MUSTAINE: 'It's One Thing To See MEGADETH And To Hear It, But It's Another Thing To Feel It'

Brian Aberback of Patch.com recently conducted an interview with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine. A couple of excerpts from the chat follow below.

Patch.com: What was the band's mood as you entered the studio to record "Countdown To Extinction" 20 years ago?

Mustaine: We were really excited about what was taking place at the time. The music industry was very confused with the success of NIRVANA and all of the grunge bands. The only real hope in metal was what we were calling poseur metal, like DEF LEPPARD. We were on our own and had to make a decision: Were we going to listen to the labels, who wanted us to write an alternative album, or go the way of the DEF LEPPARDs. We didn't want to do either; that wasn't who we were. The only choice we had was to follow our hearts and do what we thought was right, which was an experiment for us, a melodic, though not commercial, metal record.

Patch.com: Is the stage show elaborate or more back to basics?

Mustaine: We've added video production to our show. We've tried some pyro, which is cool, but I think concussion bombs are kind of passé. So I got this fabulously talented video director, Charles Terrell, he's worked with Trent Reznor and Bruce Springsteen, to give you an idea of his caliber, and he did his own interpretations of the songs. There wasn't one video where I had to go back and say, "I need you to change something.” He got it. Doing something like this has always been a matter of affordability and I finally just said, "I don't care what happens, I'm successful, I've had a great run. If we go in a hole and I have to use up my savings to change this band from being a normal band with a backdrop to having really incredible production, I'm going to go for it." It's one thing to see MEGADETH and one thing to hear it, but it's another thing to feel it.

Read the entire interview from Patch.com.