Megadeth and Dave's voice

[crofty1984]

Possibly a little controversial:

Would Megadeth have been more commercially successful if Dave Mustaine had a better singing voice?

Now, I love Megadeth, but have to admit that Dave's voice can be a bit of an acquired taste. Going with the obvious comparison, look at how Metallica did with James Hetfield's more "usual" tones.

[Centurion07]

I don't think so. Having a better singing voice, for that type of music, is not going to get you more sales.

I think the success of Metallica vs Megadeth is down to the differences overall in their sound rather than the merits of their singers.

Personally I think Dave is the perfect voice for Megadeth & I can't imagine a "better singer" imrpoving their music in any way.

[gazza285]

His voice gets right on my tits.

That and I didn't like the music much either, just not heavy enough.

[gbbird]

Dave's voice is unique and makes Megadeth. When compared to the current crop of metal vocalists who struggle with anything remotely resembling melody, i think Mustaine is a good singer.

His music writing is done to complement his voice, so if Megadeth had a different sounding vocalist, or Dave sang differently, then we would not have the Megadeth we know and love today.

[crofty1984]

I'm all for Dave's voice. I was thinking about 'deth being "more popular" than "better". He's admitted until relatively recently he was always measuring his success against Metallica's. Happily now though it seems he's been able to say "Hang on, I'm the brains behind Megadeth! I'm fking awesome!"

[Fantuzzi]

Always found Hetfields 'YEAH YEAHS' more annoying.

Rust in peace is just savagely good, some of Deths later stuff his voice isn't so hot, but its Thrash so the vocals aren't meant to be the key thing.

[kiteless]

Fantuzzi said:

Rust in peace is just savagely good

There isn't really a weak track on that album. Certainly "Holy Wars" is an excellent vehicle for Mustaine's voice IMO; I love the way he delivers two lines towards the end of the tune:

[sings]Because I don't say it[/sings]

[grittedteeth]Don't mean I aint thinkin it[/grittedteeth]

[Mastodon2]

gazza285 said:

His voice gets right on my tits.

That and I didn't like the music much either, just not heavy enough.

Not heavy enough next to who though? They are heavy enough to gets fists pumping and headbanging. Sure they might look a little flimsy next to The Black Dahlia Murder, Cannibal Corpse, Morbid Angel etc, but I've never thought Megadeth needed to inject more brutality into their music (apart from that dreadful 90s period where Dave seemed to be searching for a #1 chart hit).

I don't think a "better" singer would have improved them, because I think Dave is a great singer. He is not a natural like Hetfield, not at all, but made the best with what he had and became iconic for his venomous, snarling delivery. He wrote it, and I think he really felt it. Listen to something like "Angry Again" - perhaps my favourite Megadeth song, while there might be singers out there with richer tone, more powerful projection, stronger vibrato etc, I don't think there is another man on earth who could deliver Dave Mustaine's lyrics quite like Dave Mustaine.

[Hoofy]

I appreciate what you mean but I think it works fine. I wonder if the GoCompare singer shoulder do covers of Megadeth just to er... compare.

Edit: ooh! http://youtu.be/m1EbMdAgNPQ

Edited by Hoofy on Tuesday 18th June 23:06

[gazza285]

Mastodon2 said:

Not heavy enough next to who though?

Their contemporaries. Out of the "Big Four" Megadeth were the lightest in terms of music.

[2fast748]

I never really thought anything (good or bad) about Dave's voice until I heard Super Collider - then I thought he'd lost it!

[Nom de ploom]

kiteless said:

Fantuzzi said:

Rust in peace is just savagely good

There isn't really a weak track on that album. Certainly "Holy Wars" is an excellent vehicle for Mustaine's voice IMO; I love the way he delivers two lines towards the end of the tune:

[sings]Because I don't say it[/sings]

[grittedteeth]Don't mean I aint thinkin it[/grittedteeth]

top quoting!

I like daves voice, I like megadeth, but beign a bit controversial here, I'm not a huge fan of rust in peace other than holy wars and lucretia - another vocal hit for DM.

As far as landmark albums are concerned, Peace Sells... is a real benchmark for the genre. with Good mourning...black friday rigth up there with all time classics imho.

so far so good was let down by really lame production and rust sounds a bit samey on soem tracks, although Hangar 18 has also stood the test of time.

one band I'm pissed I haven't seen live

[gazza285]

Exactly, well said.

[crofty1984]

Mastodon2 said:

(apart from that dreadful 90s period where Dave seemed to be searching for a #1 chart hit).

What dreadful late 90's period? They didn't release anything between Youthanasia and The World Needs a Hero.

Nothing at all. You only dreamt it. Look into my eyes.

[bobby_vimto]

No problem with Dave's voice, it suits the whole Megadeth style and it's not as if he's changed it for changes sake - a model of consistency. Unlike some other bands that spring to mind - for example, the later Pantera albums where the vocals sound like a fax machine sending something or an old Speccy 48k loading up. Whizz bang, roar, scream, squeel, growl, urgh etc. All over the place, wastes a lot of good riffs.

Edited by bobby_vimto on Wednesday 19th June 15:00

[Nom de ploom]

too many "nu-metal" derived bands these days seemd to have taken their main vocal influences from napalm death.

I don;t want to hear someone just growling indecipherable lyrics over a double kick bass drum and detuned geetars.

mustaine is an incredibly talented musician and vocally more than adequate and better than the majority of metal vocalists out there at the moment

[Faust66]

Nom de ploom said:

one band I'm pissed I haven't seen live

I’ve seen them live in Rock City (Nottingham) a 3 times (IIRC) and each & every time I walked away a little bit disappointed...

Technically they were spot on, but they just seemed a bit soulless when playing live: no interaction with the crowd, no “make some noise for me” type-of-thing. They just stood there. I recall on one occasion they came out, started playing the set and then walked off. No encore. No thanks for coming. Talking to people afterwards, I certainly wasn’t the only one who felt a bit let down.

Now, Slayer at Rock City... that was a show!

I’ll always be glad I saw MD live though: in 1998 (I think) I got chatting to very nice lass in the pub before the gig began (the Tap ‘n Tumbler for those in the know) who’d been admiring a vintage Slayer shirt I used to wear for gigs. One sweaty moshpit (“I’ve never been in a pit – will you look after me?”) together, lots of head banging and a few beers later and one thing led to another... happy days!

[james_gt3rs]

crofty1984 said:

What dreadful late 90's period? They didn't release anything between Youthanasia and The World Needs a Hero.

Nothing at all. You only dreamt it. Look into my eyes.

Apart from 'Trust' right?

[Fantuzzi]

kiteless said:

Fantuzzi said:

Rust in peace is just savagely good

There isn't really a weak track on that album. Certainly "Holy Wars" is an excellent vehicle for Mustaine's voice IMO; I love the way he delivers two lines towards the end of the tune:

[sings]Because I don't say it[/sings]

[grittedteeth]Don't mean I aint thinkin it[/grittedteeth]

It suits the songs perfectly, mainly because of the emotive style of Megadeth, Daves voice is very honest, a lot like Ozzy's, not technically great, but honest in regards to how they sing more emotive and pained lyrics.

[kiteless]

hornet said:

Sadly I think the only thing holding them back over the years has been Mustaine himself

In terms of acceptance and success? I agree.

As I said previously, his vocals - for me, most of the time - are bang on for the music Megadeth play. What is not in doubt, though, is Mustaine's truculent personality. Whether it's from being ejected from Metallica or what, I don't know. Yet I have guitar magazines upstairs that date back to 1989 where, in some, Mustaine is interviewed and his over-arching self image is sometimes nauseous.

One that sticks in my mind is where he claims that until he introduced Marty Friedman to Jackson guitars, Marty was an acceptable lead player.



Acceptable

Marty could play a plank of wood with two strings, and still do Am arpeggios at 160bpm. Allegedly. I should imagine.