Metal, Hardcore, Indie, Rock
Megadeth bassist James LoMenzo recently discussed Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine’s choice to include his rendition of “Ride The Lightning,” the title track of Metallica’s 1984 album, which he received co-writing credit for after leaving the band in 1983, on the band’s final album, simply titled “Megadeth,” in an interview with Jorge Botas of Portugal’s Metal Global, as per Blabbermouth. When asked how he felt upon learning that Dave intended to record “Ride The Lightning” for “Megadeth,” James responded as follows.
I was delighted. I was surprised. My eyebrows went up, but I was kind of delighted that he was gonna even go there, because there’s always that subliminal undercurrent tension — you know, ‘Oh, Metallica [versus] Megadeth.’ And I always thought, like, Megadeth, for God’s sake, I always thought Dave won in a way, because he’s built this giant thing all by himself. And it made a lot of sense to me logically. It seemed like if this is the last thing we’re gonna do, then we should go out, end with a bang, but also kind of address the full history of this band. And that’s like step one. So I thought it was great in the end. But yes, my eyebrow went up when I heard him say that. Yeah.
James responded in this way when Botas mentioned that he believes Megadeth is a superior band to Metallica “when it comes to riffs and solos”.
I can’t go on board with you there. I mean, I’m a company guy — sure, I think we’re better, but semantically, I don’t really believe that. It’s all about taste and approach, right? And I think if Dave had stayed there [in Metallica], it would’ve certainly been a lot more complex, but they would’ve not lost any energy that they had, Metallica. It comes down to, like, who do you like better — Motörhead or the Ramones? One seems silly, one seems really serious, but I love them both. You know what I mean? And it’s similar kind of driving music.
He was questioned if he was aware that “Megadeth” would be marketed as the band’s last effort before they entered the studio to record it.
No, no, no. This came about, like, three-quarters through. We were proceeding as if we were just doing another record, and as time went by… After we finished the record was basically when Dave had this meeting with us and said, ‘You know, guys, this is kind of where we’re at right now. And maybe instead of going out with a whimper, maybe we go out with a big, giant victorious thing.’ And I think it was probably easier to make that decision after hearing the music that we had. ‘Cause if we weren’t convinced with the record, who’d wanna say, ‘Oh, this is our last record. Sorry, this is the best we can do.’ No, we were pretty excited with it. So, it was afterward. And looking down the road, I guess with Ozzy [Osbourne] and all these bands [going away or retiring] — I mean, he had such an illustrious career. There’s so many bands that come and go, and they come back and they leave and all that stuff. And Dave’s not that guy. So when he said that, I heard him loud and clear. It was, like, ‘No, we have to really go out the right way if we’re gonna do this at all.’
It was actually a pleasure making the record without any expectation and those are the best albums. I mean, the ones I love the best are when the band just jumps in, and everybody who’s got something throws it all together and then you see what you have. And people, the consortium of musicians in the band, they sort of give and take, and you kind of get the feeling about what shape the record’s taking as it goes along. So, this was a record that we had a lot of good stuff. Teemu [Mäntysaari], being a new member, we didn’t know what to expect. And my God — the kid came through with flying colors. He just has so many great riffs and his ability to perform is just unmatched. I’ve really not seen anybody who’s quite that fast, as far as picking things up and putting his own stamp on it.
