Dave Mustaine
By Whitney McNeil
• Born David Scott Mustaine
• Birthday is September 13,
1961
• Originally from La Mesa,
California
• Youngest of four children
• Parents divorced when he was
4 years old
• Lived in poverty and moved
often
Dave
• His early influences include the Beatles, the Righteous
Brothers and Elton John
• He received his first guitar in elementary school
• 1974-He started his first real band, called Panic
• “Panic In Detroit”
by David Bowie
was the first song
he learned to play
• 1981-Dave met
Lars Ulrich and
James Hetfield
(Metallica)
1974-1981
• Dave became heavily involved in drugs, promiscuous
sex, and alcohol
• He was kicked out of Metallica
• He came up with his future band name “Megadeth”
• Dave met
David Ellefson
and founded
Megadeth
1983
• 1984-Megadeth released their first album, “Killing Is My
Business… And Business Is Good!”
• Went on their first tour throughout the U.S. and Canada
• 1985-Signed on with a new record label
• Released second album “Peace
Sells… But Who’s Buying?”
• 1987-First world tour
• 1988-Released third album,
“So Far So Good… So What?”
• Played with big bands such as
Dio, Iron Maiden, KISS and
Guns ‘N Roses
1984-1988
• Megadeth went through
several band member
changes
• Dave was known for his bad
temper and habit of picking
fights
• 1990-Released their fourth
album, “Rust In Peace”
• 1991-Megadeth headlined for
their own tour
• Dave married his wife,
Pamela Casselburry
1990-1991
• 1992-Dave’s son, Justis, was
born
• Megadeth released their fifth
album, Countdown To
Extinction”
• 1993-A tour was cancelled due
to Dave’s drug and alcohol
addiction
• Megadeth was kicked off of
Aerosmith’s tour, also because
of his addictions
1992-1993
• 1994-Megadeth’s sixth album
was released, “Youthanasia”
• “Youthanasia broke records in
Canada for the fastest album to
go golden
• 1997-Their seventh album was
released, “Cryptic Writings”
• Megadeth launched their
website, www.megadeth.com
• 1998-Dave’s daughter, Electra,
was born
1994-1998
• 1999-Megadeth released their eighth album, “Risk”
• “Risk” was not as successful for Megadeth
• 2001-Their ninth album, “The World Needs A Hero” was
released
• 2002-They released a live
album, “Rude Awakening”
• Their compilation album,
“Still Alive… And Well?”
was also released
1999-2002
• 2002-Dave suffered nerve damage in his left arm and
was told he’d never play guitar again
• Megadeth dismembered
• 2004-After two years of therapy, Dave regained feeling
in his arm
• Dave sought out
religion and became
a Christian
• Megedeth released
their tenth album,
“The System Has
Failed”
2002-2004
• 2005-Megadeth released, “Greatest Hits: Back To The
Start”
• 2007-Their eleventh album, “United Abominations” was
released
• 2009-”Endgame” was their
twelfth album to be
released
• 2011-Their thirteenth and
most meaningful album,
“Th1RT3EN” was released
2005-2011
• Megadeth has sold many multiplatinum albums
• Dave has appeared on several television shows and had
music featured on many soundtracks
• After numerous trips to rehab, Dave remains happy and
sober
Today
Musical Composition
• Track from album, “Rust In
Peace”
• Music and lyrics written by
Dave Mustaine
• Album was produced in
October 1990
• Originally performed by Dave Mustaine (lead vocals,
rhythm guitar), Marty Friedman (lead guitar, backing
vocals), David Ellefson (bass, backing vocals), and Nick
Menza (drums, backing vocals)
• Total song length is 6:32
“Holy Wars… The Punishment Due”
• 0:00-Electric guitar starts with fast paced
tempo-This gives the listener a feeling of
speed and excitement. The reader is being
built up to the story line; the rise and fall of
the musical cords helps the listener feel
hooked into the journey.
• 0:06-Drums join in-Adding to the
excitement and deepening the depth of the
beat.
• 0:11-Tempo becomes faster-This prepares
the listener for what is to come.
• 0:45-Lead guitar comes in with chordsThis gives the listener a feeling of stability
while taking the ride to the story line
• 1:27-Vocals 1-An introduction to the
meaning of the song, different than the
other verses; right away the listener feels
the tension in the lyrics; the vocals and
lyrics give the listener a feeling of being
distraught.
• 2:15-Acoustic Guitar Bridge-This helps
the listener feel like they are either
cooling off or building up to something
big.
• 2:26-Vocals 2-Guitar gets heavier; vocals
sound more like fast talking and have an
angry feeling, different than the other
verses; the tone in the vocals and the
heaviness of the guitar make the listener
feel like they are taking revenge; the vocals
end at a high point, leaving the listener
feeling unresolved.
• 2:41-Lead guitar with percussion and
guitar-The tone in the chords help the
listener feel a little more relaxed with an
underlying sad feeling coming from the
musical descent.
• 2:56-Verse 1-Vocals sound worried; the
listener is hooked into the story line,
becoming interested in the sad story the
vocalist is telling.
• 3:27-Lead guitar with percussion and
guitar-The listener is taken along with the
rise and fall of the chords and rhythm; the
listener is prepared for the mental ride the
lead guitar is about to take them on.
• 3:46-Lead guitar drops out-This lets the
listener know that the vocals are about to
continue on.
• 3:50-Verse 2-With the vocals sounding
worried, the listener is engaged with the
sad story being described by the vocalist;
the listener ends up feeling angry as the
lyrics turn revengeful.
• 4:21-Lead guitar with percussion and
guitar-Preparing the listener for the
change in speed.
• 4:37-Speed picks up-This takes the listener
along, leaving a fast and confusing
impression.
• 4:48-Lead guitar with percussion and
guitar continue-High dissonance is felt as
the guitar ascends
• 5:40-Vocals 3-Vocals are similar in sound,
but are different than any other verse; the
vocals give the listener the final piece to
the story; the listener feels a little
incomplete, sad, and angry.
• 6:21-Coda-Short pause; the song ends
abruptly with vocals; this finalizes the
story and gives the listener closure.
• A track from “Countdown To
Extinction”
• Music and lyrics were written
by Dave Mustaine
• Album was produced in June
1992
• Originally performed by Dave Mustaine (lead vocals,
rhythm guitar), Chris Broderick (lead guitar, backing
vocals), David Ellefson (bass, backing vocals), and
Shawn Drover (drums, backing vocals)
• Total song length is 5:27
“Sweating Bullets”
• 0:00-Tempo is slow with electric guitar
solo entrance; this gives the listener a
feeling of anticipation.
• 0:22-Drums enter-This gives the listener a
deeper beat to connect with, and gives
them even more anticipation of what is to
come.
• 0:46-Verse 1-Intro with guitar and drums,
melody has three beats with short pauses;
vocals are angry and sound like fast talking;
the listener immediately gets an angry feeling
and anticipation builds for the story to
continue.
• 1:08- Chorus-The tempo picks up; the listener
feels like they are vicariously going through
the troubling story the vocalist is describing;
the music has a smooth, catchy beat that is
easy to follow along with.
• 1:35-Verse 2-vocals slow down to angry talking
again; the same feelings as the first verse run
through the listener as the story is continued;
the story is easy to follow along with because
the vocals are only a little faster than talking
speed.
• 1:59- Chorus -The tempo picks back up; the
listener returns to story mode but this time with
a sense of knowledge; the listener has a better
idea of what is to come and is able to just ride
along with the chords.
• 2:25-Guitar and drum enters-This leaves
the listener to really get into the musical
part of the song, even getting carried away
with the lead guitar’s movements.
• 3:23-Tempo slows-Alerting the listener to
change and leading them toward
completion.
• 3:33-Talking in the background-This
helps the listener get more into the
storyline by adding more content to the
story.
• 3:58-The tempo gets faster-Alerting the
listener that change is coming.
• 4:10-Verse 3-Similar to the other versesThe listener is kept interested as the same
feelings rise and the storyline is continued
through angry fast-talk by the vocalist.
• 4:33-Chorus-The listener is very
comfortable with the song by now. They
are able to just enjoy the ride as the same
rhythm is kept going.
• 4:57-Verse 4 –Similar to other versesNew lyrics that gives the listener a sense
of completion; this verse is the shortest
which contributes to the coda.
• 5:23-Coda-Ends abruptly with vocalsThe song is finalized with a sense of
completion given to the listener through
the abruptness.
• From the album, “Countdown To
Extinction”
• Music and lyrics written by Dave
Mustaine
• Album was produced June 1992
• Total song length is 4:06
• Originally performed by Dave Mustaine (lead vocals,
rhythm guitar), Chris Broderick (lead guitar, backing
vocals), David Ellefson (bass, backing vocals), and
Shawn Drover (drums, backing vocals)
“Symphony Of Destruction”
• 0:00-Starts out with a symphony sound
(strings, chorus vocals)-This is a little
confusing to the listener because the
music is a completely different genre than
expected.
• 0:14- Verse 1-Moderate tempo, electrical
guitar, drums-The rhythm is easy to
follow along with; the story is also easy to
follow along with due to the fast-talking
vocals.
• 0:57-Chorus-The chorus is very catchy
and easy to follow along with, giving the
listener a sense of security and
knowledge.
• 1:14-Verse 2-Vocals are angry with a
background of continuous chords from the
guitar and drums; the listener is able to
clearly listen to the musical story
description; the description hooks the
listener in.
• 1:52-Chorus-The listener easily falls into
singing along with this predictable chorus;
the listener feels comfortable with the
story line and just follows along.
• 2:24-Lead guitar solo with guitar and
drums playing continuous chord-The
listener is taken on a musical rollercoaster
with fast-paced ascending and descending
movements made by the lead guitar.
• 2:54-Verse 3- Moderate tempo with angry
voice-The listener is able to continue to
easily follow along while hearing the rest of
the story.
• 3:31-Chorus-The listener finds the rhythm
and tone to be familiar; they continue to
follow along until the song slows down
indicating the end is near.
• 4:03-Coda-The song ends abruptly after a
powerful ascending burst of the last lyric.
References:
• Mustaine, Dave, and Joe Layden.
Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir. New
York: It, 2010. Print.
• Megadeth. Web. 03 Feb. 2012.
<http://www.megadeth.com>.