Mustaine says Megadeth were advised to grow beards and change their logo in the past – but insists he always had the final say on the band’s direction.
The frontman admits they took advice on revamping their image following the success of their 1992 album Countdown To Extinction – but says that it didn’t work for them.
Mustaine tells Bonfire: “There’s been some times where we were getting some suggestions from outside people, management, the label, so on and so forth, to try songs a certain way, and I think that when you stick to your guns, you have no one to blame.
“When you listen to other people telling you what to do and it doesn’t work out right, you can take the chickenshit way out and blame them. But I think the bottom line is, no matter what happened with us, I was the one who made the decision, so we’re in the place that we were because of me and my decisions prior to Dystopia.”
Asked what changes bosses suggested for Megadeth, Mustaine says: “It basically started after Countdown To Extinction where the logo changed, our look changed. We were supposed to start growing facial hair, and we were told, ‘Take the points off your ’M’ letters on your logo, get rid of your mascot and stuff.’ And we were, like, ‘Really?’
“You’ve gotta remember, Countdown came in at No.2 on the Billboard chart, so we thought, ‘Wow! This feels great. Now we’re starting to get some direction. This is how you’ll be great. You listen to people who have some credibility.’ And we did, but it didn’t work. And you don’t realise that people that have credibility aren’t always right.”
The band’s 1997 album Cryptic Writings didn’t feature the classic logo on the sleeve, with the follow-up, 1999’s Risk, also sporting a different font. On 2001’s The World Needs A Hero, the classic Megadeth logo reappeared.
Megadeth’s 15th album Dystopia also features Lamb Of God’s Chris Adler on drums.
Megadeth tour dates 2016
Apr 28: San Juan Coliseo de Puerto Rico, Puerto Rico
Apr 30: Ft Myers Fort Rock At Jetblue Park, FL
May 01: Jacksonville Rockville At Metropolitan Park, FL
May 07: Concord Carolina Rebellion, NC
May 20: Columbus Rock On The Range, OH
May 22: Schaghticoke Rock ‘n Derby, NY
May 26: Sioux Falls Badlands Pawn, SD
May 27: Pryor Rocklahoma, OK
May 29: San Antonio River City Rockfest, TX
Jun 02: Milan Gods Of Metal, Italy
Jun 03: Bologna Estragon, Italy
Jun 05: Nijmegen FortaRock, The Netherlands
Jun 07: Lodz Power Festival, Poland
Jun 09: Solvesborg Sweden Rock Festival, Sweden
Jun 10: Download Festival, France
Jun 11: Download Festival, UK
Jun 14: Groningen Oosterport, Netherlands
Jun 15: Pratteln Z7 Konzertfabrik, Switzerland
Jun 16: Luxembourg Rockhal, Luxembourg
Jun 17: Dessel Graspop Metal Meeting, Belgium
Jun 17-19: Clisson Hellfest, France
Jun 22: Berlin Huxleys Neue Welt, Germany
Jun 23: Hamburg Docks, Germany
Jun 24: Copenhagen Copenhall, Denmark
Jun 25: Halden Tons Of Rock, Norway
Jun 28: Cologne Live Music Hall, Germany
Jun 29: Frankfurt Batschkapp, Germany
Jun 30: Munich Backstage, Germany
Jul 02: Rishon LeZion Live Park Amphitheatre, Israel
Jul 07: Sofia Universiada Hall, Bulgaria
Aug 02: Santiago Teatro Caupolican, Chile
Aug 07: Sao Paulo Espaco Das Americas, Brazil
Aug 12: Brasilia Net Live, Brazil
Aug 13: Fortaleza Siara Hall, Brazil
Aug 20: Ascuncion Independiente, Paraguay
Aug 22: Buenos Aires Luna Park, Argentina
