Published on September 8th, 2020 | by Darren Paltrowitz
0Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine On His New “Rust In Peace” Book, Writing For “Bill & Ted” & Plenty More
It was over 30 years ago that Dave Mustaine founded Megadeth, in the process helping to pioneer the sound that would become known the world over as “thrash metal.” And from the very beginning, the band proved to be one of metal’s stand-out bands, starting off with its 1985 debut Killing Is My Business…And Business Is Good! and 1986’s seminal Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?. Over time, Megadeth has gone on to sell more than 38 million albums worldwide, win major awards — including a 2017 GRAMMY Award for “Best Metal Performance” — and score 5 consecutive platinum albums. The band is slated to release its 16th studio album in the next future with plenty of touring slated for 2021; its Live Nation-presented Summer 2020 tour of amphitheaters and arenas alongside Lamb Of God, Trivium and In Flames had to be postponed due to the current COVID-19 pandemic.
Dave Mustaine is the co-author of the newly-released book Rust In Peace: The Inside Story Of The Megadeth Masterpiece, which looks back at the seminal Megadeth album released in 1990 with the same title. It has been mentioned as one of the best thrash-metal records of all time by Decibel and Kerrang!, and was listed in the reference book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. This new Rust In Peace book — which includes a foreword by Guns N’ Roses guitarist Slash — not only offers the perspective of Mustaine, but also his bandmates, producers, notable fans and other people who were around Megadeth in this era. It ought to offer a lot of previously-unknown insight and anecdotes, even to long-term fans of Mustaine, Megadeth and the history of thrash metal as a whole.
On September 2, 2020, I had the pleasure of speaking with Dave Mustaine by phone about the Rust In Peace book and plenty more, as embedded below. More on all things Mustaine and Megadeth can be found online via www.megadeth.com, www.instagram.com/megadeth and www.twitter.com/davemustaine, while Rust In Peace can be ordered here and here.