The first bits of music from the album “Rust In Peace” (RIP) caught my ears while watching an MTV interview with Dave Mustaine and David Elleson around the time they’ve made their European tour with the album. Dave mainly talked on how they “fished” Marty friedman from a pool of “typical American style” guitar players and on how Nick Menza fitted with their aggressive and “obnoxious” playing. Between the interview parts there were snippets from the new “Hangar 18” video clip. If to be accurate those were the Marty Friedman solo parts in between the verses.

I was blown away.

This was musicality wrapped in a bursting force. Up until then I was certain that guitar solos of the genre start and end with Kirk Hammet’s minor pentatonic scale, but suddenly... what is that, a diminished scale? Intriguing arpeggios? Unconventional string bends? Who the hell is this guy? It didn’t take long for me to get the full album on tape cassette and play it back and forth on my old cassette player. It was aggressive, different and interesting, especially for one coming from the Metalli-camp. Each song in this album hit directly on target with the energy of a hornets’ swarm. The amount of changing riffs and their complexity pinned me to the wall.

RIP is one of the cornerstones of thrash metal, proudly sharing the stage with albums such as Slayer’s “Reign In Blood”

At this point I would like to state, and let there be no mistakes about it - RIP is one of the cornerstones of thrash metal, proudly sharing the stage with albums such as Slayer’s “Reign In Blood”. It truthfully represents anything the genre has stood for at the time and more so, it pushed the envelope, bringing new interest into what seemed to be already chewed and spat out. While “Peace sells…” was a sort of a mission state for the band, this album fired their metal intentions machine-gun-Neo-on-a-chopper style, directly to the ears of whomever could bear it.

Fast-forwards, 30 years later and I find myself purchasing a book by Dave Mustaine (with John Selvin) which aims to tell the story behind this masterpiece. After reading it I would like to share my thoughts with you. So here goes -

As said, the book aimed on telling the story, events and circumstances which led to creating this amazing album. It is written in a form of “testimonials” from all those who were involved in the making (and some which did not, yeah Pam, I’m looking at you) and in a way which let you feel as if you were watching a documentary about the band and album. I got hooked immediately and it made the reading go smoothly and pleasant. Although we are reading “first-hand” testimonials about the writing of the songs, recording and touring with the album, the book tends to stray from the main topic and more so, overly deal with the self-destructive lifestyle of the two Daves. All this while keeping praise of the Mustaine empire and pinning to the wall of music history yet another document depriving the other band members from their credit.

First, on the cover, you will find a picture of a sweaty man, his hair is lifted from his face, a guitar hands on his shoulder and he is jabbering something to the mic. This is no other than Dave Mustaine who right away wants you to know exactly what is the axel (pun slightly intended) this book revolves around. Instead of presenting an image of the full band, or the sleeve cover of the album which is totally neutral, Dave decided that the RIP story is actually his own story, and this marks the the beginning of the Dave Mustain celebration, where we will also find out how he proposed to his wife in Hawaii and how she responded, as if this made any difference to a riff or a lyric of the album or as if anybody really gives a flying shit about it.

The book starts with an intro by Slash. Yeah, Slash. That guy from "Guns". What is his connection to this entire event? A total riddle. Yes, he and the two Daves did some jams together, passed some joints and other substances between them and also shared a few producers and managers. But aside from that, I really fail to see the reason. If you look past the fact that both bands knew when to press the distortion pedal, I cannot find any resemblance between the styles of the two, and hearing that Slash really considered joining Megadeth? My apologies but this sounds a bit far fetched. I can’t see any reason Slash would ditch his and his band’s rocketing career to play second fiddle to Dave Mustaine while wearing a collar and chain.

If Megadeth, lead by Dave Mustaine, were less occupied in self destruction and more in their music they could have been even bigger than Metallica today

It begins with the end of another story - the “So far, so good… so what?” album tour. This one is by far one of the worst albums Megadeth released, starting with the music, going to the screeching-sound production and ending with the band members of the time. The band returns home and straight into the drugs cycle. Now, anyone who caught a fleeting glimpse of a Dave Mustaine interviews knows that he had tasted it all and has been in the most dark and low places, and still, a considered part of the book is dedicated to detailed descriptions on how he started using drugs again, went into rehab, got out, relapsed again and repeat. Perhaps I should pause now and say that if Megadeth, lead by Dave Mustaine, were less occupied in self destruction and more in their music they could have been even bigger than Metallica today. Sadly Dave could not have overcome his weaknesses at the right time to leave dust behind for any other thrash band. He was, and probably still is, that guy who got kicked out of Metallica for being, well, a prick. Evidence of him being a prick can also be found across this book, even if you need to dig them between the lines.

Trivia is a wonderful thing and this book supplies it, like the fact that Nick Menza was Chuck Behler drum tech, and more so that he wanted his spot. Not only did he spread bad words about him on the two Daves’ ears he also tempered with Chuck’s kit before shows. Not something you’d like to be remembered by, eh? BTW, This is also not the first time I hear that a tech guy ends up on the front stage (another example is Andreas Kisser from Sepultura) and it is also not the first time that these “tech” guys are far better than their predecessors. The fact remains that without Nick’s enthusiasm and ambitions both Daves would still be wallowing in drugs and self-pity.

As a guitar player and Marty Friedman’s big fan (at the time) I was waiting impatiently to read about the circumstances which led him into the band. While in the interview I’ve mentioned at the beginning Dave claimed that he had heard his CD and went “Wow, woosh… whatever, you know” I knew that there have got to be more details I don’t know about, since Marty did not come from the void, he co-founded Cacophony with Jason Becker and released a much acclaimed solo album - “Dragon’s Kiss”, before joining the band.

A repeated motif in the book is the way that the two Daves disqualified people and studios relying only on their appearances or names. With Marty it was the same, when Dave didn’t think his name was quite “metal” enough and his hair color did not fit the band image (for whatever that was at the time), but in spite of that they did call him to take the audition. When Marty showed up and presented his skills Dave still demanded he will change his name. How self-centered should one be to demand such a thing? Sadly for Dave “Marty Friedman” was already a known name in the industry and so it remained.

Talented people, such as Marty Friedman, deserve the stage and those who are smart know to take the opportunity when it knocks and bow down their heads for it to stay long enough.

I was shocked by the details on how broke Marty was at the time. Feeding on Lollipops and rice he arrived at the studio holding his naked guitar in his hands. Dave made a joke on how Carvin guitars are known for being cheap, but it didn’t take long for Marty to blow his head off with this cheap guitar, making Dave realise that he still has a thing or two to learn. Sadly this resolution resulted with him relapsing once again.

Marty jumped on the opportunity, as you would have guessed. He knew that this is a “once in a lifetime” shot and was ready to tolerate Dave’s tyranny in order to have his breakthrough. Talented people, such as Marty Friedman, deserve the stage and those who are smart know to take the opportunity when it knocks and bow down their heads for it to stay long enough. The successful ones also know when to call it quits when the arrangement is no longer to their benefit. Marty is all of the above.

It is not quite clear how the songs were written and arranged. You will find mentions for demoing here and there and composing riffs in strange locations under the influence (mainly tv, but drugs as well), but generally speaking it isn’t evident enough who was responsible for what. Of course, in the end, everything smelled of “Dave wrote it all” and this is one issue which exploded later when it was time to take credits for the album sleeves to the point that even his loyal friend, Ellefson, couldn’t bear it any more. Dave took it all.

Something has to be said - RIP could not have happened without the other three guys in the band, period. I listened to this album over and over, more because of the great musical contribution Marty made and less for the childish lyrics or the complex riff Dave contributed. Menza’s drumming is straight and to the point, and the bass work, including “Dawn patrol” (which Dave considered taking out) is a very crafted art from Ellefson. To this day, when I listen to the album I find myself waiting for Marty’s meaningful, intentional solos, and getting bored from Dave’s repetitive, saw-like, non-inspiring ones. Dave composes great riffs, no one can argue about that, but without the rest of the guys? Sorry mate, no RIP.

Throughout the book all participants try to figure out what made this group of people spark the magic, what was there that captivated the audiences, but they can’t. I will attempt to give my explanation - Marty and Nick add 2 missing pieces to the band’s puzzle: Motivation which did not feed on jealousy or envy towards another band and a broader musical grasp. On top of that they came with little ego and a will to take four individuals and fuse them into a single force. For the first time in Megadeth each member had a meaningful part and no one was on a “hired musician” basis. Adding to that, it seemed that for the first time the Metallica stone Dave has been carrying around all this time dropped from his shoulders. He no longer tried to impress James or Lars but rather he was trying to impress Marty and Nick. They pushed him forward, leaving him with no room but to concentrate in getting better and sobering up.

Towards the end of the book we learn about the failing reunion attempts of this epic group. I find it not surprising at all that Marty did not want to take part of it without the suitable reward. It seemed that Dave failed to understand why everybody is not running back to him in tears when he asks them to, but Marty was already an established performer in Japan, Nick neglected his drumming and sadly, later on, passed away, and even Dave’s loyal friend, Ellefson, assigned with a faint voice while participating in other musical adventures, such as “Metal Allegiance”.

In conclusion - I do not regret reading this book. Would I recommend it to anyone who liked the album? Probably not. I would have liked to read more authentic testimonials that did not go under Mustaine's editing blade. I have a feeling that a lot of emotions were suppressed over that period of time from all ends, but to have Dave’s final word on all things makes this one somewhat expected and boring. Perhaps one day Ellefson or Marty will share their memoirs of the time… who knows. In any case, RIP still is a masterpiece. I’m not really into all the remixes that were recently done to it, but it is still relevant today as it was back then. Go listen to it, from start to end, and you will get what I’m talking about.

Cheers.