In a brand new interview with the Reno Gazette-Journal, Megadeth mainman Dave Mustaine spoke about the opening track on the band’s new “Super Collider” album, ‘Kingmaker’, which is described as a scorching narrative on the scourge of the pharmaceutical industry on society, in particular teenagers.
“When I was growing up, pot was like the real big thing among young guys,” Mustaine said. “I smoked when I was 13. Now, you see lots of young kids doing crack and ecstasy and crystal meth. It’s so sad. And while I don’t deny anybody the right to have an out-of-body experience, music can do that for you. Love can do that for you.
“My concern is we have a new generation of people who really don’t want to experience any emotions, whether it’s themselves or the people around them.
“Instead of learning to communicate and share their lives and emotions with other people, we’re just putting them on psycho-pharmaceutical stuff just to shut them up. Like ‘One Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest’ kind of stuff.”
Mustaine, who was raised as a Jehovah’s Witness and is now a born-again Christian, also spoke about his own struggles with addiction and how his spirituality aided in his recovery.
“It’s really weird,” he said. “I was forced to go to AA. And I hated it. But I had come to a point where I knew that the jig was up. The thing was, God had entered my life and he sent me to AA. Then after I got sober at AA, he sent me back to him. Now I have this real simple, easy-Dave-and-the-Big-Guy relationship. There’s no middle man. No funky stuff. No having to pay dues or membership or anything. And I don’t push my beliefs on anyone. It’s about attraction, not promotion.”
According to Mustaine, he is no longer bother by some of the criticism that has been leveled at him over the years, particularly as it relates to his often-controversial viewpoints on everything from the theory of evolution to President Obama.
“I’ve learned to let go of the harsh stuff some people say about me,” Mustaine said. “But I do pay close attention to what our fans are saying about what they like or don’t like about our shows or song selections. I love when I can read music-oriented reviews of our records.
“There’s nothing worse than reading a review from somebody giving a Rorschach ink-blot description of a band,” he said. “I don’t care if a guy is unbalanced. What’s the music sound like? I don’t care if you don’t like the guy or what band you came to see. Is the music cool? It’s all about the music, isn’t it?”
Read the entire interview at Reno Gazette-Journal.
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Megadeth‘s latest album, “Super Collider”, has sold more than 70,000 copies in the United States since its June 4 release. The CD arrived in stores via Megadeth mainman Dave Mustaine‘s new label, Tradecraft, distributed by Universal Music Enterprises [UMe].
“I think ‘Super Collider’ is kind of like a really broad [distillation] of what our whole catalog represents,” Mustaine told The Morning Call in a recent interview. “There’s aggressive stuff, there’s thrashy stuff, there’s kind of more of the heavy metal stuff. There are someof the more introspective lyrics. There are some simple lyrics and soon and so forth. I think that’s what really makes the record refreshing is that it shows everything that we’ve done. It’s almost like a biopic of our career. It’s a pretty good slice of everything I’ve learned over the years.”
To read our review for “Super Collider” click here.
Upcoming Shows:
Dec 14 Socorro Entertainment Center, El Paso, TX
Dec 16 Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Hollywood, CA (Sold Out)
Dec 17 The Grove Of Anaheim, Anaheim, CA
Dec 18 Warfield Theatre, San Francisco, CA
Dec 19 Grand Sierra Resort, Reno, NV
Feb 19 Westfest, Auckland Central, New Zealand
Feb 22 Soundwave Festival Brisbane, Brisbane, Australia
Feb 23 Soundwave Festival Sydney, Sydney, Australia
Feb 28 Soundwave Festival Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia
Mar 01 Soundwave Festival Adelaide, Adelaide, Australia
Mar 03 Soundwave Festival Perth, Perth, Australia
Apr 26 The Metal Fest 2014, Santiago, Chile
May 01 Estadio Cubierto Malvinas, Buenos Aires, Argentina
May 04 Espaço Das Americas, Sao Paulo, Brazil
Jun 22 Hellfest, Clisson, France
Aug 01 Skogsrojet Festival, Rejmyre, Sweden
Aug 10 Bloodstock Open Air Festival, Derbyshire, United Kingdom
Weblinks: Facebook / Website / Twitter
Video below for ‘Kingmaker”
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