Jenna Miller 2/22/12 Megadeth Megadeth has been a very popular thrash metal band for over 20 years. The bands, like most others, have gone through many conflicts. Unlike other bands though, Megadeth has stayed strong since the 80’s and has impacted the heavy metal culture. Megadeth has successfully released thirteen albums, which attracted both underground and mainstream fans. They also have accompanied what popular trends into their songs, which resulted in keeping the band steady and popular throughout the years. The start of the band was back in the 1980’s, where Dave Mustaine (lead singer and guitarist) joined the band Metallica in 1982. Mustaine had a drug and alcohol addiction which made him difficult to get along with. In March of 1983, his constant disagreements with vocalist, James Hetfield, caused him to get kicked out. In the summer, Mustaine meets bassist David Ellefson, and they form Megadeth with guitarist Greg Handevidt and drummer Dijon Carruthers. Because of the unorganized nature of the band and constant bickering between band members, the lineup has constantly changed throughout the years. Many believe Mustaine’s drug and alcohol addiction is to blame for this because of his constant highs and lows in his mood. The only two members, Dave Mustaine and Dave Ellefson, were in Megadeth when the band first started and are still currently in the 2012 line up. Megadeth's first three gigs where February 15th, 18th, and 19th, of 1984. In May of 1985, Megadeth’s first album, “Killing is My Business…And Business is Good!” was released. Because Megadeth was just starting out, Killing is my Business…And Business is Good!, was released on an independent label and did not chart the United States Billboard Top 200. In October, Megadeth was signed to their first label, Combat Records, and started to record their new album, Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying?. A year later on September 19, 1986, the album was released. The album was a success and charted number 76 on the Billboard 200. Their second album received a lot of positive credit for the intricate guitar riffs, long, fast solos, and topics from political conflicts to devil worshiping. However, Megadeth started to face negative comments because of the dark topics the band covered. Many started to believe the band was Satanic. For example the song “Bad Omen” talks about worshiping Satan and how these people had a sacrificing ceremony for him, hoping he would appreciate their actions. In return his demons end up destroying the people and Satan takes their souls. Dave Mustaine stated “When people heard ‘Black Friday’ and ‘Bad Omen’, they thought we were satanic. The worst thing is, like, going to a truck stop in Des Moines, Iowa, and having someone go [imitates southern redneck voice], ‘You guys in Megadeth? I heard you are satanic.’ They expect us to have dead goats and babies in our buses. You couldn’t get any further from the truth!” This quote reveals that Megadeth has gotten some negative output on their band. I believe Megadeth is far from being Satanic, they just write about many obscene topics that attract a wide spectrum of people. Megadeth is unique and takes a different approach to their lyrics unlike many other bands of their time. They know some of the topics they sing about can be “brutal” or “unethical” but they word their songs so they put down those sorts of topics. “As long as people keep stealing, hurting and mistreating people, there’s always going to be something that you can pick up on and say: ‘Look, this is wrong.’ Granted, we sing about it, but we take a negative approach to what we do sing about. ‘Hey the devil is there, but he′s a moron. That′s why he′s buried in dirt.’ ” (Dave Mustaine 1987) Megadeth continued struggling into the late 1980’s into the 1990’s. They released their third album, So Far, So Good…So What!, on January 19, 1988. This album charted number 28 on the Billboard 200. Also the album became Platinum, which means it sold over a million copies. Megadeth was on the verge of becoming legends. They begin playing with very famous metal bands, for example, in 1988, Megadeth opened for Dio, and they also played alongside with KISS, Iron Maiden, Guns N' Roses and David Lee Roth. With all of this new fame, Megadeth was being considered one of the “Big Four”. The “Big Four” consisted of Megadeth, Slayer, Anthrax, and Metallica. They were influenced by the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, but with a twist. This included the new idea of “shredding” on a guitar, fast tempos, double bass drumming, high-register guitar solos, complex guitar riffs, and the vary between melodic singing and shouted vocals. Megadeth though, stood out from the other three. Dave Mustaine’s resentment against riveraly band Metallica, gave him the determination to become better than them. Mustaine stated “All I remember is that I wanted blood. Theirs. I wanted to be faster and heavier than them; Megadeth will rival, conquer and destroy Metallica.” With this in mind, Megadeth focused their songs on topics such as politics, war, addiction, personal relationships, and religion; things everyone can relate to. Into the 1990’s, Dave Mustaine was involved in a car accident, which he was arrested for driving under the influence. This forced him to go to rehab and get sober. They then produced their next album, Rust in Peace, on September 24, 1990. It charted number 23 on the Billboard 200 and became platinum. This album is considered one of the most influential heavy metal albums of all time because it attracted not only underground fans but new mainstream metal fans. Also many say it was Megadeth’s strongest musical effort. The album mainly was about nuclear warfare, politics, religion, the negative effects on the environment such as pollution, and even heroin addiction. Megadeth’s next album Countdown to Extinction released on July 14, 1992, and charted number 2 on the Billboard 200. The title song “Countdown to Extinction “won the Humane Society of the United States "Genesis Award" for its topic of animal welfare. No other metal band has won this award. This album was unique; it focused on slowing down the tempos and making it more hard rock then metal, to attract a new crowd. In the process of this style-change, Megadeth produced Youthanasia on November 4, 1994 which charted number 4 on the Billboard 200. This album was very difficult to put together compared to Countdown to Extinction. There were constant “emotional interventions” throughout the band members, and the pressure to come out with an album better than the last one (which was extremely successful) put stress on the band. The band then took a break as Mustaine worked on a side project called MD.45. Then in 1996, they began working on their new album, Cryptic Writings, which was released on June 17, 1997. It debuted at number10 on the Billboard Top 200, and went platinum. Megadeth wanted this album to be the best of thrash and melodic metal combined. “One part of the record was really fast and aggressive, one third of it was the really melodic, in between stuff, and the final third was really radio- orientated music like Youthanasia” (Dave Mustaine). With the style of metal changing, Megadeth did not fully try to adopt these new trends into this album. The next album, Risk, which was released on August 11, 1999, was actually a risk the band took. This album focused on being Album-Oriented Rock, which are songs that are formatted to be played on the radio. In order for Megadeth to get more support from mainstream fans, the gamble had to be taken. Many give credit to Megadeth for taking a chance that could have hurt their reputation. .