Noisey Vs. MetalSucks: Why Megadeth is Now a Total Joke
Welcome to Noisey Vs. MetalSucks, a new bi-weekly column in which the staff of Noisey and the staff of MetalSucks will engage in vigorous academic debate concerning some of extreme music’s most relevant topics of the day. For the inaugural edition, MetalSucks’ own Axl Rosenberg does battle with Noisey’s Jon Wiederhorn on the subject of whether or not it matters that Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine has turned into a colossal doucheturd. Read Axl’s position below, then head over to Noisey to check out Jon’s counter-argument. Enjoy!
What can I say about Dave Mustaine that hasn’t been said about accidentally stepping in dog shit? I can’t seem to get the fucker off my shoe, no matter how many puddles I deliberately step in, no matter how hard I scrape the sole against the sidewalk. His stink follows the metal community wherever we go. Which is the reason I can no longer take Megadeth seriously. Like, at all. I would never make the argument that one should discount an artist’s entire body of work just because said artist turns out to be a total dick, but when that artist’s dickery has reached the point of distraction, well… that’s a serious problem, isn’t it? If I can’t watch Braveheart or Lethal Weapon without thinking about how Mel Gibson hates Jews, blacks, and gays, then those films have ostensibly been ruined. Likewise, if I can no longer listen to “Peace Sells” without thinking, “Hmm, this song sure has taken on a different meaning in Mustaine’s ultra-conservative conspiracy nut era,” well, then, shouldn’t Mustaine have just kept his big mouth shut? I mean, in theory at least, this is supposed to be about the music… right?
Of course, Mustaine’s assholeishness might not matter as much if he were still making records as good as Rust in Peace… but he’s not. The last truly great Megadeth album was Countdown to Extinction, which came out more than twenty years ago. This century, he’s given us The World Needs a Hero, which sucks; The System Has Failed, which sucks; United Abominations, which sucks; and then Endgame and Thirteen, which are both pretty good, but let’s be real, the metal world would not be a poorer place if they didn’t exist. I haven’t heard Supercollider yet, but the announcements that Disturbed’s David Draiman co-wrote a song on the record, and that Mustaine is stalking Willie Nelson to get him to do a guest appearance, don’t exactly fill me with confidence.
And even as a legacy act, Mustaine is a disappointment. His live vocals have gone so horrifically off-key as to make it virtually impossible to watch a Megadeth live show — parakeets being skinned alive sound more melodious. And while Chris Broderick and Shawn Drover are both very talented musicians, I don’t think this is anyone’s favorite version of Megadeth. What will Broderick and Drover’s legacy be, really? “Head Crusher”? They’re like one step above being to Megadeth as Joe Holmes was to Ozzy Osbourne. They might achieve a Gus G.-level of worthiness, but really only because they actually got to appear on some studio albums. Marty Friedman and Nick Menza they ain’t.
The bottom line is, there’s going to be an entire generation of metal fans who remember Dave Mustaine and Megadeth more for the crazy shit Mustaine has said than for the crazy shit Mustaine has played. He’s shot himself in the foot and dishonored his own legacy beyond repair. Let’s see him pray his way out of that.
