MEGADETH frontman Dave Mustaine recently sat down with Ed Mitchell at Total Guitar to discuss the classic track 'Hangar 18'. An excerpt from the interview is available below.

TG: 'Hangar 18' is bursting with monster riffs. What do you remember about writing the song?

Mustaine: "I wrote a lot of songs when I was really young. 'Rust In Peace...Polaris' was written before I was in my first band, PANIC. So was 'Mechanix' (Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!, 1985). 'Hangar 18' was just another one of those songs, although it was actually under a different title. These were songs that I took with me to that first band – didn't get a chance to get them out in my second band [METALLICA] – but my third one [Megadeth] I did. So I'm really excited about you picking that song."

TG: Chris Poland, who played on Killing Is My Business... And Business Is Good!, was brought in to record the demos for Rust In Peace...

Mustaine: "Yeah, we had been practicing that record as a three-piece. So the record was written but we hadn't found a lead guitar player. We asked Chris to come into the studio and play on the demo tape. So I demoed it and Chris played a solo on it."

TG: Why do you think 'Hangar 18' excites guitarists so much?

Mustaine: "Probably because the sections are so different. You can almost hear THE BEATLES influence and the LED ZEPPELIN influence at the front of the song. Then in the middle of the break when we go to the first extended solo section, it's a very Spanish 'jazzy' kind of part. Then the end solo, when the guitar duel takes over, it's no holds barred get the f*ck out of the way!"

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