Dave Mustaine details getting clean & making a metal classic with new ‘Rust in Peace’ memoir

Hachette BooksDave Mustaine pulls back the curtain on Megadeth‘s seminal 1990 album, Rust in Peace, with his new memoir.

The book, also called Rust in Peace, not only features Mustaine’s own remembrances, but also contributions from bassist David Ellefson and guitarist Marty Friedman, as well as various producers, engineers and other significant figures involved in the recording process.

“Sometimes what they said was really right there with what my recollection was,” Mustaine tells ABC Audio.  “Other times I’d think, you’re f***ing crazy,” he laughs. “It was honestly me that had the story wrong…it was also not only a really educational book, but it was super entertaining for me.”

In addition to the story behind one of metal’s most beloved albums, Rust in Peace also tells the story of Mustaine and Ellefson getting sober. In fact, leading up to the Megadeth returning the studio, the book is mostly about the pair’s efforts to stay clean.

“I think that the cool thing now that this is all out in the open, we’ve, all of us, peeled the onion back another layer, and we get a chance to make things right if we desire,” Mustaine says. “We also get to show the fans just how combustible things were, ’cause they were nutty.”

As for why Rust in Peace remains such an enduring classic, Mustaine still isn’t sure — “It’s just one of those songs, one of those records, one of those places in time that caught people,” he muses — but he does know that revisiting the album made him more excited for the next Megadeth album.

“I think this is definitely gonna be one of our top-five records,” he says. “It just is.”

Rust in Peace the book is out today, featuring a foreword by Guns N’ Roses shredder Slash.

By Josh Johnson
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