Megadeth's Dave Mustaine Talks New Riffs, Old Drama

Longtime Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine has never been afraid to speak his mind on record or in interviews. On the group's twelfth studio album overall, Endgame (due September 15th), the singer-guitarist continues to tackle subjects not often associated with the party-hearty world of metal, including the recent recession ("Nothing Left to Lose"), the greed of the financial world's leaders ("Bite the Hand That Feeds") and a controversial bill signed by George W. Bush (the title track). The man who also helped Metallica get going early on (he co-penned quite a few of their early classics) recently spoke to Rolling Stone about one of metal's most instantly recognizable basslines, and merging snare drums with AK-47s.

Endgame is certainly one of Megadeth's most riff-heavy releases.
Making this record, there was a lot of different facets. When I was writing this, I had a lot of material that I had saved over the years, and a lot of stuff that had been really fast, riffy, and exciting, but just not as melodic as where we were during the '90s. I was assembling the songs and thinking about the possibilities of Shawn [Drover, drums]. When we got in here to start doing a record, I was thinking, "God, these guys have so much potential, what are we going to do?" And I started to really push the envelope, and write songs that were really super aggressive, and had a lot of guitar playing. It was almost self-indulgent with the guitar soloing. I realized, "Dave, you're not a guitar player for making songs for the radio. You had a couple of songs that you were successful with the radio, but that ain't your style, come on."

You also incorporated in some interesting sound effects throughout the record.
I learned a very valuable lesson about music and how to take everything I learned from [1997's] Cryptic Writings and [1999's] Risk, and working with Jeff Balding and Dan Huff, and how to put stuff in the background — little "ear candy" that makes things sound better. Like the song "1,320," we were struggling trying to find the sample for the drag racing, because I told Andy [Sneap, who co-produced Endgame with Mustaine], "Nitro Funny Cars." So he got a Top Fuel Funny Car [makes sound of a weak car], and I went, "That ain't a Nitro Funny Car, bro! When you hear a Nitro Funny Car, the world stops around you." When we got that sample, it made all the difference in the world. I said, "See! This is what I'm telling you about!" And in the background, I said, "When [Shawn] is doing that kind of punk rock/Sex Pistols drum beat in the verses of the song, man, we need a clap track in the back." And he's like, "They've got those little pieces of wood that are all stuck together, you shake it together, and it sounds like people clapping." I said, "I don't want that. I want three people clapping, then double it. Make sure it's underneath the snare, so it gives is that little bit of sex appeal."