Mainman Mustaine had invented the Vic Rattlehead character before the band started recording their first work in 1984, and he'd given the Combat record label clear instructions about what he wanted from the artwork.

Mustaine tells Metal Hammer's Paul Brannigan: "The inspiration for Vic came from a little model of the 'Speak No Evil, See No Evil, Hear No Evil' monkeys that my mom had. I thought it would be cool to translate that to metal.

"I drew it and got my friend Peyton Tuttle to paint it for our first t-shirt. The cover was supposed to be based on his painting, with a shield, knives and chains, a skull and crossbones."

Ellefson says: "So this box shows up, and we open it, and there's the record. Dave was immediately on the phone to Combat, asking, 'What the f*** is this?'"

Mustaine states: "It was a plastic skull with tinfoil and ketchup. It was sh*t." His comment reflects one of his golden rules about working in the music industry: "I told David, 'In this business, you have to eat sh*t, smile and ask for more.'"