David Ellefson names MEGADETH album where Dave Mustaine wasn't fully in charge

It’s no secret that since their inception, MEGADETH‘s main man has always been Dave Mustaine. After all, he’s the main songwriter, lead singer, and co-producer of the veteran thrash metal group. As a result, he would often call the shots and earn the most dough.

But there was at least one point in the band’s career where it sounded like things were momentarily more democratic. And during a chat with The Metal Voice, former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson spilled the beans concerning the group’s 1994 effort.

“‘Youthanasia,’ we went into it, it was actually Nick’s idea (Nick Menza), and he said, ‘Let’s just pre-decide upfront how much everybody’s going to get,'” Ellefson said (transcribed by Ultimate Guitar). “That way, when we’re showing up every day, whoever brings the best idea that day will get used, and it won’t have any agenda of, ‘Well, he’s going to make more money than me,’ or, ‘How come he’s got more songs and a record than me?’ Just bring your best.”

“And if it turns out they’re all Dave and Marty (Friedman) songs, then whatever, at least me and Nick will get paid, too,” Ellefson added. “And it turned out to be, I think, a pretty fair split of stuff. So that was Nick’s idea.”

“Now, it only worked on one album, and Dave didn’t want to do it anymore after that, but it was a great album and is one of the more esteemed, especially internationally, one of the greatest Megadeth records that we made. And because it feels like a group, it feels like a team.”

Released on November 1, 1994, “Youthanasia” spawned such Megadeth classics as “Train of Consequences” and “A Tout le Monde” and was a sizeable hit throughout the world, including earning platinum certification in the US and Canada. This was no mean feat at the time, as this was precisely the point in the ’90s when metal was at an all-time low popularity-wise in North America.