MEGADETH's DAVE MUSTAINE: No Offense To ROADRUNNER, But We're A Major-Label Band

O2 Academy TV recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine. You can now watch the chat in two parts below.

Asked how the switch in record labels from Roadrunner to Universal Music Enterprises (UMe) affected MEGADETH's songwriting approach on its new album, "Super Collider", Mustaine said: "I think it affected the sound of the album, the style of music, the outlook of the band. I mean, no offense to Roadrunner — they did what they do — but we're a major-label band. And when we left Capitol to go to Sanctuary, it was for two reasons. One, I hated that record president that [Capitol] had at that time, and two, Sanctuary made a lot of big promises. And you know, when you think about [IRON MAIDEN's manager] Rod Smallwood, who had a big part to do with the label, that's IRON MAIDEN, and I love IRON MAIDEN, so I thought, 'For sure, this is gonna be great.' Well, it didn't end up being great, 'cause Rod wasn't involved in it as much as my brain would like to have thought. And we left Sanctuary and went to Roadrunner, and it just kept going like this. [makes downward motion with his hand] And I figured, I'm not gonna bail on the contract, I'm not gonna be a scumbag musician like so many musicians are where they stick people with contracts and break up and leave everybody holding the ball. I figured, 'I'm gonna honor the contract, I'm gonna finish it, and then when it's done, I'm gonna say goodbye like a gentleman.' And I did, and Universal came into the picture. I mean, think about this; this is so amazing. [Universal is] the biggest label; they own Capitol Records that has almost all of my catalog; they bought EMI Publishing that does own all my publishing. So you're a brand new record company… Not brand new, but for us… We've got a new label, a new record… Oh, by the way, I own all of your past life. I was, like, 'Who could possibly have arranged something that fantastic?'"

"Super Collider" sold 29,000 copies in the United States in its first week of release to land at position No. 6 on The Billboard 200 chart. The record arrived in stores on June 4 via Mustaine's new label, Tradecraft, distributed by Universal Music Enterprises (UMe). The disc follows up "TH1RT3EN", which opened with 42,000 units back in November 2011 to enter the chart at No. 11. The band's 2009 CD, "Endgame", premiered with 45,000 copies to debut at No. 9. This was slightly less than the 54,000 first-week tally registered by 2007's "United Abominations", which entered the chart at No. 8. 2004's "The System Has Failed" premiered with 46,000 copies (No. 18) while 2001's "The World Needs A Hero" moved 61,000 units in its first week (No. 16).