MEGADETH Bassist Defends His Band's Spirituality

MEGADETH frontman Dave Mustaine is suffering from a neck and spine condition called stenosis and he struggled to keep his commitment to join his bandmates at the "Big Four" concert at Yankee Stadium on September 14.

In an interview conducted at the festival, he told Rolling Stone that he had will power and determination and his God to help him through the performance.

Mustaine and formerly estranged MEGADETH bassist David Ellefson have reconciled in part thanks to their changed lives and newfound spirituality. However, some fans have not appreciated the musicians' new personal direction.

Artisan News Service asked Ellefson about his and Mustaine's beliefs and fans who get angry about the MEGADETH members' Christian faith (see video below).

"My attitude is, with any lifestyle or faith beliefs or any of that, it's sort of like, 'Look, if you don't like the music that's on the dial, change the dial,'" he said.

"MEGADETH had a [VH1] 'Behind The Music' special that came out about 10 years ago. In fact, we have a remastered on that's gonna be coming out on November 11 just a week or so after our new album comes out, on November 1 and anybody who's seen that and then sees Dave and I make life changes and adjustments and life transitions to come over to a more positive, more fruitful, productive way of life, quite honestly so we can continue to make music for our fans, if someone can't appreciate that, then shame on them. And they don't have to agree with it, and they don't even have to go along with it, but at least acknowledge that a change had to be made, and as two men on this planet, we made those changes. And that, ultimately, is If you're heading down a road and you keep bumping into a wall, you might wanna try going down a different road; it's really that simple for me."

In a 2009 interview with Metal Hammer magazine, Mustaine stated about his faith, "Yeah, I'm a Christian, but I don't push it on anybody. There are enough hyper-Christians in the world that push their ideas on people. And what they're pushing it ain't what Jesus taught.

"I have no idea how many people think that Jesus was that dude in the dress, but he was a bad-ass, he really was.

"I keep [my faith] to myself.

"I've been a Christian for a long time, I said it on 'Peace Sells But Who's Buying?' the lyrics: 'Whaddaya mean I don't believe in God, I talk to him every day!' I mean, come on! Hello! Second record? Surprise! I was mocked and ridiculed big-time when I first got saved, but you know what? I'm still the same guy, and I think people eventually realized that I wasn't going to be one of these holy-roller type guys. I also think they realized they didn't lose 'Dave.' I'm still here, and I'm a better musician because of it. I want to be a better friend, a better frontman, a better singer; I want to be a better producer I want to be a better client. I completely attribute all of that to having a changed life. It's like somebody went in with one of those cling-free sheets and rubbed it all over my brain, you know what I mean? It was like, ahhh, a sigh of relief all the static is gone oh my gosh!