Mustaine

A Heavy Metal Memoir

By: Dave Mustaine, Joe Layden

Narrated by: Tom Wayland

Length: 11 hrs and 38 mins

Publisher's summary

The fall and rise of a heavy metal icon.

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-fucking 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 guitarist (and de facto CEO) for Megadeth, one of the most popular bands in heavy metal - Mustaine's is a story that will inspire, stun, and terrify.

©2010 Dave Mustaine (P)2010 HarperCollins Publishers

good but could be better

love the book. I wish the author or at least someone with a rock and roll voice would have narrated it.

Mustaine...nuff' said.

some of the most intense stories you're likely to hear from a drug addict, and somehow, someway, he made it to this point. His career is amazing and it should be heard by everyone.

Just buy it<br />

Such a great insight into the man's life. Long live Megadeth and the metal front man himself.

I knew it would be cringey, and Dave didn’t disappoint!

This book is a really entertaining glimpse into Dave’s mind. It has everything I expected and more:

Sour Grapes
Unbeatable street fighting/martial arts skills
Hard Feelings
False Humility
Crippling Insecurity/egotism/narcissism
Rampant Drug Use
Jesus
Etc...

The voice performance had a little too much “attitude” in many spots IMO. I think the tone makes Dave seem a bit less humble (if that’s the right word) than he may have intended with his words but it’s hard to say.

Recommended, but be prepared to cringe (a lot)

Dave ruins his own fantastic book at the end

I love Megadeth. I love Dave. But the last quarter of this book is garbage because Dave uses it to talk about god.

If You Love Thrash, Take A Listen

a good biography of fire and redemption. Well read and performed. If you like rock biographies, take a listen.

Yes, another drug crazed rock musician but...

Where does Mustaine rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Wow...this is so subjective. I lean heavily towards autobiographies and non-fiction in general. Best judge is how anxious I was to keep listening...very. You have to be fan of Megadeth and know some history to truly appreciate the life of Mustaine

Any additional comments?

Dave Mustaine is very intelligent person and one of the most tortured public people you'll ever read about...yet, he somehow is still roaming the earth and keeping perspective. So many musicians broke down completely, well before accomplishing everything that Mustaine has - bravo Dave. Unlike many other addicts, it seems he did himself the most damage along the way - yet kept his vision alive.

Highway to hell, u turn, highway to heaven.

Being a huge megadeth fan for close to 15 years I wanted to read this book, but who am I kidding. I don't read....so once I saw this I jumped at it.

Quick overview but no spoilers.

This feels like Dave is just sitting there telling you his life story. It's very easy to listen to, if your a fan of megadeth then you'll have no problem listening to it.

He does go deep into what all he has tried, how it made him feel, as well as not pulling any punches. It does as well have a fair amount of cussing. So if that is a put off for you, then you might not want to listen to this.

And by the end he doesn't pull any punches about his faith in God/Jesus either. In making it clear that he's not a perfect guy, but the only way that he's still here is due to the fact God saved him.

As a Christian myself I loved hearing this story. In that aspect it felt like a huge testimony, more than a life story.

Fantastic! Really Enjoyable, all new Respect.

Never was a fan of any of Dave's bands, but the story is informative and fun. Thank you for this publication. Kudos to Dave!

MAJOR LOVE FOR DAVE FROM JASON C. DANIEL & JESUS.

I loved this book. Dave Mustaine is a personal an professional hero of mine. I wish I could meet him an learn from him. I'm STILL A FAN. Th1rt3en is a great record an Three Title Track is a mantra to me. Super Collider an Dystopia are just as wonderful as all their albums.