Artist

Megadeth

Los Angeles, United States • Formed 1983

Megadeth is a music group from Los Angeles, United States, active since 1983. Their discography on Gatefold includes 24 records.

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Albums tracked

554

In collections

1983

Since

Biography

Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist and guitarist Dave Mustaine. The group is known for complex guitar work and precise musicianship and is regarded as one of the big four bands of American thrash metal along with Slayer, Anthrax and Metallica. Its music features fast rhythm sections, dual lead guitars and lyrics addressing topics such as war, politics, religion, mortality and personal relationships.

The Arc of Megadeth

The pivots — what forced Megadeth to reinvent.

The Jazz-Metal Combat Zone
Mustaine snatched Gar Samuelson and Chris Poland from a jazz-fusion project called The New Yorkers to record the early Combat Records sessions. This wasn't standard thrash; it was heroin-fueled chaos played with the precision of a bop quintet. You hear it in the frantic, swinging cymbal work and the dissonant lead swaps that made their debut and Peace Sells feel like they were going to fly off the rails at any second. It was high-IQ violence that forced the rest of the Bay Area to practice their scales.
The Virtuoso Polish
Bringing in Marty Friedman and Nick Menza for the Rust in Peace era changed the DNA of the band from a street fight to a clinic. Mike Clink, fresh off Guns N' Roses, helped engineer a sound that was surgically clean without losing the bite. This pivot moved them away from the jagged punk energy of the 80s and into the realm of 'prog-thrash' where the solos were as hooky as the choruses. It is the peak of the lineup's technical capability, characterized by neo-classical precision and tighter, more political songwriting.
The Platinum Pivot
With Countdown to Extinction, the band intentionally slowed down the tempos and simplified the structures to compete with the Black Album's massive success. Max Norman came in to produce a sound that was heavier on the low end and more focused on Mustaine's rhythmic snarl than ten-minute instrumental sections. The songs got shorter and the production got expensive, pushing them into arenas but trading away some of the erratic danger of the early years. It was a calculated move toward heavy metal superstardom that actually paid off before the wheels fell off in the late 90s.

Influences

Diamond Head — Mustaine has repeatedly cited 'It's Electric' as the song that made him want to play this style. You hear it in the galloping riffs and the structured NWOBHM melodicism that anchors even his fastest tracks. They basically provided the blueprint for the entire New Wave of British Heavy Metal obsession that birthed thrash.
Venom — Megadeth covered 'Black Metal' during early rehearsals and soundchecks, showing where they got their taste for the occult and the grime. Venom’s sloppy, high-speed aggression was the necessary antithesis to the polished rock of the era. It gave Dave the permission to be ugly and fast.
Budgie — The band famously covered 'Melt the Ice Away,' a nod to the Welsh power trio's influence on their riff construction. Budgie’s weird, quirky heavy rock transitions are all over the more technical sections of the early Megadeth catalog. They learned how to make a three-piece sound like a freight train from these guys.
Sex Pistols — The cover of 'Anarchy in the U.K.' on the third record wasn't just a lark; it was an acknowledgment of the band's snotty, anti-authoritarian streak. Steve Jones's raw guitar tone is the direct ancestor of Mustaine's rhythmic 'chug.' That punk sneer is the only thing keeping the technical wizardry from feeling like a math class.
Mahavishnu Orchestra — Mustaine grew up listening to John McLaughlin's fusion projects, which explains why he hired jazz drummers instead of rock hitters. You can hear that influence in the complex, odd-meter riffing of tracks like 'Take No Prisoners.' It’s metal played with a jazz-fusion brain.