and one day he's hungover
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  Speaker 2: and he's woken up by a gentleman upstairs, or let
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  Speaker 2: me think the gentleman would have been directly below Dave Mustaine.
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  Speaker 2: He hears him playing the he's a bassist, obviously, and
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  Speaker 2: he's playing the opening rift to Van Helen's Running with
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  Speaker 2: the Devil, but very very loud, and Dave Mustaine said,
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  Speaker 2: that's the worst bass or if you could possibly hear
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  Speaker 2: if you're hungover in the morning. So he hears that
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  Speaker 2: at deafening volume, and he's probably yelling shut up, shut up.
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  Speaker 2: He's not. The guy below him is oblivious. So Dave
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  Speaker 2: Mustain grabs a potted plant and throws it down the
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  Speaker 2: down the one level below, and it crashes on the
• 10:43
  Speaker 2: I guess the AC unit, the little like in a
• 10:46
  Speaker 2: metal fixture, and it crashes. So he finally gets so whoever's
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  Speaker 2: playing it finally gets the idea right stop. Then shortly thereafter,
• 10:54
  Speaker 2: maybe like a few days later, he gets a knock
• 10:55
  Speaker 2: at the door and he opens it up, and he
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: didn't know at that point that it was the guy
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  Speaker 2: playing the bass. And also another gent and they asked
• 11:01
  Speaker 2: Dave Mustaine, do you know where I can buy some cigarettes?
• 11:05
  Speaker 2: And Dave Mustaine says cigarettes, Just go down to the next,
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  Speaker 2: like the closest fucking deli with bullshit. He just and
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  Speaker 2: he just closes the door. Here's then here's a second
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  Speaker 2: knock opens it up. It's the same guys like, can
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: you tell me where I could buy some beer? And
• 11:18
  Speaker 2: Dave Mustaine goes, now you're talking so then yeah, so
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  Speaker 2: one of those gentlemen. The guy was playing the bass
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  Speaker 2: below was no other than David Elifson, who we all
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  Speaker 2: know went on to become a big part of the
• 11:31
  Speaker 2: whole Megadeth store. He was longtime bassist Cordial out of
• 11:35
  Speaker 2: the material, came out with some great iconic bass lines
• 11:40
  Speaker 2: and yes, that's pretty much. So they connect. They go
• 11:43
  Speaker 2: through a bunch of members over the next year or so,
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: including short Lit. It was a short lived lineup featuring
• 11:49
  Speaker 2: Kerry King of the band Slayer. He was briefly in
• 11:52
  Speaker 2: Megadeth early on. And they finally get the definitive lineup,
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  Speaker 2: my favorite Megdeth lineup, which is Dave Mustaine on vocals
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: and get David Ellison on bass, Chris Poland on guitar
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  Speaker 2: and Gar Samuelson on drums. Now Chris Poland and also
• 12:08
  Speaker 2: Gar Samuelson. Their background is jazz fusion, it's not metal,
• 12:12
  Speaker 2: and they add a whole interesting element to what makes
• 12:15
  Speaker 2: Megadeth totally unique. If you listen to p Cells or
• 12:20
  Speaker 2: even the first album, which is called Killing Is My Business,
• 12:23
  Speaker 2: compared to any of the other big four of thrash,
• 12:25
  Speaker 2: they have a totally different vibe. It's like a very like,
• 12:28
  Speaker 2: you know, speedy, fusiony type thing, which I absolutely love.
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: And to me, that's again it's one of those what
• 12:34
  Speaker 2: if tragedy type things. Because Dave Mustain was able to
• 12:37
  Speaker 2: catch lightning in a bottle twice, he got a lineup
• 12:40
  Speaker 2: together that was as good in my mind as Metallica.
• 12:43
  Speaker 2: But then they only lasted for just two albums because
• 12:45
  Speaker 2: after Pceells, Chris Poland and Gar Samuelson are excused due
• 12:50
  Speaker 2: to drug addiction and also some other stuff going on
• 12:52
  Speaker 2: behind the scenes.
• 12:54
  Speaker 1: Booked on rock podcasts We'll be back after this and
• 13:01
  Speaker 1: the band named Megadeth that can be traced back to
• 13:04
  Speaker 1: that bus ride that Dave was on from these coasts
• 13:08
  Speaker 1: back to the West coast right after he's fired by Metallica.
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: Yes, he comes across a pamphlet. I think it was
• 13:14
  Speaker 2: a governor. I believe his name was Alan Cranston or something.
• 13:17
  Speaker 2: Cranston definitely not Brian Cranston, the gentleman from Breaking Bad,
• 13:22
  Speaker 2: but uh yeah, And there was a pamphlet and I
• 13:25
  Speaker 2: believe the phrase said the arsenal of Megadeth can't be rid.
• 13:30
  Speaker 2: They say that was the quote, and Megadeth spelt, of
• 13:34
  Speaker 2: course at the time, was MG M E g A
• 13:38
  Speaker 2: d E A t H, but Dave Mustaine shortens it
• 13:42
  Speaker 2: to d E t H. That was their trademark with
• 13:45
  Speaker 2: with their band name. And yes, so ultimately they wound
• 13:48
  Speaker 2: up going with that because he Dave Mustain's quote is
• 13:51
  Speaker 2: like I was running in a band called Metallica, Like,
• 13:53
  Speaker 2: how am I gonna? It's impossible to get heavier than Metallica.
• 13:56
  Speaker 2: You know, you already have Iron Maiden Metallica, Like, you know,
• 14:00
  Speaker 2: what other kind of metal are you going to use?
• 14:01
  Speaker 2: And then you realized Megadeth is pretty bloody extreme if
• 14:05
  Speaker 2: you think about it.
• 14:06
  Speaker 1: Oh that's a perfect name. That debut album came out
• 14:09
  Speaker 1: June twelfth, nineteen eighty five. Killing is My Business and
• 14:12
  Speaker 1: Business is Good. What kind of response did it get
• 14:15
  Speaker 1: from fans and critics at that point.
• 14:18
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was pretty popular in the metal underground at
• 14:21
  Speaker 2: the time. There was a lot of tape trading going on,
• 14:23
  Speaker 2: especially with thrash bands. Nineteen eighty five is just when
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: a lot of those bands started signing with major labels.
• 14:28
  Speaker 2: You had Anthrax signing with Island, Metallica signing to Electra.
• 14:33
  Speaker 2: That wasn't actually nineteen eighty four, but in Yeah, so
• 14:35
  Speaker 2: in nineteen eighty four they're signed to Electra. Slayer was
• 14:39
  Speaker 2: in the process of signing to I forget who they
• 14:42
  Speaker 2: were signed to, but they wound up getting dropped before
• 14:44
  Speaker 2: even their first album came out, and then they had
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: to sign They quickly signed to def Jam through a
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: Rick Rubin and Yeah, ultimately, because of the popularity of
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: Killing is My Business, which came out on the Combat label,
• 14:57
  Speaker 2: which was a metal indie label, through the popularity of that,
• 15:01
  Speaker 2: they got to deal with Capitol Records. So that's in
• 15:04
  Speaker 2: early eighty six, and that's later in eighty six is
• 15:08
  Speaker 2: when Peace Cells comes out.
• 15:09
  Speaker 1: You see their ascent as the years go on. The
• 15:11
  Speaker 1: first album reached one sixty nine on Billboard, then we
• 15:15
  Speaker 1: see nineteen eighty six is peace cells, but who's buying?
• 15:19
  Speaker 1: Reached seventy six nineteen eighty eight. So far, so good.
• 15:23
  Speaker 1: So what reached twenty eight nineteen nineties? Rust in Peace
• 15:26
  Speaker 1: twenty three and their highest charting album is nineteen ninety
• 15:30
  Speaker 1: two's Countdown to Extinction?
• 15:32
  Speaker 2: Do you know what album kept count Down to Extinction
• 15:35
  Speaker 2: out of the number one slot?
• 15:37
  Speaker 1: This would have been nineteen ninety two?
• 15:38
  Speaker 2: Was it? Four?
• 15:39
  Speaker 1: Unlawful Carnal Knowledge?
• 15:40
  Speaker 2: Close?
• 15:41
  Speaker 1: Close?
• 15:41
  Speaker 2: Colus the gentleman's name, Okay, I got it, Billy Ray Cyrus,
• 15:48
  Speaker 2: some gave all? Oh some game They're all or something
• 15:51
  Speaker 2: like that. Yeah, with that horrible achy breaky heart song,
• 15:54
  Speaker 2: Oh my god, I mean out of everything, you know,
• 15:56
  Speaker 2: it would be one thing if it was like led
• 15:58
  Speaker 2: Zeppelin four or like the first Van Helen album keeping
• 16:00
  Speaker 2: out of the number one spot. But that piece of
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: shit album keeps Mega Death's Mega Death's Contents Extinction out
• 16:08
  Speaker 2: of the top spot, So that I mean that just
• 16:11
  Speaker 2: I definitely feel for Dave Mustain with that one.
• 16:13
  Speaker 1: Yeah, so it went all away to number two. Yeah,
• 16:17
  Speaker 1: But Dave and Megadeath they couldn't shake the media always
• 16:20
  Speaker 1: bringing up the whole Megadeath versus Metallica story they ran
• 16:24
  Speaker 1: with that. How did Dave handle that? In the comments
• 16:26
  Speaker 1: Metallica were making about him.
• 16:28
  Speaker 2: Going through a lot of the old articles and quotes
• 16:31
  Speaker 2: like that, it's like almost every month or every year,
• 16:35
  Speaker 2: it was totally different. You had some errors where they're
• 16:39
  Speaker 2: getting along than other erarors where they hate each other,
• 16:42
  Speaker 2: some errors where Dave must Stan can't stand Kirk Hamet
• 16:45
  Speaker 2: and thinks he's a horrible guitarist. Other eras where he's
• 16:48
  Speaker 2: praising Kirk Hammett's playing. So you could just flip through
• 16:53
  Speaker 2: my book and whatever chapter you land on, it's probably
• 16:56
  Speaker 2: gonna be totally different at that point. It's a guess
• 16:59
  Speaker 2: as to who's on good terms at that point or not.
• 17:03
  Speaker 2: On both sides, they were kind of slinging mud back
• 17:05
  Speaker 2: and forth. It seemed like it was pretty much a
• 17:07
  Speaker 2: lot to do with the media though, from people that
• 17:11
  Speaker 2: I interviewed, and also from some of the past interviews,
• 17:13
  Speaker 2: even from like photos you'd see Lars Zelrich backstage at
• 17:17
  Speaker 2: Megadeth shows and things like that. In fact, David Elifson,
• 17:20
  Speaker 2: why he's somewhere on to you, I should have mentioned him.
• 17:23
  Speaker 2: He was one of the top interviews I did for
• 17:24
  Speaker 2: the book The Longtime Basis of Megadeth. He tells a
• 17:28
  Speaker 2: great story that shortly after Cliff Burton died, which would
• 17:32
  Speaker 2: have been this would have taken place in October eighty six,
• 17:36
  Speaker 2: because Cliff Burton died in late September eighty six, Megadeth
• 17:40
  Speaker 2: was playing a venue in the San Francisco area and
• 17:43
  Speaker 2: Metallica were now suddenly off the road because their tour
• 17:46
  Speaker 2: got postponed because it would happen, and Lars Zulrich comes
• 17:50
  Speaker 2: to the show. I think the bill was Exodus and
• 17:52
  Speaker 2: also Megadeth, and they're backstage and David Ellison's like, oh man,
• 17:56
  Speaker 2: like I'm sorry to hear what happened, Like you know
• 17:58
  Speaker 2: what's going on? And I think Lars Arrix, you know,
• 18:02
  Speaker 2: mentioned that you know, they're going to start trying people out,
• 18:04
  Speaker 2: and he turns to David Ellison and he's like, fuck, man,
• 18:06
  Speaker 2: do you want a gig? Meaning you know they were
• 18:08
  Speaker 2: going to possibly try him out, but that never took
• 18:11
  Speaker 2: place at that point, but David Ellison did mention it
• 18:14
  Speaker 2: to Dave Mustaine and that didn't sit very well Dave Mustayne,
• 18:17
  Speaker 2: you know, he's like, you know what the hell, are
• 18:18
  Speaker 2: you trying to steal my you know bassist? So so
• 18:21
  Speaker 2: that happened in eighty six. Then we talk about in
• 18:23
  Speaker 2: two thousand and one, when Jason Neustad left Metallica, they
• 18:28
  Speaker 2: reached out to Dave Mustaine and said, look, we're going
• 18:31
  Speaker 2: through we're trying out basis, can we can we reach
• 18:34
  Speaker 2: out to David Ellison At that point Dave Mustaine said yes,
• 18:37
  Speaker 2: but that tryout never took place either, So it was
• 18:40
  Speaker 2: two semi close calls for David Ellison and Metallica.
• 18:44
  Speaker 1: Has there ever been an occasion where Mustaane was on
• 18:48
  Speaker 1: stage with Metallica?
• 18:50
  Speaker 2: Yes, when they did the Big Four shows a few
• 18:53
  Speaker 2: years back, they had a jam at the end where
• 18:56
  Speaker 2: they played am I Evil? The diamond Head Classic and
• 19:00
  Speaker 2: he came out and yeah, they all jammed on that.
• 19:03
  Speaker 2: There's also I mean, like I said, there are photos
• 19:06
  Speaker 2: of them, like of Lars Ulrik backstage, like I know
• 19:09
  Speaker 2: when Megadeth played the Castle Donnington Monsters of Rock in
• 19:14
  Speaker 2: nineteen eighty eight, there's photos of David of excuse me,
• 19:19
  Speaker 2: Lars Alric backstage with Megadeth, and also members of Guns
• 19:23
  Speaker 2: and Roses because Guns and Roses was on that bill
• 19:25
  Speaker 2: and I could swear seeing photos at the time, maybe
• 19:29
  Speaker 2: in like metal Hammer or Kerrang of Lars Ulric on
• 19:34
  Speaker 2: stage during Megadeth set, maybe singing backup vocals or something
• 19:39
  Speaker 2: like that. It's kind of like a pase Hazy memory.
• 19:42
  Speaker 2: But to the best of my knowledge, I don't think
• 19:44
  Speaker 2: Dave Mustain ever jumped on stage with Metallica and jammed
• 19:47
  Speaker 2: or anything until those Big Four shows. That treatment at
• 19:50
  Speaker 2: probably ten years ago at this point.
• 19:52
  Speaker 1: But nowadays it seems like they're pretty cool with each other.
• 19:54
  Speaker 2: Now, you know, it's funny it was much older. Yeah, well,
• 19:58
  Speaker 2: you know, it's back all that it went down I
• 20:01
  Speaker 2: talk about in the book. I endued Dave Mustaine a
• 20:04
  Speaker 2: while back. I asked him how things are currently between
• 20:08
  Speaker 2: you and also the guy's Metallica, and he said he
• 20:11
  Speaker 2: pretty much said they were on speaking terms, because you
• 20:13
  Speaker 2: know how a few years back, Metallica reissued all their
• 20:16
  Speaker 2: albums as these huge mammoth deluxe box sets. Do you
• 20:19
  Speaker 2: remember that? Yep, they were going to issue one of
• 20:23
  Speaker 2: Dave Mustaine's demos that he did with Metallica, or maybe
• 20:26
  Speaker 2: all the demos he did with Metallica as a very
• 20:29
  Speaker 2: big box set. But the only thing is Dave Mustaine wanted.
• 20:33
  Speaker 2: His big beef with Metallica was he never got proper
• 20:36
  Speaker 2: credit or he was kind of cut out a little
• 20:39
  Speaker 2: bit for songs that he wrote, Like for instance, he claims,
• 20:43
  Speaker 2: I think it was him and James Hetfield wrote all
• 20:46
  Speaker 2: of the song Metal Militia, but when Kill Them All
• 20:49
  Speaker 2: came out, suddenly Kirk Hammett's name was on it. So
• 20:52
  Speaker 2: he's like, you know, what the fuck like hat Walk,
• 20:54
  Speaker 2: how is he getting part of my money that I'm
• 20:56
  Speaker 2: entitled to I wrote the song? Like what the hell?
• 20:59
  Speaker 2: So he then when they were talking about that putting
• 21:02
  Speaker 2: out that big deluxe box set, Dave Mustaine to was,
• 21:05
  Speaker 2: I think talking to James Headfield, He's like, yeah, look,
• 21:07
  Speaker 2: you know it would be great to do. It's a
• 21:09
  Speaker 2: great idea, but this is an opportunity now to finally
• 21:12
  Speaker 2: get everything you know corrected with who you know, the
• 21:15
  Speaker 2: songwriting and everything. And he was pretty much just told
• 21:18
  Speaker 2: now the deal is going to keep it the way
• 21:20
  Speaker 2: it is, just you know, and then Dave Mustaine was like,
• 21:22
  Speaker 2: you know, it can go fuck yourself. So that led
• 21:24
  Speaker 2: to them, Yes, that led to that, So that never
• 21:27
  Speaker 2: came out, that deluxe box set and that also at
• 21:30
  Speaker 2: that point where I spoke to Dave mus Staine, I
• 21:32
  Speaker 2: believe it was for the Consequence of Sound Sight I
• 21:35
  Speaker 2: was interviewing before he said that he was not on
• 21:39
  Speaker 2: speaking terms and with them. Then I spoke to him,
• 21:42
  Speaker 2: not even like a year later, I think, for the
• 21:43
  Speaker 2: same site, and he said, yeah, you know, everything's fine.
• 21:46
  Speaker 2: Now we're all you know, we're all on talking terms.
• 21:49
  Speaker 2: Everything's fine. So who knows, I mean right now, who
• 21:52
  Speaker 2: knows what if they're on good terms or bad terms.
• 21:55
  Speaker 2: It seems like whatever which way the wind blows, you know.
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: Pretty much seems yeah, the same as same as it
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: was before. It depends on you know, the time, the
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: time you ask Dave what he thinks.
• 22:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah, similar, I guess you could say to David Lee
• 22:10
  Speaker 2: Roth and also Van Halen. Right like in the late seventies,
• 22:12
  Speaker 2: early eighties, they were one for all, all for one,
• 22:14
  Speaker 2: and then they hate each other. Then they're trying to
• 22:16
  Speaker 2: get together. They can't get together. You know, who knows?
• 22:19
  Speaker 1: And remember when they removed Michael Anthony's image from the
• 22:25
  Speaker 1: albums on Dan Hall on to the website.
• 22:28
  Speaker 2: Yeah, similar, that's similar to when Sharon Osbourne deleted Bob
• 22:32
  Speaker 2: Daisley and Lee Kurzlake off those first two Assie albums.
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: Yep, Yeah, I think I think.
• 22:37
  Speaker 2: Deep Purple Mate they briefly did that with Richie Blackmore's
• 22:41
  Speaker 2: likeness on a either a shirt or something that had
• 22:45
  Speaker 2: the machine Head image on it. I remember like a
• 22:48
  Speaker 2: while back there, like I remember reading someplace on the
• 22:51
  Speaker 2: internet like there were fans that weren't very happy with that,
• 22:53
  Speaker 2: but I think that was just like a passing thing,
• 22:55
  Speaker 2: if that ever even happened at all. That seems like
• 22:57
  Speaker 2: I may have heard something like that.
• 22:59
  Speaker 1: Well, one last quick thought on van Halen before we
• 23:01
  Speaker 1: get back to obviously Mega Death that's what we're talking about.
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: But I would love to see one day Dave, Mike
• 23:09
  Speaker 1: and Alex just get together, whether it be on stage
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: or not. It'd be just cool to see those three
• 23:15
  Speaker 1: guys at least Bury the Hatchet. Yeah.
• 23:18
  Speaker 2: You know, the problem now, like what we saw at
• 23:20
  Speaker 2: the Aussie show, is that they're getting kind of old. So,
• 23:25
  Speaker 2: I mean, you know, Rothkins still cut it, Michael Anthony's
• 23:28
  Speaker 2: still out there, but I from what I could see,
• 23:30
  Speaker 2: it seems like Alex van Halen, I don't know if
• 23:32
  Speaker 2: he can really he's not going to be as powerful
• 23:35
  Speaker 2: as he once was.
• 23:35
  Speaker 1: And well that's why I say, even if it's not
• 23:37
  Speaker 1: on stage, just just for the three to get together
• 23:40
  Speaker 1: again before it's too late. Yeah, give Michael some closure
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: because Michael.
• 23:44
  Speaker 2: Anthony No, you're right, you're right, And it's like weird too.
• 23:47
  Speaker 2: How when Alex van Helen was doing all the publicity
• 23:49
  Speaker 2: for when his book came out, he was saying, oh,
• 23:52
  Speaker 2: you know, the first person that called me after a
• 23:54
  Speaker 2: news brook of you know, Adie van Halen dying was
• 23:57
  Speaker 2: actually Dave or No, the first person he called was
• 24:00
  Speaker 2: But then you hear see hear that, it's like all right, good,
• 24:03
  Speaker 2: so now they're like on good terms. And then you
• 24:04
  Speaker 2: hear Alex van Allen saying, you know, we tried to
• 24:07
  Speaker 2: do a tribute toward Eddie and David Lee Roth refused
• 24:10
  Speaker 2: to even mention Eddie and we almost got into a fight. So,
• 24:12
  Speaker 2: you know, I don't know which the guys would just
• 24:14
  Speaker 2: never get along.
• 24:15
  Speaker 1: Whichever way the wind blows. Yeah, just like The Mega
• 24:17
  Speaker 1: Death the World state of the Art speed metal band
• 24:20
  Speaker 1: The Mega Death Story nineteen eighty three to two thousand
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: and two is the name of the book. Greg Prado
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: is the author did your wife do that cover?
• 24:27
  Speaker 2: She did the legendary Yeah. She is very talented. She's
• 24:33
  Speaker 2: a art teacher and she has she's very fluent with
• 24:37
  Speaker 2: photoshop and all that stuff. So yeah, she's always a great,
• 24:40
  Speaker 2: big help with designing the covers.
• 24:42
  Speaker 1: Yeah, always does a great job. So you note that
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: the noticeable artistic leap forward for Mega Death is between
• 24:50
  Speaker 1: that first and second album. What do you attribute that to?
• 24:54
  Speaker 2: Well, I mean when you go from a indie that's
• 24:57
  Speaker 2: on a that doesn't have that much money, then to
• 24:59
  Speaker 2: you suddenly on a major label which has a lot
• 25:01
  Speaker 2: of money you can spend money on like either remixing
• 25:04
  Speaker 2: or mix or making it sound better. What's funny enough
• 25:07
  Speaker 2: is the PCE Cells album was later recorded. It was
• 25:11
  Speaker 2: gonna come out on Combat, but once they stung with
• 25:14
  Speaker 2: Capital Capital liked it so much, which you know, obviously
• 25:17
  Speaker 2: it is. It's gone to be considered a classic out
• 25:20
  Speaker 2: classic metal album. I totally understand why they would want
• 25:22
  Speaker 2: to put it out, so I believe they hired someone
• 25:25
  Speaker 2: to remix it, and just the remixing alone definitely sounds
• 25:29
  Speaker 2: like a much much better album than their first one.
• 25:32
  Speaker 2: But material wise, they it was just a quantum leap forward.
• 25:35
  Speaker 2: Just it just they sound tighter. They toured obviously in
• 25:39
  Speaker 2: that interim period. They obviously totally jumped over the whole
• 25:44
  Speaker 2: sophomore slump thing because their second album blows away the
• 25:47
  Speaker 2: first one. And yeah, Dave Mustain sings better. They're playing better,
• 25:52
  Speaker 2: the tempos are tighter, the material is great. We have
• 25:56
  Speaker 2: one of the all time classic bass intros to of
• 25:59
  Speaker 2: course the title track PCE Cells, which not too many people.
• 26:03
  Speaker 2: Some people know this, but to confirm it, Dave Mustaine
• 26:06
  Speaker 2: wrote that bass a little part. It wasn't David Ellison,
• 26:09
  Speaker 2: although of course it was David Ellison that played it.
• 26:12
  Speaker 2: Yeah cool, but yeah, that, yeah, that was David Ellison
• 26:15
  Speaker 2: talks about in the book. They were at I think
• 26:17
  Speaker 2: rehearsal one day and Mustaine picked up his base, which
• 26:21
  Speaker 2: is like noodling around. He's like, hey, what do you
• 26:22
  Speaker 2: think of this? Please do do do do Do Do
• 26:24
  Speaker 2: Do Do Do do do do do do do do So, Yeah,
• 26:27
  Speaker 2: it's great.
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: Do you remember MTV used that right for their talking
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: about that?
• 26:30
  Speaker 2: Of course it is in the book and we talk
• 26:32
  Speaker 2: about how I asked Dave mus Stane, I said, so
• 26:34
  Speaker 2: have you ever seen any money from that? He says,
• 26:37
  Speaker 2: not a penny because MTV, what they realized is if
• 26:41
  Speaker 2: you play something for I'm just making up a number,
• 26:43
  Speaker 2: but say for four seconds, you don't have to pay.
• 26:46
  Speaker 2: If it was five seconds, they would have had to pay.
• 26:48
  Speaker 1: Wow. See that's interesting because copyright is something I really
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: study quite a bit. It's why I don't play any
• 26:56
  Speaker 1: music on this podcast because I kept getting pulled down
• 26:59
  Speaker 1: for copy right on my old podcast, and there was
• 27:02
  Speaker 1: always that theory that if you played just five seconds
• 27:04
  Speaker 1: of a song, it's okay. But I talked to a
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: copyright Laurie and he's like, no, today that ain't happen,
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: but that that could be different with what that situation
• 27:13
  Speaker 1: was for television. I'm not sure.
• 27:14
  Speaker 2: You know, it's an interesting situation just to because now
• 27:17
  Speaker 2: we're just totally jumping around, jumping around. Here is the
• 27:20
  Speaker 2: theme song for the old hit TV show Jackass was
• 27:24
  Speaker 2: a song called Corona by the punk band called Minute Men. Okay,
• 27:28
  Speaker 2: and I remember once reading you would think that since
• 27:31
  Speaker 2: that and they used almost not the whole song like
• 27:34
  Speaker 2: that song, not too many people will know. Not to
• 27:36
  Speaker 2: many people know there's a whole other half of that
• 27:37
  Speaker 2: song actually has singing and also lyrics to it, but
• 27:40
  Speaker 2: Jackass just used the first half of that song. But
• 27:44
  Speaker 2: I always assume that the surviving members, because the singer
• 27:47
  Speaker 2: of the Mini Men died with the bassist and the
• 27:49
  Speaker 2: drummer is still around, I always assume that they probably
• 27:52
  Speaker 2: had a pretty big payday from that being used. But
• 27:54
  Speaker 2: I think I read once that they haven't seen anything
• 27:56
  Speaker 2: because either publishing. I don't know if they signed away
• 27:58
  Speaker 2: the publishing or what the hell the story was, but
• 28:01
  Speaker 2: I don't think those guys ever saw money from that,
• 28:03
  Speaker 2: which is robbery if you ask me, Yeah.
• 28:05
  Speaker 1: That could be it. Publishing whoever has it? Yeah, book
• 28:09
  Speaker 1: on rock Podcasts. We'll be back after this.
• 28:12
  Speaker 2: I think you'd be glad later if you weren't here now.
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: The song in My Darkest Style was written about Cliff
• 28:18
  Speaker 1: Burton after his untimely death, Mustaine picked up the guitar
• 28:21
  Speaker 1: wrote the song in one fell Swoop as he said it.
• 28:25
  Speaker 1: You mentioned in the book that you were semi responsible
• 28:29
  Speaker 1: for causing a bit of an uproar amongst metal heads
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: concerning Cliff Burton's passing. What the hell did you do?
• 28:34
  Speaker 2: Yes? That is true. Well, I just wanted just to
• 28:36
  Speaker 2: back up a little bit that song. Cliff Burton's passing
• 28:40
  Speaker 2: inspired the music. The lyrics are not about Cliff Burton's passing. Okay, yeah,
• 28:44
  Speaker 2: but no, you know, but it is correct what you
• 28:46
  Speaker 2: just said that Dave Mustain gets the horrible phone call
• 28:49
  Speaker 2: that you know your old friend Cliff Burton, because he
• 28:51
  Speaker 2: was still friendly with Cliff Burton even after the split.
• 28:54
  Speaker 2: They they're still on good terms. Phone call, Cliff is
• 28:57
  Speaker 2: dead and he just hung up the phone, and Shock
• 28:59
  Speaker 2: picks up his good and writes one of Megadeth's all
• 29:01
  Speaker 2: time classic songs, which is of course in my darkest hour.
• 29:05
  Speaker 2: But yeah, so I did create a bit of a
• 29:07
  Speaker 2: bruhaha in the whole metal press. About maybe ten years
• 29:10
  Speaker 2: ago or fifteen years ago, I was interviewing Scott Ian,
• 29:15
  Speaker 2: guitarist of the ban Anthrax, and I just happened to
• 29:19
  Speaker 2: I was watching, I believe on YouTube. Dave Navarro from
• 29:23
  Speaker 2: the band Jane's Addiction had like a short lived podcast
• 29:26
  Speaker 2: or a TV show or something, and he had Dave
• 29:29
  Speaker 2: Mustaine on and there was a passing mention of that
• 29:35
  Speaker 2: they were going to fire Lars Ulrich on the tour
• 29:39
  Speaker 2: that Cliff Burton died. Prior to Cliff Burton dying like
• 29:42
  Speaker 2: that was the plan that so like I heard that
• 29:46
  Speaker 2: and I was like, what is that about? And then
• 29:48
  Speaker 2: I found out a while later, Oh, I have the
• 29:50
  Speaker 2: opportunity to interview Dave Mustayne. So this was for Rolling Stone.
• 29:54
  Speaker 2: This is what this is definitely for Rolling Stone. Okay,
• 29:57
  Speaker 2: I've been doing Dave Mustaine for Rolling Stone. I'm like, Dave,
• 30:00
  Speaker 2: if I heard this one thing, maybe you can clarify it.
• 30:02
  Speaker 2: And I asked him about it and he's like, wait
• 30:04
  Speaker 2: a second, how the hell did you hear about that?
• 30:06
  Speaker 2: I'm like, oh, well, I told him I was listening
• 30:09
  Speaker 2: to this Dave Navarro thing. He mentioned it. He's like, oh, okay, okay,
• 30:12
  Speaker 2: and then he just spills his guts and he's like, yeah,
• 30:16
  Speaker 2: what happened? Was Scottie and told me he was on
• 30:19
  Speaker 2: tour with Metallic because Anthrax was opening up for Metallic
• 30:22
  Speaker 2: on that tour. That say the Cliff Burton died, he said,
• 30:26
  Speaker 2: James headfielder Cliff, I think I forget which one told
• 30:30
  Speaker 2: Scottie and like, yay, look, you know, don't don't tell
• 30:32
  Speaker 2: anybody because they were all very close with Scotty and
• 30:34
  Speaker 2: they went way back with Scottie and They're like, look,
• 30:37
  Speaker 2: don't tell anybody, but when this tour is over, we're
• 30:41
  Speaker 2: going to go home. We're firing Lars Aulric. We you know,
• 30:43
  Speaker 2: it's just over between us and him. You know, even
• 30:47
  Speaker 2: if we can't, even if we can't retain the Metallica name,
• 30:50
  Speaker 2: who cares what, It's just gonna be us three carrying on.
• 30:53
  Speaker 2: It's over for Lars Alric. Then of course Cliff Burton dies,
• 30:57
  Speaker 2: and I remember when scott Ian saw James that may
• 31:03
  Speaker 2: have been at Cliff Burton's funeral or wake or whenever
• 31:07
  Speaker 2: he saw James Headfield. Next he's like, so, what's going
• 31:10
  Speaker 2: on with that thing? You told me? He's like, oh no,
• 31:11
  Speaker 2: and now that's just over you. We can't, you know,
• 31:13
  Speaker 2: we're just going to go on with what we have.
• 31:15
  Speaker 2: And that's when they got Jason Newstad and they just
• 31:17
  Speaker 2: carried on. But yeah, but for like a week, I remember,
• 31:20
  Speaker 2: that was like the talk of the metal press on,
• 31:22
  Speaker 2: like Blabbermouth and Brave Words and all those sites, and
• 31:26
  Speaker 2: in fact, so much so that scott Ian put out
• 31:28
  Speaker 2: a book I think it's called I'm the Man, and
• 31:32
  Speaker 2: he even talks about it. He doesn't mention me by name,
• 31:34
  Speaker 2: but he's like yeah, and then like I did, there
• 31:37
  Speaker 2: was an interview and blah blah blah, and like you know,
• 31:39
  Speaker 2: all this stuff, and like I get dragged into it
• 31:41
  Speaker 2: because you know scott Ian, because the thing was scott
• 31:44
  Speaker 2: Ian told me this, so then scott Ian gets dragged
• 31:47
  Speaker 2: into it.
• 31:47
  Speaker 1: So that was a whole Yeah, your name comes up
• 31:51
  Speaker 1: a lot. I think I emailed you, I don't know.
• 31:53
  Speaker 1: Three weeks ago, four weeks ago, I was watching something
• 31:55
  Speaker 1: on YouTube. It was a great documentary on Alison Chains
• 32:00
  Speaker 1: and they were they were getting into those sad last
• 32:04
  Speaker 1: months years of Lane Staley's life. Yeah, yeah, and your
• 32:08
  Speaker 1: name came up in there somewhere that the hoe said
• 32:10
  Speaker 1: something about. According to Greg Prato.
• 32:13
  Speaker 2: Yeah, it was probably from my earlier book called Grunges Dead,
• 32:16
  Speaker 2: because there was a whole section in that. And you
• 32:19
  Speaker 2: know what, I don't mind people quoting my books and stuff,
• 32:23
  Speaker 2: you know, but just my only request is please just
• 32:25
  Speaker 2: credit me. It's all because there's been like times, there's
• 32:28
  Speaker 2: been times on YouTube where it just quotes from things
• 32:31
  Speaker 2: that I've done. And I remember one guy to get
• 32:33
  Speaker 2: in contact with, I'm like, you know, hey, I don't
• 32:34
  Speaker 2: care that you're quoting me. But at least mentioned where
• 32:37
  Speaker 2: the hell you got the you know, quote from, and
• 32:38
  Speaker 2: he said, oh, I'm sorry, and then he did and
• 32:40
  Speaker 2: I was like, all right, good, I'm glad you you know,
• 32:42
  Speaker 2: I mean.
• 32:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, well you did the interview.
• 32:45
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 32:45
  Speaker 1: The other thing is sometimes they say Greg Pratto and
• 32:48
  Speaker 1: I want to email the person like, no, it's Preto.
• 32:52
  Speaker 2: Well you know what I'm gonna you know, I got
• 32:53
  Speaker 2: to give you an exclusive for this podcast.
• 32:56
  Speaker 1: Oh, here we go.
• 32:57
  Speaker 2: Something that I've never shared is I believe thet correct
• 33:01
  Speaker 2: pronunciation of my last name is actually Prato because it
• 33:04
  Speaker 2: was from it because it's from I think a town
• 33:06
  Speaker 2: in Italy which my great great grandparents came from, or
• 33:11
  Speaker 2: something like that, similar to how Vito Corleone took his
• 33:14
  Speaker 2: last name Coraleone from a city or town in Italy.
• 33:19
  Speaker 2: But yeah, so it's I believe it's it's it's correctly
• 33:22
  Speaker 2: pronounced Prato, which, interestingly enough, I was once interviewing Ollie
• 33:26
  Speaker 2: John Roth from the Scorpions and I told him my
• 33:28
  Speaker 2: name and he's like, is your last name pronounced Prato
• 33:30
  Speaker 2: after the town in Italy. I was like, oh, I
• 33:33
  Speaker 2: guess yeah, and then yeah, but I'm just gonna stick
• 33:36
  Speaker 2: with Predo because you've been.
• 33:37
  Speaker 1: Going with Predo. Yes, I've heard you yourself say it.
• 33:40
  Speaker 2: So Megadeth is right there. So that right there is
• 33:42
  Speaker 2: an exclusive.
• 33:43
  Speaker 1: You got an exclusive right there, man. I love it.
• 33:45
  Speaker 1: You always provide the exclusives everything.
• 33:48
  Speaker 2: Yeah.
• 33:49
  Speaker 1: So Megadeth's most commercially successful song is Symphony of Destruction
• 33:54
  Speaker 1: from Countdown to Extinct count on the extension number seventy
• 33:58
  Speaker 1: one on Billboard ninety two. Tell us about the making
• 34:00
  Speaker 1: of this song, this is great bassis. Dave Ellison talks
• 34:04
  Speaker 1: about it being written in between shooting hoops at the
• 34:07
  Speaker 1: band's rehearsal spot.
• 34:08
  Speaker 2: Yeah. So, David Ellison mentions how when they were they
• 34:13
  Speaker 2: were I don't think they're even recording the album. They
• 34:14
  Speaker 2: were just rehearsing for the album that became a Countoid
• 34:18
  Speaker 2: to Extinction. They would take breaks, and they were doing
• 34:21
  Speaker 2: this in Phoenix, Arizona, which is very hot so you
• 34:23
  Speaker 2: can't stay outside for very long. But they would be
• 34:26
  Speaker 2: jamming working on something and they would say, oh, let's
• 34:28
  Speaker 2: go outside and just take a break. We'll just shoot
• 34:30
  Speaker 2: some hoops. They go out shoot some hoops. Then Dave
• 34:31
  Speaker 2: Mustain would be like, all right, you guys, I go inside,
• 34:34
  Speaker 2: I have something in my head. I'm gonna work on
• 34:36
  Speaker 2: some I'll be back, and you go inside, come up
• 34:38
  Speaker 2: with symphony for symphony for destruction. Then he'd go out
• 34:41
  Speaker 2: and be playing a little bit. Then he'd say, you know, guys,
• 34:43
  Speaker 2: hang on a second, I have an idea for another song.
• 34:45
  Speaker 2: Hang on a second, and go back in, and he
• 34:47
  Speaker 2: would come up with, you know something else, sweating sweating bullets,
• 34:50
  Speaker 2: you'd come up with so like all So, it's if
• 34:53
  Speaker 2: you think about how it's I've always found it fascinating
• 34:56
  Speaker 2: how certain people they just can channel the music just
• 34:59
  Speaker 2: is almost like channeled through them. I mean, obviously Eddie
• 35:02
  Speaker 2: Van Hallen is a great example of that. Jimi Hendrix,
• 35:05
  Speaker 2: Randy Rhodes, all these great great musicians. It's just like
• 35:09
  Speaker 2: this music, it's it's almost like a faucet turn on,
• 35:12
  Speaker 2: turn off, tournto.
• 35:13
  Speaker 1: That's fascinating and fascinated by that. It's like they're superhuman.
• 35:18
  Speaker 1: I mean, just because I could never do it.
• 35:19
  Speaker 2: So I just wondered, I'm so glad you said that,
• 35:21
  Speaker 2: because something that I find fascinating too is like, now
• 35:25
  Speaker 2: you take Dave Mustayne, he just he's he looks like
• 35:27
  Speaker 2: a regularly normal guy, right, but yet he comes up
• 35:30
  Speaker 2: with all these great riffs. Now, how many times have
• 35:32
  Speaker 2: you gone and seen like a local band that sucks,
• 35:35
  Speaker 2: that has horrible musicianship and every schlubs like zillions of
• 35:39
  Speaker 2: guitarists that that can't do that, you know, but there's
• 35:42
  Speaker 2: just that one in a million that you know is
• 35:44
  Speaker 2: just that gifted, you know, whether it be like I
• 35:46
  Speaker 2: said Randy Rhodes, Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Hendrix, and Dave Mustaine.
• 35:51
  Speaker 2: I'm telling you, I was recently interviewed on David Elvison's
• 35:54
  Speaker 2: podcast and something I said, which and I felt, I
• 35:59
  Speaker 2: felt like this for even the recent death of also
• 36:01
  Speaker 2: Ozzy Osbourne in this whole onslaught of you know, which
• 36:04
  Speaker 2: I agree. Ozzy os One was fantastic. He deserves all
• 36:07
  Speaker 2: the accolades and everything. But I think it's gonna take
• 36:11
  Speaker 2: Dave Mustain sadly passing away. When he passes away, and
• 36:13
  Speaker 2: then suddenly they're gonna be like, oh, he was genius,
• 36:17
  Speaker 2: the one of the greatest metal guitarists ever, one of
• 36:19
  Speaker 2: the greatest riff writers ever, underrated lyricist songwriter. That's sadly
• 36:24
  Speaker 2: what it seems like it takes nowadays for people to
• 36:26
  Speaker 2: finally give people their due, which is kind of sad.
• 36:28
  Speaker 2: You should be able to give people their due while
• 36:31
  Speaker 2: they can, whether they're still with us, and you can
• 36:32
  Speaker 2: enjoy it. But that's just the way I guess it
• 36:35
  Speaker 2: works out.
• 36:36
  Speaker 1: With this genre of music to be able to have
• 36:38
  Speaker 1: that type of success commercially without selling yourself out. You know,
• 36:42
  Speaker 1: these songs are still genuine, there's still mega death songs.
• 36:45
  Speaker 1: It's not like he was looking to get on the.
• 36:47
  Speaker 2: Charts, right, And I mean and not only megad I
• 36:49
  Speaker 2: think I think that he wrote a lot of those
• 36:51
  Speaker 2: Metallica riffs on the first two albums and a lot
• 36:54
  Speaker 2: of the yeah, I mean those like the song the
• 36:58
  Speaker 2: Four Horsemen, which is considered a Metallica classic. I believe
• 37:02
  Speaker 2: he wrote the riff. He wrote everything, and that's that's
• 37:04
  Speaker 2: widely considered one of Metallica's top riffs too. But that
• 37:08
  Speaker 2: was Dave Mustain.
• 37:09
  Speaker 1: One quote I was going to read I'd forgot to,
• 37:11
  Speaker 1: but I'll read it now. This is great. It talks
• 37:13
  Speaker 1: about just how quickly Megadeth's popularity increased. You'd say, here
• 37:18
  Speaker 1: quote to give you an idea how quickly Megadeth's popularity increased.
• 37:21
  Speaker 1: On October eleven, nineteen eighty six, they were opening for
• 37:24
  Speaker 1: Motorhead at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. On June thirteenth,
• 37:28
  Speaker 1: nineteen eighty seven, they were headlining the same venue themselves.
• 37:33
  Speaker 2: People tend to forget, I would say, in early eighty seven,
• 37:38
  Speaker 2: mid eighty seven, Megadeth and Metallica were just about equal.
• 37:42
  Speaker 2: Metallica had, you know, had the top thirty album with
• 37:47
  Speaker 2: Master of Puppets. It had just gone gold or maybe platinum.
• 37:50
  Speaker 2: But see, the thing is, Metallica did not use MTV
• 37:54
  Speaker 2: to their advantage they which I always thought was very
• 37:59
  Speaker 2: You gotta give Metallic a lot of respect. They did
• 38:01
  Speaker 2: not put out a single video, did not do a
• 38:03
  Speaker 2: single video for their first three albums. It was on
• 38:06
  Speaker 2: the Justice album, the fourth album that they did the
• 38:08
  Speaker 2: video for one.
• 38:09
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I remember that that. That was the big story.
• 38:12
  Speaker 1: No videos up until then exactly.
• 38:14
  Speaker 2: But Megadeth they did make videos for pceells. They had
• 38:18
  Speaker 2: one for the PCells title track and also a great
• 38:21
  Speaker 2: song called a Wake Up Dead, and both those songs
• 38:24
  Speaker 2: got played heavily on not on regular MTV regular hours
• 38:28
  Speaker 2: so much, but on MTV's heavy metal specialty shows. They
• 38:32
  Speaker 2: were heavily played.
• 38:34
  Speaker 1: Head Banger's Ball was that out at that time?
• 38:36
  Speaker 2: Yeah, even before that, in late eighty six, there was
• 38:38
  Speaker 2: a Forgotten show. It was because I remember coming back
• 38:41
  Speaker 2: from high school and at three thirty or three o'clock
• 38:45
  Speaker 2: there was a half hour show every afternoon called the
• 38:48
  Speaker 2: heavy Metal half Hour or something, and they would just
• 38:50
  Speaker 2: show you a half hour of just strickly metal videos.
• 38:53
  Speaker 2: That was before head Banger's Ball, so that was a
• 38:57
  Speaker 2: precursor kind of too head Banger's But yeah, but p
• 39:01
  Speaker 2: Cells was played heavily on that half hour show. That's
• 39:03
  Speaker 2: how I really got into Megadeth was through seeing that video.
• 39:06
  Speaker 2: And then later in early eighty seven or spring of
• 39:09
  Speaker 2: eighty seven, which was that was when a Wake Up
• 39:11
  Speaker 2: Dead came out as the video. But yeah, so by
• 39:13
  Speaker 2: like spring summer of eighty seven, Megadeth and also Metallic
• 39:17
  Speaker 2: were pretty much pretty much neck and neet because then
• 39:19
  Speaker 2: also in early eighty eight, Megodeth put out another album,
• 39:22
  Speaker 2: so Far, So Good, So what. They even had a
• 39:24
  Speaker 2: third video which was for Anarchy in the UK, So
• 39:29
  Speaker 2: they were they were definitely using MTV more to their
• 39:31
  Speaker 2: advantage at that point than you could say Metallic or
• 39:33
  Speaker 2: even Slayer was at that point, and.
• 39:35
  Speaker 1: The Symphony of Destruction video was on all the time.
• 39:38
  Speaker 2: Yes, yeah, yeah, that was in summer of ninety That
• 39:40
  Speaker 2: was one of the most heavily played videos in the
• 39:43
  Speaker 2: summer of ninety two. I remember that being on all
• 39:45
  Speaker 2: the time in the summer of nineteen ninety two.
• 39:46
  Speaker 1: Yeah, what are the lyrics about?
• 39:48
  Speaker 2: I think I think what Dave Mustain says is it
• 39:51
  Speaker 2: has to do a little bit with like we put
• 39:53
  Speaker 2: people up on pedestals. But it's just like we're all
• 39:56
  Speaker 2: pretty much glorified apes. You know, like if you look
• 39:58
  Speaker 2: at it, if you listen to the lyrics, we put,
• 40:01
  Speaker 2: you know, presidents up on high pedestals or even like
• 40:04
  Speaker 2: celebrities up on high pedestals. But I mean, again, what's
• 40:08
  Speaker 2: the difference between a president or someone else? I mean,
• 40:12
  Speaker 2: I guess luck has a lot. Luck has a lot
• 40:13
  Speaker 2: to do with it. You also have to have some
• 40:16
  Speaker 2: pizzazz and also have some smarts and stuff. But who's
• 40:19
  Speaker 2: to say who's better than someone else? You know what
• 40:21
  Speaker 2: I'm saying.
• 40:21
  Speaker 1: Yeah, booked on Rock Podcast. We'll be back after this.
• 40:26
  Speaker 1: There will be an end omission. Hey, guys, thanks so
• 40:30
  Speaker 1: much for checking out the Booked on Rock podcast. If
• 40:33
  Speaker 1: you've just found the podcast, welcome. If you've been listening,
• 40:36
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• 40:39
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• 40:41
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• 40:45
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• 40:47
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  Speaker 1: the full episodes on video, along with video highlight from
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  Speaker 1: episodes on the Booked on Rock YouTube channel. Find it
• 41:03
  Speaker 1: at Booked on Rock. Thanks again for listening. Now back
• 41:07
  Speaker 1: to the show. Mega Death certainly survived the grunge era
• 41:11
  Speaker 1: countdown to extinsion was big in ninety two. Nineteen ninety
• 41:15
  Speaker 1: four's Youth in Asia reached number four on Billboard. Two
• 41:18
  Speaker 1: more albums ninety seven's Cryptic Writings, which reached number ten,
• 41:22
  Speaker 1: and then in nineteen ninety nine they released Risk, which
• 41:25
  Speaker 1: hit number sixteen. Chapter twenty three, titled those Troublesome mid nineties.
• 41:30
  Speaker 1: What was the state of Mega Death during that period.
• 41:33
  Speaker 2: Well, it wasn't just megadath what happened was after grunge
• 41:36
  Speaker 2: and also alternative rock hit a lot of the metal
• 41:41
  Speaker 2: bands just I don't know why they felt they had
• 41:44
  Speaker 2: to change what they were doing. I would imagine it
• 41:46
  Speaker 2: had to have been pressure for management and also their
• 41:49
  Speaker 2: record companies. Suddenly, now you see Megadeth wearing flannel shirts
• 41:53
  Speaker 2: and videos Metallica, it feels like they have to dress
• 41:57
  Speaker 2: up like you two for their load and also reload
• 41:59
  Speaker 2: record words. Yeah, Anthrax switched singers at that point. Slayer.
• 42:06
  Speaker 2: You gotta give Slayer credit. They'd never really bowed down
• 42:09
  Speaker 2: to alt rock or also grunge. You know, they pretty
• 42:12
  Speaker 2: much stood the course, So you gotta give Slayer credit.
• 42:16
  Speaker 2: Megadeth also Megadeth never like they they never like I
• 42:20
  Speaker 2: forget who it was that I spoke to for the books. Oh,
• 42:23
  Speaker 2: it's actually Richard Christie. So you know, you gotta give
• 42:26
  Speaker 2: Dave mustein credit. Like there was no Megodeth song where
• 42:28
  Speaker 2: he's like crooning, like you know, like what's his name,
• 42:31
  Speaker 2: Eddie Vedder, you know, yep, you know, And like there's
• 42:33
  Speaker 2: no Megodeth song with Dave mustein rapping. You know, it's
• 42:37
  Speaker 2: like nothing like that. You know, they at least stayed
• 42:39
  Speaker 2: pretty pretty true. The only thing that Megadeth did similar
• 42:42
  Speaker 2: to Metallica is suddenly their speedy tempos get slowed down,
• 42:46
  Speaker 2: so it's kind of like a mid tempo Black Sabbath
• 42:50
  Speaker 2: Soundgarden type thing, which you know, I mean, that's not
• 42:54
  Speaker 2: really them being totally true to themselves. But that said,
• 42:57
  Speaker 2: I'll be honest, I lost interest in, uh, actually, Metallica
• 43:01
  Speaker 2: Megadeth even those years, they at least had some songs
• 43:05
  Speaker 2: that I can hear now and I still enjoy and
• 43:07
  Speaker 2: I think that they're worthwhile and they still hold up well.
• 43:09
  Speaker 2: Whereas Metallica, I really honestly after Master of Puppets, I
• 43:13
  Speaker 2: just bow out. I mean, I liked in Justice for
• 43:15
  Speaker 2: All when I was younger. That was the first tour
• 43:17
  Speaker 2: I ever saw them live. I loved it at the time.
• 43:20
  Speaker 2: With the Black album, I remember like trying to like
• 43:23
  Speaker 2: it and I just couldn't like it. Load and Reload
• 43:25
  Speaker 2: I never liked. Yeah, it's just.
• 43:26
  Speaker 1: They tried some risky stuff. Speaking of risk the Lulu
• 43:31
  Speaker 1: album with lou Reed.
• 43:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, and yeah, I'll tell you what. They came
• 43:34
  Speaker 2: under immense fire for that. And like, although I'll be honest,
• 43:37
  Speaker 2: I've never heard the whole thing. I'm a huge Lou
• 43:40
  Speaker 2: Reed fan. I love Velvet Underground, I love lou Reid's
• 43:43
  Speaker 2: early seventies solo material. And you know, I can that,
• 43:47
  Speaker 2: at least I can respect that they're in a room
• 43:50
  Speaker 2: with Lou Reed. They're just coming up with stuff. It's
• 43:53
  Speaker 2: not so much forced. I mean what came out was
• 43:55
  Speaker 2: like a huge, giant nut filled turd. Yeah, but uh no,
• 43:59
  Speaker 2: but yeah, you know, I mean, at least I give
• 44:02
  Speaker 2: them credit that. Yeah, but you give them credit that
• 44:04
  Speaker 2: it wasn't like a force thing like for instance, Load
• 44:06
  Speaker 2: and also the album Reload was where if you're not
• 44:10
  Speaker 2: familiar with that album, if you have did you actually
• 44:12
  Speaker 2: have that album?
• 44:13
  Speaker 1: Or I have Load? I don't think I have. I
• 44:16
  Speaker 1: may have Reload. I know I have Load.
• 44:18
  Speaker 2: This okay, well, do yourself a favor. Take a look
• 44:22
  Speaker 2: at the booklet of a Load and it's the most embarrassing.
• 44:27
  Speaker 2: Like what it is is they hooked up with Anton Corbin,
• 44:31
  Speaker 2: who did the Nirvana Heart Shaped box video and he
• 44:35
  Speaker 2: also worked a lot with also you two in the past,
• 44:39
  Speaker 2: and suddenly they felt like they had to be like
• 44:41
  Speaker 2: Bono doing like, you know, a whole vegacy like there
• 44:45
  Speaker 2: they have eyeliner on, they cut their hair, they're wearing
• 44:47
  Speaker 2: all these all these like silver pans. It was so
• 44:51
  Speaker 2: forced and so just just bloody embarrassing. But it's you know,
• 44:56
  Speaker 2: something I took about in the book that you got
• 44:57
  Speaker 2: to give Metallic a credit because the worst well, I mean,
• 45:01
  Speaker 2: I'm gonna say the worst they got me mean, like
• 45:04
  Speaker 2: I'm saying that. Meanwhile, no one gives a shit with Like,
• 45:06
  Speaker 2: I think Metallica is still selling out stadiums, so they
• 45:10
  Speaker 2: obviously did the right thing. But I'm just saying for me,
• 45:12
  Speaker 2: as like a once Metallica fan, it's interesting how the
• 45:14
  Speaker 2: worst they got, the bigger they became.
• 45:17
  Speaker 1: You know.
• 45:17
  Speaker 2: Yeah, that so so they're almost like you could see
• 45:22
  Speaker 2: Metallic or almost like magicians.
• 45:26
  Speaker 1: They lost a lot of fans, but they gained a
• 45:28
  Speaker 1: lot more with the change of sound, they gained more
• 45:30
  Speaker 1: mainstream fans.
• 45:31
  Speaker 2: I think something I talk about in the book, I love.
• 45:34
  Speaker 1: It Until It sleeps Hero of the Day, and those
• 45:37
  Speaker 1: songs were great for rock radio.
• 45:39
  Speaker 2: Yeah. See, it's just at that point I'm onto, you know,
• 45:42
  Speaker 2: I'm listening to Soundgarden Faith no more. Then later I'm
• 45:45
  Speaker 2: into like Jeff Buckley, I'm just not into and the
• 45:48
  Speaker 2: thing too. Like for me, those Metallica songs, I think
• 45:51
  Speaker 2: they're just trying to sound like sound Garden, you know,
• 45:53
  Speaker 2: So I'd rather just hear sound Garden or they're just
• 45:56
  Speaker 2: doing a slow plotting things that right, other hear Black
• 45:59
  Speaker 2: Sabbath Volume four. At least that's authentic and it's you know,
• 46:01
  Speaker 2: the real thing, you know.
• 46:02
  Speaker 1: Which is I get what you're saying, which is why
• 46:04
  Speaker 1: you appreciate Lulu more because it's they just did something.
• 46:07
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, from.
• 46:08
  Speaker 1: An artistic standpoint, let's just try this and see what happens.
• 46:12
  Speaker 1: It feels right.
• 46:13
  Speaker 2: I'll be the first one. I'll be the first one
• 46:15
  Speaker 2: to say that Lulu to me is like that's like
• 46:19
  Speaker 2: probably musical kryptonite to me. But I can I mean,
• 46:23
  Speaker 2: but I mean, at least I can listen to and
• 46:25
  Speaker 2: not listen to it. At least I can say, well, look,
• 46:27
  Speaker 2: they didn't they got in a room they you know,
• 46:29
  Speaker 2: hashed it out, whereas you know, the other stuff, I
• 46:32
  Speaker 2: don't know what the hell they were thinking.
• 46:34
  Speaker 1: Yeah, your original plan was to cut the book off
• 46:36
  Speaker 1: after the Risk album in ninety nine. What changed your mind?
• 46:39
  Speaker 2: Because the Risk album is their load or it's their
• 46:41
  Speaker 2: music from the Elder or it's there Van Hallen three. Okay,
• 46:45
  Speaker 2: it is an album that should be deleted. It should
• 46:48
  Speaker 2: be erased, it should be forgotten. Put it in a
• 46:50
  Speaker 2: bottle and throw it out in the ocean. Let just
• 46:53
  Speaker 2: float away.
• 46:54
  Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah, that's that was the end of the period
• 46:56
  Speaker 1: that you say is their their best period.
• 46:59
  Speaker 2: Well, I see, that's the thing is in the late
• 47:01
  Speaker 2: nineties al right. So people widely consider the rust In
• 47:05
  Speaker 2: Peace limp to be their definitive lineup, which is Dave
• 47:08
  Speaker 2: Mustaine on vocals guitar, David Ellison on bass, Marty Friedman
• 47:13
  Speaker 2: on guitar, and the late great Nick Menza on drums. Now,
• 47:17
  Speaker 2: I personally think that's a phenomenal lineup. Greg Prato's choice
• 47:21
  Speaker 2: for greatest Mega to lineup is the p CELS lineup.
• 47:23
  Speaker 2: I'm sorry, I'll say that till absolute day I die.
• 47:28
  Speaker 2: But yeah, So the rust in Peace lineup comes in
• 47:31
  Speaker 2: nineteen ninety then by the late nineties it's kind of
• 47:35
  Speaker 2: the band's fracturing. Nick Menza leaves in nineteen ninety seven,
• 47:41
  Speaker 2: they do oz Fest, they carry on with I think
• 47:45
  Speaker 2: his name is Jimmy DeGrasso, who was in Wyan t
• 47:48
  Speaker 2: and Suicidal Tendencies. Yeah, yeah, and they carry on for
• 47:52
  Speaker 2: a bit. Then for the Risk album, that's Marty Friedman's
• 47:57
  Speaker 2: last hurrah because he was going a whole different direction.
• 48:01
  Speaker 2: He was more into not just like alternative rock, but
• 48:04
  Speaker 2: he was into like pop. He was in like pop music,
• 48:06
  Speaker 2: which is kind of weird because he clearly wasn't always
• 48:08
  Speaker 2: into pop music because if you hear what he was
• 48:10
  Speaker 2: doing with Cacophony before Megadeth and the early Megadeth work,
• 48:14
  Speaker 2: it's not pop music at all. So but anyway, you know,
• 48:17
  Speaker 2: we all change, we get older. He wanted to do
• 48:18
  Speaker 2: more of a pop thing. It rubs off on Risk
• 48:21
  Speaker 2: a bit, but then in the middle of the tour
• 48:23
  Speaker 2: for Risk, he has like what's called like a nervous
• 48:25
  Speaker 2: breakdown where he has horrible anxiety attacks and he feels
• 48:29
  Speaker 2: like he's gonna have to just like drop off the tour,
• 48:31
  Speaker 2: but he's able to pull it together barely, so he
• 48:34
  Speaker 2: finishes the tour, but he gives notices like I'm gonna leave,
• 48:37
  Speaker 2: you know, but find somebody. So they get al Patrelli,
• 48:40
  Speaker 2: formerly of Alice Cooper's band, to come in but yes,
• 48:44
  Speaker 2: So in nineteen ninety nine is I believe when or
• 48:48
  Speaker 2: two thousand, either ninety ninety two thousand is when Marty
• 48:51
  Speaker 2: Freeman leaves, and that to me is just the end
• 48:53
  Speaker 2: of the Rust and Peace lineup. People refer to that
• 48:56
  Speaker 2: as the Rust in Peace lineup. So yes, now you
• 48:58
  Speaker 2: no longer have Nick Men's and or Marty Friedman in
• 49:01
  Speaker 2: lineup anymore at that point.
• 49:02
  Speaker 1: Yeah, then there was a hiatus thereafter.
• 49:05
  Speaker 2: After the world needs a hero. Dave Mustaine. Yeah, through
• 49:09
  Speaker 2: the course of Magadeth, he relapses every so often and
• 49:14
  Speaker 2: has to go to rehab every so often, which I
• 49:16
  Speaker 2: give him a world of credit that he is still
• 49:19
  Speaker 2: with us. He was able to do that. I mean
• 49:21
  Speaker 2: that I always tip my hat to people if they
• 49:23
  Speaker 2: have problems. It's very hard to meet you have a
• 49:25
  Speaker 2: problem and to go do something about it. And to
• 49:28
  Speaker 2: Dave Mustaine's credit, he's done at numerous times. So you
• 49:31
  Speaker 2: got to give him a lot of credit that he
• 49:33
  Speaker 2: has done that. And sure, yeah, so one of the
• 49:35
  Speaker 2: many times he has fallen off the wagon, but he
• 49:38
  Speaker 2: does the right thing, goes to rehab. He claims that
• 49:41
  Speaker 2: he fell asleep, he had his hand or something behind
• 49:46
  Speaker 2: or I don't know how he had maybe behind his back.
• 49:48
  Speaker 2: He fell asleep on a chair with like a metal
• 49:51
  Speaker 2: rim or something like that, and it cut off the
• 49:53
  Speaker 2: circulation to his hand and he woke up. He did
• 49:55
  Speaker 2: some kind of nerve damage. The same thing happened as Slash.
• 49:59
  Speaker 2: I remember reading sl Ash his book, and he had
• 50:01
  Speaker 2: a problem where it could be so extreme that sometimes
• 50:04
  Speaker 2: they have to actually amputate your hand, if you could
• 50:06
  Speaker 2: believe that it's like that extreme. Yeah, So, but it
• 50:10
  Speaker 2: wasn't I guess that severe with Dave Mustaine. But they
• 50:12
  Speaker 2: did say that they didn't think he was going to
• 50:13
  Speaker 2: ever use his hand, and it was out of the
• 50:16
  Speaker 2: question that he was ever going to be able to
• 50:17
  Speaker 2: play guitar again. But to Dave mus Daine's credit, he's
• 50:20
  Speaker 2: a pretty stubborn gentleman, and he just took it, didn't
• 50:23
  Speaker 2: take no for an answer, and he slowly would surely
• 50:25
  Speaker 2: taught himself how to play guitar again. But yeah, at
• 50:28
  Speaker 2: that point, he just ended. Uh, he just ended Megadeth abruptly.
• 50:31
  Speaker 2: He says, now I'm proa not gonna able to play again,
• 50:34
  Speaker 2: so I'm just gonna focus on family, maybe get into
• 50:36
  Speaker 2: the management side of music business. But Megadath is over.
• 50:40
  Speaker 2: But they came back and oh four yeah, but that
• 50:42
  Speaker 2: but within a year he's back and he and what's
• 50:45
  Speaker 2: weird and he does not have David Ellison anymore. He
• 50:47
  Speaker 2: has a whole new lineup. It was kind of weird
• 50:50
  Speaker 2: that he just he retained the Megadeth name. He had
• 50:53
  Speaker 2: a whole lawsuit thing going back and forth with all
• 50:55
  Speaker 2: so David Ellison at the time they have a falling
• 50:58
  Speaker 2: at but I don't even talk about in this book,
• 51:00
  Speaker 2: as only goes up to two thousand and three.
• 51:02
  Speaker 1: So Booked on Rock podcasts, We'll be back after this.
• 51:06
  Speaker 1: Well well waity. Find the bookdown rock website at booked
• 51:13
  Speaker 1: on Rock dot com. There you can find all the
• 51:16
  Speaker 1: back episodes of the show, the latest episode in video
• 51:19
  Speaker 1: and audio, links to all of the platforms where you
• 51:21
  Speaker 1: can listen to the podcast, plus all the social media
• 51:24
  Speaker 1: platforms were on Blue Sky, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and x.
• 51:29
  Speaker 1: Also check out the Booked on rockblog. Find your local
• 51:31
  Speaker 1: independent bookstore, find out all the latest hot rockbook releases,
• 51:36
  Speaker 1: and before you go, check out the Booked on Rock
• 51:38
  Speaker 1: online store. Pick up some Booked on Rock merch. It's
• 51:41
  Speaker 1: all at booked on Rock dot com. The World State
• 51:45
  Speaker 1: of the art speed metal band The Megadeth Story nineteen
• 51:47
  Speaker 1: eighty three to two thousand and two. It's out now.
• 51:49
  Speaker 1: Find it wherever books are sold. Look for at your
• 51:52
  Speaker 1: nearest bookstore. You can go to booked on rock dot
• 51:54
  Speaker 1: com to find your nearest independent bookstore and if they
• 51:57
  Speaker 1: don't have a copy there, beat the shit out of
• 51:59
  Speaker 1: them and oh no, I'm sorry, just ask them politely
• 52:02
  Speaker 1: to you.
• 52:02
  Speaker 2: Yes, hey, we have it available to paperback hard It's
• 52:06
  Speaker 2: available as paperback hardcover, kindle and also with most of
• 52:10
  Speaker 2: my books audio version narrated by me.
• 52:14
  Speaker 1: You are hooked on that, man. You love it.
• 52:16
  Speaker 2: You love all that paying the bills. You know I'm saying,
• 52:18
  Speaker 2: I have to pay my bills, I pay my mortgage.
• 52:20
  Speaker 1: We have to do it, telling you man, So let's
• 52:22
  Speaker 1: talk about what's coming next, because we've got something really
• 52:25
  Speaker 1: cool coming in The fall.
• 52:27
  Speaker 2: Is called alternative for the masses, the nineties alt rock
• 52:30
  Speaker 2: Revolution and oral histories. That means I'm going back to
• 52:32
  Speaker 2: my roots in oral history, which is what my first
• 52:35
  Speaker 2: few books were set up as, which is, we have
• 52:37
  Speaker 2: a subject and then all the interviews I've done, we
• 52:40
  Speaker 2: have a gentleman's name, and then he talks, we have
• 52:43
  Speaker 2: someone else's name, he talks, You're getting the words straight
• 52:46
  Speaker 2: from the horse's mouth with people that were there. I
• 52:49
  Speaker 2: describe it as a documentary, but in book form it's
• 52:52
  Speaker 2: about all those great nineties alternative rock bands, which I'll
• 52:56
  Speaker 2: be honest doing this book, I'm gonna go on record
• 52:58
  Speaker 2: that was probably my favorite era of music ever.
• 53:01
  Speaker 1: Because yeah, I could tell you love that, because.
• 53:03
  Speaker 2: Because I because me like you, we were living it
• 53:06
  Speaker 2: at the time. I was going to the shows. I
• 53:08
  Speaker 2: was there the day that Soundgarden super A None comes out.
• 53:11
  Speaker 2: I'm there the day Blind Melon Soup comes out, the
• 53:14
  Speaker 2: day Faith in the Mora Angel Dust comes out, and
• 53:16
  Speaker 2: I'm blown away now Smashing Pumpkin, Siamese Dream.
• 53:19
  Speaker 1: It was an amazing time.
• 53:21
  Speaker 2: Yeah, all these albums that I still listen to this
• 53:23
  Speaker 2: day hold up wonderfully. Bands that I could relate to.
• 53:27
  Speaker 2: You know, they were just like me. They just look,
• 53:29
  Speaker 2: you know, there's like regular people. They're they're on stage,
• 53:34
  Speaker 2: they're not doing this over affected, you know, rock star thing.
• 53:38
  Speaker 2: But yet I'd go see them live and they were
• 53:40
  Speaker 2: just it was some of the best shows I've ever seen.
• 53:43
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I never thought about it at the time. But
• 53:45
  Speaker 1: just just to look back now and clearly clearly remembering
• 53:50
  Speaker 1: watching videos by Warrent, Winger and Slaughter one day and
• 53:53
  Speaker 1: then slowly but surely they're just working these videos in
• 53:56
  Speaker 1: like Nirvana and Pearl Jammy. You just you're seeing it
• 54:00
  Speaker 1: take over so quickly.
• 54:02
  Speaker 2: Yeah, you are.
• 54:03
  Speaker 1: It was really wild to just to see the shift
• 54:06
  Speaker 1: in in rock and roll culture. Yeah, pop culture too.
• 54:12
  Speaker 1: I mean it became mainstream.
• 54:14
  Speaker 2: But but you know, it's funny some people tend to
• 54:16
  Speaker 2: forget it. Did the change did a car But it
• 54:18
  Speaker 2: was a little it was a little bit. I even
• 54:21
  Speaker 2: remember it being very like one day we were watching
• 54:24
  Speaker 2: videos by Poison and Warrant, the next day it's Nirvana
• 54:26
  Speaker 2: and Pearl jam But it was a little bit of
• 54:29
  Speaker 2: a phasing out period because because because if you think back,
• 54:32
  Speaker 2: there's a period in nineteen ninety two where a lot
• 54:35
  Speaker 2: of hair metal bands are scoring big hits still with
• 54:38
  Speaker 2: like acoustic ballads. I'm thinking, I will try to be yeah,
• 54:43
  Speaker 2: exactly with you, mister, with you, I remember that, Yes,
• 54:50
  Speaker 2: I gon kick and also even what's the other band that? Oh,
• 54:55
  Speaker 2: the band Firehouse even had a yeah. And also I
• 55:01
  Speaker 2: mean steel Hart had a hit that may have been
• 55:03
  Speaker 2: nineteen ninety one though that I don't know.
• 55:06
  Speaker 1: Tricks around ninety one there were Trickster.
• 55:10
  Speaker 2: Oh wait, it's really also also Ugly Kid, Ugly Kid,
• 55:14
  Speaker 2: Joe Cats in the Cradle.
• 55:15
  Speaker 1: Yep, yep. I distinctly remember, distinctly remember listening to the
• 55:22
  Speaker 1: local radio station, new Haven Radio Station ninety nine Rock WPLR,
• 55:26
  Speaker 1: and they were playing to Be with You by Mister
• 55:27
  Speaker 1: Big and then it was followed by Nirvana. Smells like
• 55:31
  Speaker 1: teen Spirit.
• 55:32
  Speaker 2: Yeah, I mean, sadly, I'd like to think one day
• 55:36
  Speaker 2: we'll see another kind of revolution type thing. But and
• 55:41
  Speaker 2: in my lifetime so far, I've never experienced anything like that.
• 55:44
  Speaker 1: That.
• 55:45
  Speaker 2: It was from ninety one through about ninety four, almost
• 55:48
  Speaker 2: every month there is a classic album that came out,
• 55:52
  Speaker 2: and sometimes just a few weeks apart. Wasn't even every month,
• 55:55
  Speaker 2: it was like every few weeks. Yeah, So time it
• 55:58
  Speaker 2: just I mean what I talk, what I tend to
• 56:01
  Speaker 2: compare it to. I was too young to have or
• 56:03
  Speaker 2: not even born yet with some of these errors. But
• 56:06
  Speaker 2: I liken it to the mid to late sixties psychedelic
• 56:09
  Speaker 2: period where you had Jimi Hendrix, you had Sergeant Pepper's Cream.
• 56:13
  Speaker 2: Janis Joplin, The Doors, like Stooges, all these legendary bands
• 56:18
  Speaker 2: coming out, putting out all these great albums like every month.
• 56:20
  Speaker 2: And then in the mid to late seventies you had
• 56:24
  Speaker 2: a lot of the punk bands, you the Ramones, Sex Pistols, Clash,
• 56:27
  Speaker 2: I mean, I guess you could say too. The early
• 56:30
  Speaker 2: late seventies or more early eighties. Some of the best
• 56:33
  Speaker 2: metal albums came out in that period. Had Van Halen One.
• 56:35
  Speaker 2: Then you had the Aussie stuff Black Sabbath with Maiden
• 56:40
  Speaker 2: Well yeah, yeah, I mean you had yeah. So there's
• 56:43
  Speaker 2: certain errors where there's just like a you know, they
• 56:45
  Speaker 2: we just kind of get spoiled. We just take it
• 56:48
  Speaker 2: for granted that we think we're just gonna be assaulted
• 56:51
  Speaker 2: with this great music. And then when then you find
• 56:53
  Speaker 2: out a few years later when you get these like
• 56:55
  Speaker 2: fourth rate Iron Maidens and fifth rate Nirvana's and you know,
• 56:59
  Speaker 2: seventh rate you know, you know whatever, like psychedelic band
• 57:04
  Speaker 2: you think of the Yeah, then like then then you
• 57:07
  Speaker 2: realize we had it pretty good for a while.
• 57:09
  Speaker 1: But hopefully it's it's a cyclical thing and eventually we'll
• 57:12
  Speaker 1: come back around to it.
• 57:14
  Speaker 2: But it's been yeah, I mean, it will you know,
• 57:15
  Speaker 2: so I forgot who I talked to for this book.
• 57:17
  Speaker 2: But actually, maybe we shouldn't talk too much about this book.
• 57:20
  Speaker 2: So it's gonna come back and talk about this book.
• 57:22
  Speaker 1: Right, We'll tease it.
• 57:23
  Speaker 2: But you know, one thing, I'll actually give you one
• 57:25
  Speaker 2: little taster. The one thing that someone said which is
• 57:27
  Speaker 2: pretty good is I asked a lot of these people
• 57:30
  Speaker 2: out injured for the book, like do you think this
• 57:31
  Speaker 2: could ever happen again? And one person it was either
• 57:35
  Speaker 2: Lou Barlow from Sebado or Corey Glover from the band
• 57:39
  Speaker 2: A Living Color into both of them for the book.
• 57:42
  Speaker 2: They said both said, yes, it will happen again. But
• 57:44
  Speaker 2: it's not gonna sound anything. It's not going to resemble
• 57:46
  Speaker 2: grunge at all. It's not gonna be like that. It's
• 57:49
  Speaker 2: gonna be like something that you don't even that you
• 57:52
  Speaker 2: can't even think of. It'll be like a guy from
• 57:55
  Speaker 2: hip hop merging his stuff with like shoegaze music. You know,
• 57:59
  Speaker 2: it's gonna be something that original. And I'm like, that's
• 58:02
  Speaker 2: totally that totally makes sense to me. It's not gonna
• 58:05
  Speaker 2: be someone ripping off Nirvana. It's not gonna be someone
• 58:08
  Speaker 2: ripping off sound Guard and ripping off nine inch nails.
• 58:10
  Speaker 2: It's gonna be someone that we don't even we can't
• 58:13
  Speaker 2: even fathom what you know, what it is. Yeah, hopefully
• 58:17
  Speaker 2: one day soon.
• 58:18
  Speaker 1: And it's usually it takes that one band or maybe
• 58:21
  Speaker 1: a solo artist, but a band that breaks through and
• 58:26
  Speaker 1: opens the door and the rest come in.
• 58:28
  Speaker 2: I mean, look at also Van Helen's first album. After
• 58:31
  Speaker 2: that comes out, how many people now are copying David
• 58:33
  Speaker 2: Lee growth, copying at Evan Helen. That was like a
• 58:35
  Speaker 2: Van Helen bomb that went off that suddenly, you know,
• 58:37
  Speaker 2: everyone just was kind of them. You could say the
• 58:40
  Speaker 2: same Nirvana, the Beatles, the Ramones. There's always these bands
• 58:44
  Speaker 2: every decade or every so often that just breaks down
• 58:49
  Speaker 2: the doors and then everyone either follows or they just copy.
• 58:53
  Speaker 1: Well, I'm looking forward to we'll talk about that book
• 58:54
  Speaker 1: some more when we get closer to the release. Now
• 58:57
  Speaker 1: that's through our friends and Motor Books, right.
• 58:59
  Speaker 2: It is okay, it is yeah, they they did a
• 59:02
  Speaker 2: great job. We we worked this book has been I
• 59:05
  Speaker 2: mean I probably began work on this book about two
• 59:08
  Speaker 2: years ago. It was completed about a year ago. We
• 59:11
  Speaker 2: you know, took our time getting pictures and formatting it
• 59:14
  Speaker 2: and everything. But yeah, I'm really happy with Wake came out.
• 59:16
  Speaker 2: It's going to come out as a hardcover, also a
• 59:20
  Speaker 2: kindle or digital and also again a audio version with
• 59:23
  Speaker 2: me narrating.
• 59:24
  Speaker 1: Excellent. Yeah, shout out to Steve Roth, a friend of
• 59:27
  Speaker 1: the podcast from great They do a phenomenal job, but
• 59:31
  Speaker 1: they do so happy for you that you're going to
• 59:33
  Speaker 1: be teaming up with them. So and by the way,
• 59:35
  Speaker 1: thank you also for the support on Ultimate Guitar. We
• 59:39
  Speaker 1: should also plug Ultimate Guitar's website. Oh sure if you
• 59:42
  Speaker 1: want to, because we're we're the podcast is mentioned they're often,
• 59:46
  Speaker 1: so that's very cool. Check out Ultimate guitar dot com.
• 59:50
  Speaker 2: Yeah, for people who don't know, I'm a writer for
• 59:53
  Speaker 2: Ultimate Guitar, and we sometimes do news articles from your podcast, right.
• 59:58
  Speaker 1: Absolutely often sometimes, Man, it's it's much appreciated.
• 1:00:03
  Speaker 2: So I wasn't keep the grade a content coming, is
• 1:00:05
  Speaker 2: all I'm gonna say.
• 1:00:06
  Speaker 1: That's and you've got you can keep the lights on here,
• 1:00:08
  Speaker 1: so you know. And you didn't make fun of me
• 1:00:12
  Speaker 1: for having Aaron Rodgers because I teased about being a
• 1:00:15
  Speaker 1: Jets fan about having Aaron Rodgers. I wished you the
• 1:00:18
  Speaker 1: best of luck. Now I'm stuck with him with the Steelers.
• 1:00:22
  Speaker 2: You know, I'm telling you you can make fun of
• 1:00:25
  Speaker 2: the Jets all you want because you have to laugh
• 1:00:27
  Speaker 2: from What's the thing you have to laugh to keep
• 1:00:30
  Speaker 2: from crying? Is that the Yeah?
• 1:00:32
  Speaker 1: But here I am with Aaron Rodgers. I don't know.
• 1:00:35
  Speaker 1: I'm not too excited about it. But we'll see, we
• 1:00:37
  Speaker 1: shall see.
• 1:00:38
  Speaker 2: We'll see I break, I break. The Steelers will do
• 1:00:40
  Speaker 2: batter than the Jets.
• 1:00:41
  Speaker 1: At least, we'll see, all right, Greg, Thanks.
• 1:00:43
  Speaker 2: Man, Okay, thanks again. That's it.
• 1:00:53
  Speaker 1: It's in the books.