In the last snippet from our boat cruise with Dave Mustaine, Megadeth's frontman talks about his perception of the American way. As our rented yacht puttered around Ellis Island, we had a stunning view of the Statue of Liberty, which inspired the singer and guitarist to comment on the song "Amerikhastan" from Megadeth's latest album, United Abominations.

By now, Megadeth master Dave Mustaine has given up any ideas of sightseeing or playing bumper cars with our rented yacht, and has settled into an insightful conversation about the music business.

Here, he explains how artists and labels used to be part of one unified party, but that the industry has gradually changed to the point where many labels now view musicians, not as artists, but as dispensable pawns in a giant chess game in which the winner makes as much money as possible, and shares little of the bounty with the soldiers that did the fighting.

But, as the metal veteran explains, with the advent of the Internet and other modern technology, bands have more power now than ever and, in the days ahead, there could be a major abandonment of labels by artists that find it's just as productive and profitable to oversee their own career and distribute their own music. Now, listen to Dave say it. It sounds a lot more official coming out of his mouth.

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."

When Headbangers Ball took Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine for a yacht trip on the high seas, we knew we were in for a wild ride. At the beginning of our voyage, the veteran metal man said, "I hope no one here is named Gilligan." Good thing that's just our middle name.

Though the skies were dark and the elements turned against us (it was drizzling), Captain Mustaine was a real trooper and it wasn't long before he was at the wheel steering the vessel. But after he hit an iceberg and the ship began to take on water, we retired to the lower deck lounge and talked life, Megadeth and metal.

Here, Mustaine laments the lack of identifiable vocalists in today's scene, and he's got a point. After all, how many people can really tell the differences between the singers of Vomitory, Immolation and Deicide? Still, while we can easily identify the voices of Amy Lee and Chester Bennington, we're not sure they rank up there with Rob Halford and James Hetfield. But don't take our word for it, listen to Megadeth's finest and judge for yourself.

What floats Megadeth's boat? Why it's frontman Dave Mustaine, of course.

After a recent New York gig, Headbangers Ball took Mustaine on a boat trip around the harbor on a private yacht, and while there was a captain and crew aboard, it wasn't long before Mustaine was steering the ship -- literally.

Here, he mans the wheel and talks about the recording process for Megadeth's latest album, United Abominations, which came out May 14. Check back every day this week for more "Behind the Ball With Megadeth: United Abominations."