Megadeth

Megadeth is a heavy metal band from the United States. Dave Mustaine started the band in 1983 after Metallica fired him. Megadeth is a member of the "Big Four" in thrash metal along with Metallica, Slayer and Anthrax.
Megadeth is one of the bands that have made thrash metal. They have released 15 albums of music. The band's music is complex. It has a fast tempo and difficult guitar solos.
In 1985, Megadeth made its first album. It was named Killing is My Business... and Business is Good!. Combat Records (a record label) released the album. After the album came out, larger record labels noticed Megadeth. The band joined Capitol Records. Their first album with Capitol Records, Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?, was released in 1986. In the 1980s, many members of Megadeth were addicted to drugs. Band members also had problems with each other. Because of this, they had bad publicity. The band has released many popular albums, such as So Far, So Good... So What! (1988), Rust in Peace (1990), and Countdown to Extinction (1992).
Megadeth has had many different guitarists, drummers, and bassists. Mustaine is the only member of the original group who is still in the band. The band broke up in 2002 when Mustaine hurt his arm. They got back together in 2004. Megadeth's current members are guitarist and singer Dave Mustaine, guitarist Kiko Loureiro, drummer Dirk Verbeuren and bassist James LoMenzo.
History
1983-1985: Band starts, Killing is My Business... and Business is Good!
On April 11, 1983, Metallica fired Dave Mustaine before they released their first album, Kill 'Em All. This was because he was addicted to drugs. He also had problems with James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich. Mustaine was one of the first members of Metallica. He made some of the band's first songs. After he was fired, Mustaine wanted to make a band that had faster, better music than Metallica. While he was riding a bus to Los Angeles, Mustaine read an advertisement by Senator Alan Cranston that had the word "megadeath" in it. He liked the word, and wrote a song named "Megadeth".
When he got to Los Angeles, Mustaine wanted to make a band. He looked for musicians for it. Bassist David Ellefson and guitarist Greg Handevidt joined the band. He named the band Fallen Angels. He changed the name to Megadeth later.
Handevidt only stayed in the band for a few months. Mustaine and Ellefson worked well together. Mustaine had trouble finding other people to join Megadeth. Many drummers auditioned to join the band during this time. The band wanted a drummer they could work well with. Lee Rausch joined the band to play the drums. For six months, they tried to find someone that wanted to be the band's singer. Mustaine became the singer so they could start making music. A few singers were in Megadeth before this. None of them stayed in the band.
In 1984, Megadeth made three songs. The songs were put in a demo named Last Rites. The demo was released on March 9, 1984. It had songs such as "Last Rites/Loved to Death" and "Mechanix". These were later on the band's first album.
Megadeth could not find a second guitarist that worked well with the band. Kerry King from Slayer played guitar for some of the band's concerts in San Francisco in early 1984. After the concerts, King went back to playing with Slayer. Megadeth replaced Lee Rausch with jazz drummer Gar Samuelson in October 1984. Before joining Megadeth, Samuelson was in a jazz band with a guitarist named Chris Poland. Poland watched Samuelson playing with Megadeth and told Mustaine he wanted to play with the band as well. He joined Megadeth in December 1984.
Megadeth joined Combat Records after they offered to give the band a lot of money to record music and play at concerts. In 1985, Combat Records gave Megadeth $8,000 to make their first album. The band spent half of it on food, drugs, and alcohol. They fired the producer they were given, and made the album.
Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good! was released in 1985. Many people who listened to metal liked the album. Bigger record labels noticed Megadeth because the album sold a lot of copies. Vic Rattlehead, the band's mascot, was on the front cover of the album. This was the first time he was shown. Music writer Joel McIver, who liked Killing is My Business, said the album put pressure on other bands. It "raised the bar for the whole thrash metal scene".
In the middle of 1985, Megadeth went on their first North American tour. It was named the "Killing for a Living Tour". Guitarist Mike Albert replaced Chris Poland for the tour because Poland was using drugs. Albert was going to keep playing guitar with Megadeth, but Poland came back to the band in October 1985.
1986-1987: Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?
Megadeth wanted to make another good album. Mustaine started writing music for a new one. Other members of the band gave him ideas for songs.
The album was made with $25,000 given to the band by Combat Records. Megadeth wanted more money, so they left Combat and joined Capitol Records. Capitol bought the rights to sell the album and hired producer Paul Lani to make the band's recordings sound better. Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? was released in late 1986. It had better lyrics and recording quality than Killing is my Business. The album had lyrics about social issues. People liked the album's music and lyrics. Megadeth became more popular.
In March 1987, Megadeth started its first world tour in the United Kingdom. The tour had other bands, such as Overkill and Necros, and went to the United States. During the tour, Mustaine and Ellefson wanted to fire Samuelson because of his cocaine addiction. Drummer Chuck Behler played with Megadeth for the last few weeks of the tour. This was because band members thought Samuelson was not going to be able to play for the rest of it. Mustaine and Poland had arguments because Mustaine thought Poland was selling the band's supplies to buy heroin. Samuelson and Poland left Megadeth in 1987 for these reasons. Chuck Behler became the band's new drummer. Poland was replaced by guitarist Jeff Young.
1988-1989: So Far, So Good... So What!
Capitol Records gave Megadeth a large amount of money to make more music. The band started making an album named So Far, So Good... So What!. It took almost half a year to record. There were many problems while making the album, such as Mustaine's drug addiction. Mustaine had arguments with the album's producer, Paul Lani. This was because Lani wanted Behler to record his drums and his cymbals at different times. Mustaine and Lani did not talk to each other when the album was being mixed. Michael Wagener replaced Lani. He mixed the album differently.
So Far, So Good... So What! was released in January 1988. Critics and people who listened to thrash metal liked the album. The album had a cover version of "Anarchy in the U.K." by the Sex Pistols. The cover had different lyrics than the original. Mustaine later said he heard the song's lyrics wrong when he was making it. After the album came out, Megadeth went on a world tour that lasted almost eight months. After, they had a North American tour with Warlock and Sanctuary and a European tour with other thrash metal bands.
In August 1988, Megadeth was at the Monsters of Rock festival in the United Kingdom. They played music for over 100,000 people there. For one show, Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich played with the band. Megadeth went on the Monsters of Rock European concert tour. They stopped playing after the first concert because of Ellefson's drug addiction. Ellefson was treated for his issues, and Testament replaced Megadeth for the rest of the tour.
After the band played at Monsters of Rock, Mustaine fired Behler and Young. He also canceled the band's Australian tour. Mustaine later said he did it because he thought "a lot of us were inconsistent because of [drugs]". During Monsters of Rock, Mustaine saw Behler using drugs. He had drummer Nick Menza help Behler as a roadie (someone who helps a band with technical work). Menza replaced Behler in 1989. Young was fired because Mustaine thought he was having an affair with his girlfriend. Young said this was not true.
The band could not find someone to replace Young quickly. 1989 was the first year since Megadeth was made that the band did not play at a concert. The band made a cover version of Alice Cooper's "No More Mr. Nice Guy". It was put on the soundtrack for Wes Craven's movie Shocker. In March 1989, Mustaine crashed into a police officer's car. He was arrested for driving under the influence and having illegal drugs. He got treatment for his drug addiction. He was drug-free for the first time in ten years.
1990-1991: Rust in Peace
Megadeth tried to get someone to play the guitar for the band. Slash from Guns N' Roses had been playing with Mustaine and Ellefson. They thought he was going to join Megadeth. However, he stayed with Guns N' Roses. The band asked Dimebag Darrell from Pantera to join the band. He did not. This was because Mustaine did not let Darrell's brother, Vinnie Paul, play drums for the band. The band asked guitarist Criss Oliva to join. Oliva did not want to leave Savatage, so he did not join.
Marty Friedman joined Megadeth. He was the new main guitarist for the band. Mustaine let Friedman join after listening to his music. Mustaine and Ellefson liked how Friedman played guitar. They thought he could play the type of music Megadeth wanted to make. The band started recording music in March 1990 to make Rust in Peace. Mike Clink was the co-producer of the album. He was the first producer to make a full Megadeth album without being fired.
Rust in Peace was released in September 1990. It went to number 23 on the Billboard 200 music chart. It also went to number 8 in the United Kingdom. The songs on the album had longer guitar solos. Mustaine wrote the album's lyrics in a more complex way. The album made the band more important in rock and metal music. Rust in Peace had two singles: "Holy Wars... the Punishment Due" and "Hangar 18". These singles had music videos. They became songs that Megadeth played at every concert. Rust in Peace was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 1991. It did not win the award.
In early 1990, Megadeth went on the Clash of the Titans tour in Europe with Slayer, Testament, Suicidal Tendencies, and many other American thrash metal bands. An American tour happened in 1991, with Slayer, Anthrax, and Alice in Chains. Clash of the Titans was one of the most successful heavy metal concert tours. Megadeth played with Judas Priest during Priest's North American concert tour for Painkiller in late 1990. In July 1991, the band made the song "Go to Hell". It was put in the soundtrack for the movie Bill & Ted's Bogus Journey.
1992-1993: Countdown to Extinction
Every member of the band helped write songs for their fifth studio album. They wrote at two different times: first, after the Clash of the Titans tour; second, in late 1991, after a one-month break. Megadeth started recording the album in January 1992, at Enterprise Studios in Burbank, California. Max Norman, who mixed the music on Rust in Peace, produced the album. Megadeth took almost four months to make the band's best-selling album, Countdown to Extinction.
The album came out in July 1992 at number 2 on the United States music charts. It was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1993 but did not win. Ellefson was disappointed that Megadeth did not win the Grammy. He said that "the amount of work it had taken to ramp up to that hopeful night was literally gone in a second".
A world tour for the album with Pantera and White Zombie started in late 1992. The tour came to North America in early 1993, where Stone Temple Pilots played as well. One month into the North American part of the tour, the rest of the concerts were cancelled because Mustaine was abusing drugs again. He went to the hospital. After seven weeks of getting help for his drug addiction, Mustaine came back to Megadeth. The band made the song "Angry Again". It was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1994. The song was put on the soundtrack for the 1993 movie Last Action Hero.
In the middle of 1993, Megadeth and Metallica played music at many concerts in Europe. In July, Megadeth started touring with Aerosmith, but they stopped after three shows. After their cancelled North American tour, Megadeth made "99 Ways to Die", a song that was on the album The Beavis and Butt-Head Experience. The song was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1995.
1994-1995: Youthanasia
In early 1994, Megadeth hired producer Max Norman to help make another album. Because three of the band's members lived in Arizona, Megadeth started working on the album at Phase Four Studios, a music studio in Phoenix. After the band worked on the album for a few days, they had problems with the studio's equipment. The band looked for another place to record. Mustaine wanted to record the album in Arizona, but the band could not find anywhere else in the state to do it. The band decided to build a studio in a warehouse, naming it "Fat Planet in Hangar 18". They started recording Youthanasia in this studio. The songs on Youthanasia had a slower tempo than Megadeth's other songs. The band focused on making music that more people liked, and could easily be played on the radio.
Youthanasia was released after eight months of work. It was released in November 1994. It came out at number four in the United States and made the top music charts in many European countries. To get more people to listen to the album, Megadeth did a concert in New York City on Halloween. It was named "Night of the Living Megadeth". It was shown on MTV. In November, the band played on the Late Show with David Letterman two times.
Megadeth started an eleven-month concert tour in South America in late 1994. In 1995, the band played in Europe and North America with many bands, such as Korn, Fear Factory and Corrosion of Conformity. The concert tour ended with the band playing at the Monsters of Rock festival in Brazil with Alice Cooper and Ozzy Osbourne. In July, Megadeth put out Hidden Treasures, an extended play with songs they made that were on movie soundtracks and non-Megadeth albums.
1996-1999: Cryptic Writings and Risk
After finishing Youthanasia's long world tour, Megadeth took a break for most of 1996. It was the second time they did not play at any concerts for an entire year. During the break, Mustaine started playing with MD.45, a different band he made with singer Lee Ving. The two hired Jimmy DeGrasso, a drummer who played with Alice Cooper during the 1995 Monsters of Rock festival. Marty Friedman built a recording studio in his house in Phoenix, Arizona. He released an album in April 1996.
In September 1996, Megadeth went to London to make songs for a new album. The songwriting work was closely watched by Bud Prager, Megadeth's new manager. Prager gave the band many ideas for songs and lyrics. Many song titles and lyrics were changed because of him. They recorded the album in Nashville with producer Dann Huff. Huff had met Mustaine in 1990.
Cryptic Writings was released in June 1997. Its main single, "Trust", was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1998. All four singles from the album went into the top 20 on Billboard's Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. Cryptic Writings had mixed (good and bad) reviews from critics. The album had songs that were very different from each other. The Los Angeles Times wrote that the album was a "balance" between metal and experimental music. Mustaine said that the album had three parts. The first was angrier, faster metal, the next one was radio-friendly rock "like Youthanasia", and the last one was happier.
Megadeth went back to playing live in June 1997. They started a world tour with the Misfits. They also played in North America with Life of Agony and Coal Chamber. In 1998, the band played at Ozzfest. Menza found a tumor on his knee in the middle of the tour. He left to get surgery for it. Jimmy DeGrasso replaced him for the rest of the tour. DeGrasso joined the band after the tour. The band made Menza leave. Mustaine later said he thought Menza was lying about having cancer.
Megadeth worked with Dann Huff again for their eighth album. The band started writing songs for it in January 1999. Prager helped write five of the album's twelve songs. Prager got Mustaine to give Huff more control over how the album was recorded.
Risk was released in August 1999. It did not sell very well. Many fans thought it was a failure. While the albums Megadeth put out before it had rock and metal music, Risk did not have any thrash metal on it. Many people did not like this.
On July 14, 1999, Gar Samuelson died of liver failure in Orange City, Florida. Samuelson used to be the drummer of the band. He was 41 years old. When Megadeth was at Woodstock eleven days later, they played "Peace Sells" for Samuelson. The band started a world tour in September. They played with Iron Maiden in Europe. Three months into the tour, guitarist Marty Friedman left the band. Mustaine said that it was because he told Friedman that Megadeth should play more heavy metal music.
2000-2003: The World Needs a Hero, the band breaks up
In 2000, Al Pitrelli from Savatage replaced Friedman. Megadeth started working on their ninth album in April. After a month, the band played on a concert tour with Anthrax and Motley Crue. Megadeth stopped working on the album to go on tour.
Megadeth left Capitol Records in July 2000. They were a member of the record label for 15 years. Mustaine said the band left because they were having problems with Capitol's managers. Capitol released a compilation album named Capitol Punishment: The Megadeth Years. In November, Megadeth joined Sanctuary Records. The band went back to working on its new album, The World Needs a Hero. Mustaine fired Bud Prager. He produced the album by himself. He did this because he knew people did not like Risk, which was an album Prager worked on.
The World Needs a Hero was released in May 2001. It was banned in Malaysia because the country's government did not like the album's artwork. Because of this, the band cancelled a concert they were going to play in Kuala Lumpur. The album had more metal music. It was heavier than Cryptic Writings and Risk.
In January 2002, Mustaine went to the hospital because he needed to get a kidney stone removed. After the surgery, he was given medicine to stop his pain, which made him addicted to drugs again. After leaving the hospital, Mustaine went to a treatment place in Texas to fix his drug addiction. He fell asleep with his left arm on the back of a chair. This hurt a nerve in his arm very badly. He could not control his left hand very well.
In April, Megadeth broke up because Mustaine could not play the guitar with his injury. For the next four months, he did physical therapy to heal his arm. To stay with Sanctuary Records, Megadeth released a compilation album named Still, Alive... and Well?. The first half of the album has songs recorded from one of the band's concerts. The second half is songs from The World Needs a Hero.
After a year of rest and therapy, Mustaine started making an album by himself. Later, he stopped working on it so he could remaster the eight albums Megadeth made with Capitol Records.
2004-2005: Band gets back together, The System Has Failed
In May 2004, Mustaine started working on his solo album again. EMI, the band's European record label, said that the album had to be released by Megadeth. Mustaine wanted to get the band back together to release the album. He talked to Nick Menza, Marty Friedman, and David Ellefson about it. Nick Menza wanted to join Megadeth again, but Friedman and Ellefson did not. Menza did not stay with the band for a long time. Mustaine said Menza was not ready for a tour, and "it just didn't work out". The System Has Failed was going to be the band's first album without Ellefson. Chris Poland, who played guitar on Megadeth's first two albums, was hired to make guitar solos. This was the first time Poland and Mustaine worked together since the 1980s. Poland did not join the band because he wanted to work on his jazz project named OHM.
The System Has Failed came out in September 2004. Critics liked it. They thought it sounded similar to the original Megadeth albums. Mustaine said that it was going to be the band's last album. He also said Megadeth was starting their last concert tour. Mustaine said that after the tour, he wanted to work on his own music.
Megadeth started their tour in October. They hired bassist James MacDonough and guitarist Glen Drover. Menza was replaced by Shawn Drover, who stayed with the band. The band toured the United States and Europe with other metal bands. The tour went very well. It made a lot of money. When the band was playing at a festival in Argentina, Mustaine said that the band was going to keep making music.
2006-2008: United Abominations
In February 2006, James MacDonough left the band because of "personal differences". Bassist James LoMenzo replaced him. In March, Capitol Records made a DVD named Arsenal of Megadeth. It had many of the band's music videos, interviews, and live concerts on it. The band went on tour in 2006. They went to North America and Australia with many other metal bands.
In May 2006, Megadeth said that their eleventh album, United Abominations, was almost done. It was supposed to be put out in October, but its release was delayed until May 2007. Mustaine said that the band was "putting the finishing touches on it". United Abominations was Megadeth's first album with James LoMenzo, Glen Drover, and Shawn Drover.
United Abominations came out at number eight on the Billboard 200. It sold 54,000 copies in the first week. In March, Megadeth joined Heaven & Hell on a North American tour. They also played in Europe in the summer and went on another tour in the United States.
In January 2008, Glen Drover left Megadeth. He was tired of going on tours. He wanted to be with his family more. He also had problems with the other members of the band. Guitarist Chris Broderick replaced Drover. Mustaine said Broderick was "the best guitarist Megadeth has ever had".
2009-2010: Endgame
In May 2009, Megadeth made their twelfth album, Endgame. Megadeth started a tour for the album in October. The tour ended in December. In January 2010, the band was supposed to go on tour with Slayer and Testament, but the tour was cancelled. This was because Slayer bassist Tom Araya needed back surgery. A single from Endgame, "Head Crusher", was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2010.
In March, Megadeth started a tour for Rust in Peace. This was because the album was 20 years old. During the tour, the band played the whole album live at every concert. James LoMenzo left the band before the tour. David Ellefson, the band's original bassist, replaced him.
In September, the band made the song "Sudden Death". It was on the video game Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. It was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2011.
2011-2014: Thirteen and Super Collider
Megadeth went to the studio they built in Arizona to make their next album. It was produced by John Karkazis. This was because the person who had produced United Abominations and Endgame was busy. The album was named Thirteen. They put a few songs they had already made onto the album, such as "Sudden Death" and "Never Dead". The album came out in November 2011. It went to number eleven on the Billboard 200. One of its singles, "Public Enemy No. 1", was nominated for a Grammy Award. It did not win.
In September 2012, Megadeth said they were going to put out a remastered version of Countdown to Extinction because the album was 20 years old. The band started a tour for Countdown. They played the entire album at every concert. Another song from Thirteen, "Whose Life (Is It Anyways?)", was nominated for a Grammy Award in 2013.
In August, Megadeth started working on their fourteenth album. Megadeth left Roadrunner Records at the start of 2013. They joined Mustaine's new record label named Tradecraft. In June, Megadeth released Super Collider. Many critics did not like this album. Shortly after Super Collider came out, Mustaine said he was already thinking about making another Megadeth album.
In November 2014, Drover left the band because he wanted to play his own music. Broderick left the band for the same reason. Ellefson said that Megadeth would not break up again. He said that he and Mustaine would still make new music.
2015-2018: Dystopia
Mustaine tried to get the band members that made Rust in Peace to join Megadeth again, but he failed. Instead, he hired drummer Chris Adler (who was a part of Lamb of God) and guitarist Kiko Loureiro. The band started working on a new album. The album was named Dystopia. It was released in January 2016. The band went on tour for the album in February and March. They played with bands such as Suicidal Tendencies and Children of Bodom. Adler was taken out of the band because he was having trouble being in both Megadeth and Lamb of God. He was replaced by Dirk Verbeuren from Soilwork. Another American tour happened from September to October. Nick Menza, who used to play the drums for the band, died of a heart attack on May 21, 2016.
The song "Dystopia" won a Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance in 2017. This was the band's first time winning a Grammy. Before this, they were nominated for Grammys twelve times. Mustaine, Ellefson, Loureiro, and Verbeuren went to the awards show.
In 2018, Megadeth made a remaster of their first album, Killing is My Business... and Business is Good!. They made it because the band was 35 years old. The remaster was named Killing is My Business... and Business is Good!- The Final Kill.
2019-present: The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead!
In May 2019, Megadeth went to Tennessee to start working on their next album. They hired Chris Rakestraw to help produce it. Rakestraw was also the producer for Dystopia. On June 17, the band stated that the concerts they planned to play at would be cancelled. This was because a doctor told Mustaine he had throat cancer. Even with Mustaine's condition, the band said they would keep making the new album.
Megadeth was supposed to go on tour in the summer of 2020 with Trivium and In Flames. The tour was moved to a later date because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour happened in the summer of 2021. Hatebreed replaced In Flames for it. In mid-2020, Megadeth went back to making their album. They wanted to release it in 2021.
While talking to fans on Zoom, Mustaine said that the band's sixteenth album was going to be named The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead!. He said that the name of it could change later. In May 2021, sexual videos of Ellefson were put on the internet. He was fired from the band later that month. Mustaine said that Ellefson could never join the band again.
In June, Mustaine said that the bass guitar recordings Ellefson made would not be on the new album. A different bassist was going to make new recordings. Mustaine did not say who this bassist was. When the band went on tour before the album came out, James LoMenzo played with them. LoMenzo was a bass guitar player for the band. Mustaine later said that Steve Di Giorgio, the bassist for Testament, played the bass on The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead!. On May 31, 2022, Megadeth said that LoMenzo was rejoining the band.
In September 2022, Megadeth released The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead!. Before it came out, the band put out three singles during the summer. They were named "We'll Be Back", "Night Stalkers", and "Soldier On!". "We'll Be Back" was nominated for a Grammy Award.
Legacy
Megadeth is one of the few American thrash metal bands from the 1980s to be successful. Megadeth is thought of as one of the "Big Four" of thrash metal, along with Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer. These bands were important because they made thrash metal much more popular. Loudwire ranked Megadeth the third-best thrash metal band of all time, behind Slayer and Metallica. Billboard said that Peace Sells... but Who's Buying? is a "landmark of the thrash movement". They thought that what the album was about is still important now.
Many people think Megadeth is one of the most influential bands from the 1980s. The band's music inspired other bands to make more types of metal, such as death metal and extreme metal. Megadeth sold 9.1 million albums in the United States between 1991 and 2014.
Band members
See also: List of Megadeth band members
Current members
Dave Mustaine - guitar, main vocals (1983-2002, 2004-present)
James LoMenzo - bass, vocals (2006-2010, 2022-present)
Kiko Loureiro - guitar, vocals (2015-present)
Dirk Verbeuren - drums (2016-present)
Studio albums
1985: Killing Is My Business... and Business Is Good!
1986: Peace Sells... but Who's Buying?
1988: So Far, So Good... So What!
1990: Rust in Peace
1992: Countdown to Extinction
1994: Youthanasia
1997: Cryptic Writings
1999: Risk
2001: The World Needs a Hero
2004: The System Has Failed
2007: United Abominations
2009: Endgame
2011: Thirteen
2013: Super Collider
2016: Dystopia
2022: The Sick, the Dying... and the Dead!
Other websites
Official website
References
Thrash metal bands
American heavy metal bands
Roadrunner Records
Speed metal bands
American hard rock bands
Musical groups from Los Angeles
Grammy Award winners