Mustaine: A Heavy Metal Memoir, by Dave Mustaine with Joe Layden

(hb; 2010: autobiography)

From the inside flap:

"Dave Mustaine is the first to admit that he's bottomed out a few times in his dark and twisted speed metal version of a Dickensian life.

"Impoverished, transient childhood? Check.

"Abusive, alcoholic parent? Check.

"Mind-f**king religious weirdness (in his case the extremes of the Jehovah's Witnesses and Satanism)? Check.

"Alcoholism, drug addiction, homelessness? Check, check, check.

"Soul-crushing professional and artistic setbacks? Check.

"Rehab? Check (seventeen times, give or take).

"Near-death experience? Check that one, too.

"James Hetfield, with whom many years ago Mustaine founded a band known as Metallica, once observed, with some incredulity, that Mustaine must have been born with a horseshoe up his ass. That's how lucky he's been, how fortunate he is to be pulling breath after so many close calls. And Hetfield is right. Mustaine has been lucky. He has been blessed. But here's the thing about having a horseshoe lodged in your rectum. It also hurts like hell. And you never forget it's there.

"Mustaine has battled through it all to achieve dizzying heights. From the early, heady days of Metallica, being unceremoniously let go only to become a world-famous rock star -- founder, front man, singer, songwriter (and de facto CEO) for Megadeth, one of the msot popular bands in heavy metal -- Mustaine's is a story that will inspire, stun, and terrify."

Review:

This is one of the better autobiographies I've read in a while. Mustaine comes off, as he often does in Megadeth's lyrics, as clever, smart and (at times) brutally sarcastic, even as he details, without excuses or self-pity, how he grew up in a broken family, joined and was kicked out of Metallica (just before they recorded their first album, Kill 'Em All, which featured four songs he'd co-written with the band), started Megadeth, battled a longtime drug addiction (and eventually shed it), and became a better person/musician.

On a structural level, Mustaine's life reads like a typical rock n' roll story. However, Mustaine's conveyed humanity, lack of bulls**t and non-diarrheic 'fess-ups (often underscored with bleak humor) made this a fun read. (Of course, co-author Joe Layden deserves a lot of the credit; that said, the Mustaine talking in this book faithfully echoes the feel of Mustaine's music: punky-abrasive, sharp-witted, underlined with serious real-world concerns.)

There are some nice mentions of Alice Cooper (Mustaine's godfather, who repeatedly helped Mustaine kick drugs) and Scott Ian of Anthrax, if you're a fan of those musicians/bands. Not only that, Mustaine's criticisms of his former Metallica bandmates - James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich - are reasonable, given Mustaine's personality.

Thoroughly enjoyable, no filler nor bulls**t read. Check this out.