Kevin "Taz" Conklin of "The Big Dumb Radio Show" (web site) — which airs on Kalamazoo, Michigan's 92.5 WZUU FM radio station — conducted an interview with MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine earlier this week. The chat is now available for streaming in two parts below. A couple of excerpts from the interview follow.

On how "Endgame" has been received thus far:

Mustaine: "The record is a complete smash success right now for us. Even web sites that are notorious for hating MEGADETH, like Blabbermouth, we got an 8.5 out of 10 there. I mean, go figure. And they even said something that was kind towards me, saying, 'Well, maybe it's time for us to take a lesson from Professor Dave.' And I'm thinking, 'Huh?!' I guess hell must be frozen. [laughs] And I just heard that there's a magazine — a very high-ranking, established institution... magazine in the U.K., one of the guys there said that MEGADETH is better than METALLICA. And I was like, 'Oh, my God. The next thing you know I'm gonna wake up and I'm gonna be 16 again and I'll have somebody really hot and young laying in my bed.'"

Mustaine on how "Endgame" has been received (click on player below to launch audio):



On whether it gets annoying being asked about METALLICA all the time:

Mustaine: "Nah, it depends on what they're talking about. If it's the 'he-said-she-said' stuff, that's not OK, because they weren't there. But if it's stuff like talking about anything that was to happen, currently or in the future, it's total speculation and it's up in the air. I really don't like talking about it, because I have a new record out and I've heard both records [referring to METALLICA's 'Death Magnetic' and MEGADETH's 'Endgame' — Ed.], and I think mine's better. And that's not a dig at [METALLICA]; it's just how I feel. And I know that they've got a lot of records that are better than the stuff I've put out, but not all of it, and certainly not the stuff that we made together."

Mustaine on whether it gets annoying being asked about METALLICA all the time (click on player below to launch audio):



On whether MEGADETH has been approached to do the "Big Four" tour with METALLICA, SLAYER and ANTHRAX:

Mustaine: That's just a rumor. We found out for sure it was a rumor [last week when we were in New York City for the taping of the 'Late Night with Jimmy Fallon' show]. My manager met with their agent and he said there's nothing [to the rumor], so if their agent doesn't even know about it, there's nothing."

Mustaine on "Big Four" tour rumors (click on player below to launch audio):



Part 1:



Part 2: