Everyone knows Megadeth founder Dave Mustaine used to be in Metallica before he was booted and replaced by ex-Exodus guitarist Kirk Hammett, and that the band then recorded thrash metal’s first classic, Kill ‘Em All. But not everyone is aware that the solos bursting from that album were written by Mustaine. In other words, Dave Mustaine is pretty much the forefather of the thrash metal guitar solo.
So it’s no surprise that he continued to emphasize guitar solos throughout Megadeth’s career. Whether the band played speedy thrash, technical metal or a more mainstream style of headbanging, there was always space for some six string acrobatics. Pretty much all of today’s thrash lovers — from Trivium to Shadows Fall — owe a debt to and reserve a fondness for Mustaine’s handiwork. As for the other modern metal bands who don’t take solos — well, our guitar hero doesn’t really have time for them.
Here, in part three of our “5 Days With Mustaine” series, Dave expresses his relief that new bands are playing leads again and his contempt for what he calls the “ProTools generation of cutting and pasting.”
