So Dave has had his say and now it’s Junior’s turn. For a lot of people out there Mustaine is Megadeth. He’s the leader, voice, chief songwriter, lead and rhythm guitarist, producer etc. His is the definitive book on the band.
Ellefson says in the book that in Megadeth he is the lieutenant to Mustaine and he is fine with that. Often he played the role of diplomat within the band smoothing over some of the cracks, teaching the new members the parts. The good cop to Mustaine’s bad one. He is an integral part of the band’s history but a band member nonetheless. This book is about his journey in life
and not a Megadeth book.
Often you want the story to skip the childhood bits and get to the good stuff but they are important here. His rural and Lutheran upbringing near Jackson, Minnesota are in stark contrast to his L.A lifestyle and his descent into drink and drugs. Many of these rock star bios drug dependencies can be traced to a broken home and/or abusive parents. Not Ellefsons whose family by all accounts have strong ties, religious and work values. It’s peer group pressure and a hatred of L.A for not living up to his expectations that started it all. Having older chemists like Gar, Chris and Dave left him with little choice. It’s amazing but you’d never know it from the music which was and still is fantastic.
Having Mustaine as the outspoken voice of the band allowed Ellefson’s drug use to go largely under the radar. He was the quiet guy in the band and he admits he was a functioning addict. Boy did he burn the candle at both ends. Booze, coke, heroin, methadone, the lot. It’s all laid bare here. The Monsters of Rock gig in front of 107,000 at Donington should have been a triumph but instead he was dope sick because he couldn’t score in England.
A fear of death, a realization of what he had become and the fact that no matter what he took he couldn’t get high anymore allowed him to see what he really was. A rock star for sure but a sorry excuse for a human being. It had to end and the solution started with his religious upbringing and giving his life to god and following a principle he calls Good Orderly Direction.
Being sober since the early 90’s allows Ellefson to tell with great clarity how his personal life has improved and give his take on subsequent albums and tours with Megadeth. His time outside of the band working for Peavy and going back to college are described as some of the happiest times of his life spiritually if not financially. God and family are everything to him. Anyone expecting him to throw some of the past band members under the bus well you won’t find it here, he’s just not that kind of guy. Once a diplomat always the diplomat, high or no.
Kudos must go to Joel Mciver for badgering Ellefson to tell the tale and getting it onto paper. It’s not overtly preachy as Ellefson himself says in the final chapters that his religious lifestyle works for him and is a constant work in progress. It is his story, it is well told and the guy is still here making great music.
Richie.
http://imprints.simonandschuster.biz/howard
