Although he may feel just as "great" as he did back in his youth, Dave Mustaine has admitted that he struggles with his vocal range following surgery he endured on his neck.
In a new interview with Australia's Heavy, the Megadeth leader is questioned on how he gets past any physical hinderances relating to no longer being in his prime, and on how he compensates for perhaps not being able to do some of the things that he did four decades ago.
"Well, I don't really know what I cannot do that I used to do 40 years ago," Mustaine answers (as transcribed by Blabbermouth). "I think that probably the only thing I have any difficulty doing is getting up in a certain pitch now that I've had my neck operated on and had a metal plate put into my spine because of the damage that happened to my neck.
"It's a wonder, based on everything that's happened, the guy upstairs is even letting me continue to do what I love."
He continues, "I don't wanna be a victim — I can't stand people who play the victim — so I'm not gonna give you a litany of all my injuries. But suffice to say, I feel great right now, and I don't really think there's anything that I cannot do."
Of how he maintains his good health, the frontman explains how he avoids partaking in his former passion for extreme sports. He says: "I won't jump out of an airplane anymore because of the plate in my neck. And because… you may have seen something about this, but I'm gonna be an Opa [grandfather]; my son [Justis] is gonna be a dad. I remember when I found out we were gonna have Justis, I stopped skydiving. That's one thing I don't do anymore.
"I think given what's happened to me with the stenosis and the broken neck bone, and I've got another broken bone in my back from riding horses, playing polo… 'Cause I don't know how to play polo, and for some stupid reason my wife convinced me to get out there and do it. And I ended up with a broken bone in my back. Go figure. Love makes you do some strange things, man."
Listen to the full interview below:
