I just finished reading Dave Mustaine’s book today. It was quite the interesting read. I thought it was one of the best and most insightful musical autobiography’s I’ve ever read. Dave Mustaine really did a good job clearing up the things that happened in the past. He of course, talked a lot about Metallica. That was pretty much he mostly talked about throughout the entire book, it was all Metallica discussion. He talked about the long feud with Metallica and how he buried the hatchet with the band later in the years. He also talked about his feud with other metal band, Slayer. I didn’t know that Kerry King was a member of Megadeth very briefly. Kerry was in Megadeth for a little bit before the band was signed to a major label. Those two have been feuding ever since. The Megadeth and Slayer feud is officially over and they’ve obviously buried the hatchet since they are on tour together now. Dave also defends Slayer in the book that they are not a Satanic death metal band.

Dave talked a lot about his history with drugs and alcohol. He stays clean and sober today because of his arm injury that he had in the past. Why all the hatchet burying with all the bands Dave’s been feuding with in the past? It’s because Dave became clean and sober, he got himself baptized into the Christian religion and he just wanted to become a better person. So he wanted to show that he can be a good guy by supporting Metallica and Slayer.Dave didn’t talk about the Big 4 shows in Europe for the Sonisphere gigs because he must of finished the book way before then. Dave just didn’t want to hold negative grudges for so long. So they wanted to prove fans that they buried the hatchet by getting on shows with Metallica and Slayer. As a way to get people to stop talking about their feuds publicly.

Dave admits that the Megadeth albums “Cryptic Writings” and “Risk” was the worst he’s ever done, because they were more mainstream pop, than metal. Dave also admits that Megadeth never made a no. 1 record for the Billboard. Most Megadeth albums were successful, but they never hit no. 1 on the Billboard. I’m sure one day Megadeth will make a no. 1 record, it’ll happen for them, it’s only a matter of time. Now that Metallica are friends with Megadeth again, Dave will probably get plenty of songwriting advice from James and Lars.

The book was a great read and it is a must read if you’re a fan of Megadeth or a fan of metal. I too am a fan of heavy metal, as you can tell, but I don’t like death metal/satanic bands. I don’t like goth or black metal either. I just like plain old metal with good guitar playing and just regular singing, not screaming and growling. I listen to a lot of metal like Metallica, Megadeth, Slayer, Pantera, Dream Theater, Soundgarden, Opeth, Lamb  of God, etc. because it’s inspiring music for me to listen to with my own guitar playing. If I want to improve my rock guitar playing, I figure it’s appropriate to listen to as much metal music as possible…just for inspiration. People don’t see me being a fan of metal, but yes, I love the genre, always had.

Megadeth is a great band and Dave is a talented guy. Many people hate him because of his ego and his cocky attitude, but hey, that’s part of the music industry. All musicians have egos and have cocky attitudes (that includes me too, sometimes). I don’t take the ego thing personally and seriously. That’s just the way music is. Pick up the book soon. It’ll make you understand Dave as a person and a musician a little better.

Kev