Megadeath

            When Dave Mustaine started Megadeth back in the 80's he definitely did now know Megadeth were to become such an important part of heavy metal history. To say Megadeth was just a great band would not do them justice. One would be starting to break the surface by calling them one of America's greatest bands. This is how important Megadeth was in defining American heavy metal in the 80's and putting it on the map. Any other view on the band Megadeth, a name derived from a nuclear catastrophe, would be a severe understatement.
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             Megadeth shattered the heavy metal sound barrier with a sound as savagely Sex Pistols as it was sweetly Black Sabbath. Where their peers may have had the muscle, they often lacked the grooves, but Megadeth avoided metallic awkwardness with a sound that sped from the speakers like a wind spirit, graceful as it was hard hitting and grinding. They had a sound so unique, it could only be described as a sound that sliced the air like razors with adept precision. Their first album, "killing is my business and business is good" caused ripples in the world of American heavy metal. Killing was their business, their music was the sound track and business was good with Dave Mustaine and Dave Ellefson leading the charge.
             Mustaine was more than a front man though, he was the enigma, a sinister shadow of a lead singer who bled with passion as dark and mysterious as it was devious and inviting. After hearing Dave Mustaine sing about the crumbling Lady of Justice in the song "hook in mouth" from the 1986 release "so good so far so what?" you didn't just want to hear his vocals, you wanted to rally behind them. Not because he played the part of an academic or scholar but because he boasted a conviction that made you believe his lyrics. He was not onstage spewing about Satan, he was onstage singing about the bitter realities that affected us all. Metal was a lifestyle but Megadeth made it a mission statement.