The AC/DC album that changed Dave Mustaine’s life
Dave Mustaine has lived a life of storied proportions. An instrumental force in the thrash metal genre, he has played in two of the ‘Big Four’ of the movement, Metallica and Megadeth. Mustaine may well have courted controversies and never truly forgiven Metallica in a pitted career, but no one can doubt that he’s had a significant impact on music and popular culture.
The guitarist formed Megadeth in 1983 after being fired from Metallica in their early stages. While Mustaine didn’t appear on any Metallica albums, he is credited with four songs on their 1983 debut, Kill’ Em All, and two on their widely influential effort, Ride the Lightning. An adept guitarist and songwriter, he would come into his own when fronting Megadeth. He now had complete control over operations which allowed him to move ever closer towards his ultimate creative vision.
Although Mustaine is inextricable from the thrash genre, he has cited various artists as influences across his career. However, unsurprisingly, the most significant ones are from the metal and punk areas. One band whose sound is at the nexus of these two environments, in a distinctly hard rock space, is AC/DC, a group who changed the young Californian’s life when he heard one of their most essential albums. Interestingly, the quintet were so impactful on thrash that they even reduced Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich to tears.
The record in question is 1977’s Let There Be Rock, the band’s fourth album, which produced ‘Dog Eat Dog’ and ‘Whole Lotta Rosie’. When speaking to Classic Rock, Mustaine outlined why it changed his life. He said: “When I was in my teens I lived in Huntington Beach, California, and there was a girl called Cindy who worked at a record store. I used to sell pot, but I would trade her pot for records. That’s how I discovered AC/DC”.
Adding: “The first time I put the record on, I was looking at the back cover and wondering: ‘What the hell’s up with that dude’s lip?’ But hearing the music, my life totally changed.”
It was such a visceral beast that music no longer seemed like a background noise to Mustaine. “To me it sounded like something was wrong, like it was too close to my face. Most records are all around you, but this one was right there [spreads his hand in front of his nose],” he continued. “It was… unsettling. I remember everything, from that first millisecond, that little crackle before ‘ga-dun-gar!’ in Go Down, to the last guitar noise at the end of Whole Lotta Rosie“.
While AC/DC would go on to be mega-stars, they weren’t quite well known at this stage, and they were an utter surprise to the future guitarist. “I remember the first time I heard the song Let There Be Rock I couldn’t understand what ‘schmaltz’ was,” he continued. “And I thought this guy Bon Scott sounds like he’s got peanut butter stuck to the roof of his mouth. But I just started to really love this band. I started collecting everything I could get my hands on.”
He concluded: “Bon was one of my heroes. I was really sad when he died. I still love and respect AC/DC. Brian [Johnson], I know he’s an absolute star, but it’s never really been the same for me since then. Thank god for AC/DC. A great band!”
Listen to Let There Be Rock below.
