Dave Mustaine is revisiting his METALLICA roots in a powerful way—by covering “Ride the Lightning” as a bonus track on MEGADETH’s upcoming album. The move, he says, is more than musical nostalgia; it’s a tribute to James Hetfield and a gesture of respect toward the band that shaped his early career.
In an new interview with Metal Hammer, Mustaine explained the emotional and artistic motivations behind the cover. “I think it was the right time to record it and close the circle,” he said. “I think it was the right time to record it and close the circle,” he tells us. “It’s back to where I came from, and honestly, it’s a good song, we played it really well. We sped it up a little bit, but I personally think when you’re going to do a version of a song then you have to make it just as good or if not better. I really think that we’ve done it just as good the original.”
Mustaine, who played lead guitar in Metallica from 1982 to 1983 and co-wrote several tracks on Kill ’Em All and Ride the Lightning, has long had a complex relationship with his former bandmates. His firing from METALLICA—amid personal tensions with Hetfield and Lars Ulrich—sparked decades of rivalry and reflection. But this cover, he insists, isn’t about rekindling old feuds.
“I’ve always respected James’ playing and so this is a tip of a hat to him and to METALLICA for everything that they’ve done, and everything that we’ve done,” he said. “That legacy that really happened in that teeny little garage in Norwalk, California.”
In a separate interview with Rolling Stone, Mustaine elaborated: “It wasn’t really that I wanted to do my version. I think that we all wanted it to turn out a certain way, and for me, this was about something so much more than how a song turns out. It was about respect.”
The cover appears as the final track on Megadeth, which Mustaine has hinted may be the band’s last studio album. The full tracklist includes:
- Tipping Point
- I Don’t Care
- Hey, God?!
- Let There Be Shred
- Puppet Parade
- Another Bad Day
- Made To Kill
- Obey The Call
- I Am War
- The Last Note
- Ride The Lightning (bonus track)
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