Dave Mustaine Names Favorite (and Second Favorite) Megadeth Era

It’s been a legendary career and during his recent chat with Full Metal Jackie for her weekend radio show, Megadeth‘s Dave Mustaine shared the era that he most enjoyed as a member of the band.

In all honesty, Mustaine shared that his favorite time as a member of the group was the present day. “I have to skip this record, because this record and this lineup is my favorite,” he revealed. “So let let me talk about the other lineups and albums and stuff, because it truly is my favorite and I don’t wanna say that and have people think, ‘Oh, he’s just saying that.'”

Digging deeper into the past, Mustaine had high praise for the Countdown to Extinction era for the group. “Countdown felt that way. Countdown felt like everything was clicking and it was an exciting record to make. It was an exciting record to play,” he shared. “I think it’s kinda difficult to pick that stuff. But I would say Countdown was the best. There were other records that were kind of fun because this was all new to us.”

With this being Megadeth’s farewell album and tour, Dave Mustaine shared the specifics of why this was the right time and how this being the last album and tour cycle fell into place. He also spoke about the decision to choose “Ride the Lightning” as his way of bringing his musical history full circle.

Mustaine also shares what he’ll miss the most about the touring life and he speaks about what is next for him at this stage of life. Check out more of the chat below.

It’s Full Metal Jackie. So excited to welcome back to the show once again the one and only Dave Mustaine of Megadeth. Obviously, the big news is that Dave has announced Megadeth’s final album and farewell tour. The big question would be why now and what went into making this Megadeth final run?

Well, it happened in the middle of the recording. I didn’t plan on this happening. We just had a stretch of about four weeks of really intense recording and I had mentioned to one of our managers and I said, “I don’t, I don’t know how much longer I’m gonna be able to do this,” ’cause my hands were really hurting and I’ve got some issues going on with them that I have had since as long as I can remember.

The arthritis issue is new and the Dupuytren’s contractures is new. So it made it really hard to be able to put in long hours and I had to put in long hours and I just said, “I don’t know how much longer I can do this.” And that led to a conversation and us taking into consideration how long it would take to finish the record, to set it up, to release it, to do a campaign for the Megadeth White Album and for us to tour that really properly.

I’m gonna be getting up there in age. I know that a lot of people say that 40 is the new 25 or whatever, all … crazy number ratios, but I’ve always said when I can’t do this 100 percent, I’m gonna stop because I don’t wanna be one of these guys and I’ve seen enough of them and so have you, dear Jackie.

There’s been people that go out and they play and they’re not playing at their peak and I I don’t think that’s, that’s a good decision to make because you ruin your legacy. Like Johnny Rotten said, “You ever get the feeling you’re getting cheated?”

Megadeth, “Tipping Point”

Dave, this is likely a harder decision to make if you don’t feel confident in your final musical statement. You’ve talked elsewhere about this album being one of the best you’ve made in some time. The history speaks for itself and you’ve been through a lot with this band. Was there a moment where this album felt different or felt like you were doing something special that would properly set up this moment?

There was a time in the beginning where we were setting up the tracks and the songs had numbers. They don’t end up with their title until the very end because a lot of times the titles will change.

But in the case of “The Last Note,” the entire lyric changed. So when we went into the studio, it wasn’t until song number nine that we got to “Tipping Point.” We didn’t have a lot of stuff worked out, planned out. We all had our strengths and our contributions that we were planning on bringing. That was what I think was really refreshing about this session, the creation while we’re all together.

Dave, there’s been a lot of fan reaction to the song, “I Don’t Care.” It’s got that rebellion and a defiant spirit to it that feels more punk in its vibe. As a songwriter, with more defiant songs like “I Don’t Care” and “Tipping Point,” I think that’s gotta be a more enjoyable experience just putting that out in the world. Rock and metal were kind of born on rebellion. Looking at today’s music, do you feel there’s enough of that spirit in where music is at?

Well, I believe, due to the temperature of society, and it’s not just in our great country, it’s around the world, you’ve gotta be thoughtful with what you say. I know that we’ve got a lot of little Megadeth fans that aren’t really sure of what they’re hearing because they’re really young. We’ve had fans show up that are in single digits still, you know?

I just think that music is supposed to be enjoyed and there’s enough people out there singing about hardships with their relationships with parents and stuff like that.

We sang about stuff like that with “Family Tree.” “Family Tree” on Youthanasia was a song about that. Some songs are just a little bit too cerebral for really young listeners, so that’s why I love making music that has a really great feeling to it when you hear it, so that even if they don’t understand the words, that the music is gonna carry the song.

When we go into foreign countries and being an American band, one would think we only tour America, but we tour the globe and we’ve been doing it so much so long. We’re just really excited about the record and being able to get out and play.

Megadeth, “I Don’t Care”

Dave, a lot of attention has been given to Megadeth taking on “Ride the Lightning” as a bonus track on this album. It’s well known you wrote on a number of Metallica’s early songs. Was there ever consideration for any other Metallica track you had a hand in and why was “Ride the Lightning” ultimately the right choice to bring it full circle for you?

Well, I’m glad that you said full circle, because that was the goal the whole time, was to bring it full circle back to where my professional career started to pay my respects to the band.

I’ve always thought James [Hetfield] was an exceptional guitar player. I remember we played at The Whisky one night. We had a second guitarist and myself, and James started off just singing. I was the only guitar player. We got the second guitar player.

He showed up and he had on a Rudy Sarzo circa 1985 outfit on and he had a giant feather earring and I looked at him and I went, “Oh, ho, ho, You’re not gonna be here for very long.” The next time we were at rehearsal, he was gone and James had picked up a guitar and was playing as good as he plays now. I was just stoked, but I was also really surprised.

READ MORE: Fans React to Megadeth’s New Version of “Ride the Lightning”

Being able to do one of the songs and pay my respects to James and Lars and do a song that I had a hand in, I thought was the right thing to do. We sped it up a little bit and we beefed up a couple little parts just to make it our own.

But I think when you do a cover song and this is not a cover, It’s a new version from one of the songwriters. but when you do a cover song, you’ve gotta make it, at least as good or better and going into doing this song I didn’t feel like, like it was a foreign piece of music.

It just felt like it was just a piece of my spirit, my soul. And it also showcases two things that I did a lot in my guitar playing when I first joined Metallica and that a lot of people do now. The spider chord, which is in the “Please God Help Me” part, and then during the verses where the guitar goes [mimicks sound], for guitarists out there, the first part sounds like it’s a G chord, but I actually fret at a G-flat, pick the chord, and then slide it up into a G, so it goes. And when you do that really fast, that sounds really fucking heavy.

Megadeth, “Ride the Lightning”

Dave Mustaine of Megadeth is with us. We’re talking about the farewell tour, the final tour, the final record, and stated in another interview you spoke about this farewell tour potentially going on anywhere from three to five years. There are a lot of musicians who’ve been in and out of the band over the years. Some you’ve had back. I was thinking about Marty Friedman a year or so back. As this seems like a time to celebrate the legacy of Megadeth, what are your thoughts on bringing back past members for an appearance here or there?

I haven’t given it much thought at all. I’m still kind of getting my head around this and by the way, I think people are putting too much into this, this three to five year thing. I was talking simply about how long our tours have been in the past. Good thing I didn’t say six years like between Dystopia and The Sick, The Dying, and The Dead because everybody would think we’re gonna be around for six more years.

The truth of the matter is we’re we’re gonna go out and we’re gonna support the new Megadeth record and hopefully it’ll be a very successful tour and we’ll get to see all of our friends and we’ll do a proper farewell.

I wish this wasn’t happening. I do. But like I said, I have always been of the belief when you can’t do your job 100 percent then you need to let someone else do it, you know? It’s like in racing, a car comes up behind you that’s faster than you’re traveling, you need to let them pass.

Looking back over the history of Megadeth, Dave, is there a period of time or album cycle that you feel the best about where you and the band were? In other words, everything just felt right both on and off stage and life was at its best as a member of Megadeth?

I have to skip this record, because this record and this lineup is my favorite,. So let let me talk about the other lineups and albums and stuff, because it truly is my favorite and I don’t wanna say that and have people think, “Oh, he’s just saying that.” So I’ll talk about some of the other catalog.

Countdown felt that way. Countdown felt like everything was clicking and it was an exciting record to make. It was an exciting record to play and we kind of shied away from playing that record live once we started hearing all of our our other records.

Seventeen records is an awful lot of records to draw from for your performance. We have over 220 songs now. I think it’s kinda difficult to pick that stuff. But I would say Countdown was the best. There were other records that were kind of fun because this was all new to us.

The Peace Sells campaign was really great. We’d just gotten signed to Capitol and we didn’t know anything that was going on, so it was all new and fresh and exciting, until it wasn’t.

While Megadeth are heading into their stretch run as a band, I have to ask, you’ve always seemed like a very driven guy. Are there things you wanna do outside of the Megadeth construct, either musically or some other pursuit that you would now have the time to do it?

Sure. Just because I’m not gonna be playing guitar doesn’t mean that I’m not gonna be involved in writing music, you know? Megadeth music is very, very, very difficult to play. Writing music, you can sit down, you can do things and you can relax in between little parts, but when I’m onstage doing Megadeth music, there’s no quarter.

You have to be on your game from the beginning of the set to the end and even if it’s a short set like we were given on the Disturbed tour, we still go out there as though we’re the headliner. That’s just the way I’ve always led our band into battle.

Dave, first of all, I wanna say congrats on this, but I did see that you’ve found a place in Italy while you plan to still keep your place in Nashville. Knowing that you’ve toured countless countries around the world, what was it that captured your heart about settling down with a place in Italy?

Well, I think a lot of it had to do with the topography. It’s a blue zone, and for your listeners that don’t know what a blue zone is, it’s the age per capita in this area there. The citizens there live to be over a hundred years old, evidently, which is just mind-blowing.

It’s a teeny little area. It’s right near the ocean, and we look across the Baltic Sea over into the other side of the sea there, which I think is the Czech Republic. I get my countries mixed up on the sea line. My wife and my daughter worked with some people that we’re very close with. The property was perfect, the lifestyle, the people, the neighbors. It was just great.

And we’ve planted our vineyard there. They say that you can expect to get your first real harvest at year five. The grapes, they obviously will flower and turn into fruit shortly after it’s planted. But it doesn’t pick up its characteristics until it’s about five years old.

Dave, there’s a lot of lasts when we talk about farewells. I’m sure there’s a lot you will welcome moving on from having to do as a professional musician, but I’m gonna ask about the things that still stick with you this far into your career. Once this is all said and done, what are the things you’re still passionate about with each album and tour cycle that you’ll miss the most?

This is gonna sound silly: room service. You’ll still get room service. Yeah. I have a great life, Jackie. As you know, I’ve tried to be really low-key with what I do on the street and up onstage is a different story. But yeah, I’m pretty dang happy right now. I’ve got a great family. My son has got a beautiful family and my granddaughter, I just adore.

The band’s relationship with all of our our team, the publicist, the marketing, everybody from the label to our management. We all are just thrilled on how everything’s working. We’ve been working super hard on this campaign, and it’s just been wonderful. I can’t wait to see you and play some of these new songs for you live ’cause “I Don’t Care” is gonna be added to our set, and that song, if that doesn’t get you moshing, I don’t know what will.

Dave, so excited for this run and this record. We’ve known each other a long time. I’m very excited for you to take this where it’s gonna go, and for everything that’s beyond for you. So, congratulations on this incredible career. I wish you the best of luck. And holy crap, the the touring that is scheduled is intense. I’m here for all of it.

You’re welcome, Jackie. You, you’ve always been one of my best friends in the music industry and I just love you. I can’t wait to see you. And like I said, just have some fun with this new music.

Thanks to Megadeth’s Dave Mustaine for the interview. The band’s self-titled album is available now and tour dates are underway. Stay up to date with Dave and Megadeth through their website, Facebook, X and Instagram accounts. Find out where you can hear Full Metal Jackie’s weekend radio show here.

Looking back on Megadeth’s history, check out which of their albums is turning 40 in 2026 in the gallery below.