Life Shaping Album # 2 - Youthanasia - Megadeth

]MegadetH[

I can say with all honesty that the most important musical influence in my life has been Dave Mustaine, the mastermind behind one of the most successful and enduring metal bands in the world... MegadetH. Over 10 studio records, 20 years in the business... there´s sooooo much you can say. Any serious rock guitar player would listen to these guys.

I remember the very first time I heard Megadeth as if it were yesterday. My great friend Daniel knew about them for a while but I was way into Metallica at the time. To make a long story short after he played for me Skin o´ my Teeth from Countdown to Extinction, I could feel there was something in that music more powerful than anything I had heard at that time.

A week later MegadetH was releasing their 6th studio album called Youthanasia. I went to the record store, bought it, heard songs 1 through 4 and the cd started to skip. I was enraged since i was listening to the best album ever, at that time for me, and I couldn´t get past track 4. I took the cd, threw it somewhere and didn´t hear it until 2 or 3 months later. I cleaned the cd and managed to get it working and what followed was incredible. Dave Mustaine´s singing, guitar playing and song composition were flawless. David Ellefson´s bass lines were as fitting as you could imagine, Marty Friedman´s feel, his fills and solos were on point and Nick Menza´s drumming was full of groove, power and relevance.

Songs like Addicted to Chaos, Blood Of Heroes and Family Tree, drove me to practice drums and convinced me with every touch of the play button that I wanted to make music a part of my life.

When I first went to Berklee and spoke of Megadeth, and metal in general, many people didn´t take it seriously. Many people believe that if it´s not jazz then you are not that relevant or valid in the music world. I think that your influences, however trivial they might be are as important as the artists regarded as legends... Am I a bad musician cuz I didn´t grow up on jazz?? i don´t think so. I believe Mustaine is as important as Miles Davis, that´s just my opinion. I owe much of my musicality to him, wether it´s good or bad that´s another story, but I cannot value him less than the ¨greats¨ simply because people don´t take him seriously.

Mustaine has had countless drug and alcohol problems, etc so many might think he is not a good role model. I can say that his perseverance, his will to keep making music post- metallica, and what he has to endure from people, especifically metallica fans, in astonishing. I had the opportunity to meet him and personally thank him for his meaning in my life and he seemed grateful as well. He is a great father, husband and doens´t take crap from anybody. Try it and his world famous ¨Mustaine Snarl¨ will scare the daylights out of you.

Amazing record from an amazing band... and don´t get me started on Peace Sells, Rust in Peace, Countdown to Extinction, etc etc etc. My favorite band.

¨Sing a one note song of rage, Live and die within your heart ¨