‘Thrash Metal Is Better Than Drugs And Alcohol’

Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine knows that thrash metal is better than both drugs and alcohol.

In a recent interview with Rock Hard Greece, the guitarist described the genre as ‘one of those things that makes you feel alive inside.’ He mentioned being grateful for still being able to play with no problems:

“It’s remarkable that I can still play. I am glad I’m still playing. I don’t want to play if the fans think I shouldn’t be playing. If we started doing music that wasn’t heavy and it wasn’t thrash, I would probably not want to do it anymore.”

The singer also mentioned that not a single thing felt as good as thrash metal:

“And thrash metal music is one of those things that makes you feel alive inside. I can’t remember anything that I’ve ever experienced that makes me feel as good as thrash metal — not a drug, not a drink, not a person, not a thing.”

What’s The Key To A Successful Thrash Song?

In a chat on BBC Radio 4’s Saturday Live, Mustaine talked about what he thinks makes a thrash song work.

He mentioned Chuck Berry’s ‘Johnny B. Goode’ from 1958 and Mott the Hoople’s ‘All the Young Dudes’ from 1970 as songs that influenced him. According to him, ‘All the Young Dudes’ had a simple yet beautiful melody, which he believes is key in not just a metal song, but in any song. He explained:

“Quincy Jones is a very famous producer here in America, we were making the ‘Rust in Peace’ record at the time, and had gone to their party and Quincy was there. He’d said to our engineer and producer that the key to successful songs was beat, melody, and 10 simple words.”

Mustaine added:

“So I guess the most important thing I would like to leave to future generations is to echo what Quincy had said. But to make it my own, I’d say in order to be successful in thrash, you need to have a heavy beat, melody and, I’d say probably 20 simple words because we sing so much faster.”

You can see the recent interview below.