Megadeth will always be known as one of the greatest heavy metal bands of all time.
Created from the bitterness of Dave Mustaine when he was kicked out of Metallica back in 83. They weren’t happy with his ongoing drug habit. Kirk Hammett, who at the time was the Exodus axe-man, replaced him. He made his goals clear: “Megadeth will rival, conquer and destroy Metallica.” Over the years, Megadeth have become bigger and better and have released some of the benchmark albums in metal history such as classics 'Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?’ and 'Rust in Peace’.
Suffering from numerous line-up changes they have been held together by founding members
Mustaine and bassist
David Ellefson. There is almost a different line-up on every record they have released! In 1983,
Slayer's
Kerry King was hired as guitarist. He left soon after. Even though they have had these band changes, on every record, the quality is there. If it’s a 7-minute long instrumental or a 2-minute blast of riffage, you can certainly tell that these guys are some of the best there is. In November 1984, they were signed to
Combat records. In 1986, they move to
Capitol records and finish recording '
Peace Sells’. They recorded all of their albums there and then in 2000, they left Capitol and signed with
Sanctuary. Here is a short review on some of their major albums.
Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying? [1986]
This was the first major studio album they had ever recorded and it features the original line-up of Mustaine, Ellefson, Chris Poland and Gar Samuelson (R.I.P) who was later killed in a car accident. There are some of metals greatest songs on here like the title track, which demonstrates their capability with use of riffs, solos, and lyrics that make this album what it is.
Rust In Peace [1990]
Some say this was the prime of Megadeth’s career. With songs like "Hangar 18" and "Holy Wars…The Punishment Due", this is surely one of the best albums of their career. 'Nuff said.
Countdown to Extinction [1992]
Surely another must have Megadeth album. This release is non-stop pure genius. From the first track to the last this is a masterpiece and seems to be a big influence on today’s bands. Featuring many of the people’s favourites like “Sweating Bullets” and “Symphony of Destruction”, these songs are guaranteed to be played at almost every show.
That brings us up to a few years ago, when Mustaine suffered from a compressed radial nerve, which damaged his little finger. That’s when Megadeth decided to call it quits. After the split, they all went their separate ways. Mustaine is now working on a solo project, Al Pitrelli (the latest guitarist) went on with his orchestra project, and Ellefson is working on a solo album as well as doing guest appearances on recent records. Mustaine has even said he would like to do a side project with James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich, with Ellefson doing bass. “We would call it Metallideth!” he said in an interview. Recently, when Jackson guitars went up for sale, Mustaine obviously was first in there as he had been playing them for around 20 years, but just before the deal was done they pulled out and sold it to Fender. He has now signed a deal with ESP guitars and has his own signature model 'DV8’out now.
They are no doubt one of the most influential bands ever in metal, along with the likes of Black Sabbath, Metallica and Pantera. Current bands like DevilDriver, Shadows Fall and Avenged Sevenfold have mentioned them as one of their biggest influences.
Megadeth may be over but the spirit will remain forever…
