Tensions between METALLICA and MEGADETH may have eased in recent years, but the history between the two camps remains one of metal’s most talked-about rivalries.
Back in 1982–1983, Dave Mustaine served as METALLICA’s lead guitarist, contributing riffs that would later surface on Kill ’Em All and even on the follow-up, Ride The Lightning, before being dismissed from the band due to alcoholism, drug misuse and aggressive behavior. His exit famously became the spark that ignited MEGADETH’s formation — and, by Mustaine’s own account, his relentless drive to succeed.
In a new interview with the LA Times, Mustaine once again looked back on how the fallout — and what he perceived as lingering hostility — fueled his ambition.
“Think of it,” he says. “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,” he continued. “For a long time, it very much was me against the world. It was like, okay, if you’re not with me, you’re against me.”
Mustaine’s reflections come shortly after it was revealed that MEGADETH recorded a cover of the Ride The Lightning title track — originally appearing on METALLICA’s 1984 sophomore album — for the band’s self-titled final studio album, Megadeth, which was released on January 23 this year.
Addressing the cover, Mustaine explained his intentions were rooted in respect rather than rivalry.
“There may not be a chance to ever say hello to James [Hetfield, METALLICA guitarist] or Lars [Ulrich, METALLICA drummer] again. I knew some people would have a hard time with me doing the song, but that’s okay 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.”
Mustaine previously elaborated on his decision to include a cover of “Ride the Lightning” on the album during an appearance on Trunk Nation With Eddie Trunk on SiriusXM.
He said: “Well, we were past the halfway point in the album. ‘Cause that song ended up being song number 13. And when the time came to do that, we were talking about — what we usually do is a rendition of somebody’s song that we like or something like that, or a remake.
“And when I was talking with [my son] Justis [who is part of the MEGADETH management team], he had said, ‘Why don’t you do ‘Ride The Lightning’?’ And I kind of looked at him like, ‘Hmm.’ And then I thought about it. I said, ‘That’s probably a good idea.’ And I said, ‘Let’s try it.’ We tried it. It was cool. And I said to the band guys, ‘Okay, if we’re gonna do this, let’s make sure that we do it as good as the original or better.’ ‘Cause we gotta do that. If we’re gonna honor those guys by doing a new version of the song that I did with James [Hetfield], I think it’s important to make it as good or better. And what we did was we sped it up a little bit, and the drum fills at the very end, I told Dirk [Verbeuren, MEGADETH drummer], ‘Have fun there. And you can beef it up if you want’.
The release of Megadeth marked a career milestone for the band, becoming their first No. 1 album in the U.S., debuting at the top of the charts with 73,000 equivalent album units in the week ending January 29, according to Luminate. Pure album sales drove the majority of that total, with 69,000 physical and digital copies sold.
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