Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Broken relationships and ongoing hardship have frequently served as inspiration for Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine’s artistic pursuits. Mustaine, who is 64 years old and approaching retirement in the face of mounting health issues, appears to have grown more introspective rather than reactive, as per theprp. The 1983 removal of Mustaine from then-rising thrash metal titans Metallica may take up at least one chapter in the book of metal. The band notoriously kicked him out in the middle of a tour because they were tired of his drug use and aggressive demeanor. Mustaine’s outrage and rage over the dismissal prompted him to strike it out on his own, establishing Megadeth as his own thrash metal pillar.
Although Megadeth‘s early career would be greatly impacted by his tense relationship with his former Metallica colleagues, the several truces he made with James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich over the years never appeared to last. After a 2016 royalty dispute over the early Metallica demo “No Life ‘Til Leather,” they are currently once again on the outs. Mustaine has expressed his hope that they could all put aside their differences and travel together before Megadeth hangs up in the upcoming years, but there doesn’t seem to be much movement in that direction. Mustaine acknowledged this in a recently released interview with the Los Angeles Times.
As a sort of farewell to his former bandmates and a means of “closing the circle,” Mustaine returned to Metallica‘s song “Ride The Lightning” for Megadeth‘s self-titled farewell album. Mustaine had writing credits on the song when it was released by Metallica following his firing. However, it seems that no one from Metallica has contacted him over the song.
There may not be a chance to ever say hello to James or Lars again. I knew some people would have a hard time with me doing the song, but that’s OK because I wanted to pay tribute and show my respect. If they like it, fine. If they don’t like it, fine. If they listen to it, fine. If they don’t, fine.
You know, I had a great time when I was in Metallica, and we did something tremendous. It’s a shame what the booze did, but we were all kids and, aside from Lars, we came from pretty broken families. Lots of stuff has happened over the years, but I felt like it would be great to make everything good with them before we stop. We should be friends. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be friends.
Earlier in that same conversation, Mustaine discussed how he was motivated by the tense connection he had with Metallica during Megadeth’s formative years and the demands they allegedly put on him.
Think of it. Where would I be right now if I didn’t have one of the biggest bands in the world spending their time trying to hold me back? They don’t do it anymore, but most of the time when they did, it just made me shake my head. And it wasn’t just Metallica, it was everybody. For a long time, it very much was me against the world. It was like, OK, if you’re not with me, you’re against me.
