What You Didn't Know About Megadeth
Every song Megadeth played was an absolute workout for each member of the band, but that's the way things go with thrash metal. The riffs are fast, the rhythm is driving, and the genre was most popular for just a handful of years in the '80s and early '90s. In the thrash metal world, there are four bands known collectively as "the big four," which includes Megadeth, Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer. So, these guys weren't chumps by any means.
Megadeth was highly successful in ways that may seem a little odd for a heavy metal band. Sure, they've sold millions of albums and have gone platinum and won several awards, but one of those awards was a Humane Society Genesis Award, reports Rockapedia, which is given to members of the entertainment industry for raising awareness of issues relating to animals. So beyond being popular, they were also one of the more "helpful" thrash metal bands out there.
They have some other interesting highlights in their history that, unless you're a serious metalhead, you probably don't know. Even if you are, here are a few things you might not know about Megadeth.
They were dumped off a tour with Aerosmith
Megadeth was given the opportunity to tour with Aerosmith on the 1993 Get a Grip tour, which promised to be a pretty awesome experience. Aerosmith had already been around for decades, and they were known for being outrageous party animals. Pretty much everything you'd think a metal band like Megadeth would want in some tour mates, and that may have been true, but Megadeth didn't get much of a chance to find out before Aerosmith dumped them from the tour in favor of the band Jackyl.
The thrash metal superstars barely made it three shows before being dropped from the tour due to "artistic restrictions," which, according to Entertainment Weekly, was actually just a code word for being a needy pain in the rear. Apparently, Megadeth, which you'd think were a bunch of hard-rocking, laid back dudes, would whine about everything. A source close to the band told the publication that the root of the issue was that Megadeth were upset that Aerosmith wasn't hanging out with them enough during the tour. Well, if you "p*** and moan and whine" all the time, the way Megadeth's Dave Mustaine reportedly did, nobody is going to want to spend their downtime with you. Sorry, not sorry.
The band's co-founder had been dumped before
The Aerosmith incident wasn't the first time Megadeth co-founder and expert riffer Dave Mustaine had been professionally broken up with. Once upon a time in the early '80s, back before Megadeth was a thing, Mustaine put his overdrive petal to work for a little band called Metallica. That's right, Mustaine was Metallica's original lead guitarist, but he was kicked from the band in 1983 and replaced with Kirk Hammett, thanks to his inability to hold his liquor, reports Loudwire.
It sounds a little crazy that a bandmate would be kicked from the group that has a song called "Whisky in the Jar" and has referred to themselves as "Alcoholica" on more than one occasion, but it all had to do with the type of drunk Mustaine was.
"When you're around a lot of people that like to drink and get silly, they just want to have fun," Mustaine told LoudWire last April. "I would drink and have fun until someone would refute something I had said. And then that was war, baby. I'd be aggressive and confrontational because I was a violent drunk. I lost all inhibitions when I was drinking, and that didn't go over to well in the end."
It sure didn't, since the band ended up kicking him out with no notice, but if it weren't for Mustaine's alcohol problems, Megadeth probably wouldn't exist. So — thank you?
Mustaine has even failed fictional bands
The Drew Carey Show (1995-2004) was full of humorous situations. In one clip, posted on YouTube, the gang starts a band, but they need a guitar player to "fill in the sound." Drew muses over the idea, saying, "But where are we going to get somebody to play on one day's notice for only $10?" The scene cuts to Slash riffing in Drew Carey's backyard. A funny bit for sure, and Slash wasn't the only famous musician to try his hand at the audition.
Dave Mustaine shows up and starts riffing, his long red locks flowing in all of their metal glory. "Don't be nervous, son," says the tall, skinny Ryan Stiles. "Just slow down."
"It's supposed to sound that way," says Mustaine in feigned offense.
"Yeah, sure it is. Next," orders Drew, and Mustaine is laughed off the screen. Even in a fictional world, Mustaine can't catch a break.
It's not that he wasn't good enough; his riffs were crisp and on point. The guy just seems to get the short end of the stick everywhere he turns. But, hey, Megadeth is one of the few rock bands to win the Humane Society's Genesis Award, so he's still got that going for him.