David Ellefson told Metal a Day what are his forite bass riffs with Megadeth. He was also asked about Megadeth ‘s music. Take a look:
“It’s funny – I listen to a lot of music, especially when I’m flying in between shows. Megadeth, for as heavy as it can be, it’s almost like we’re not really a metal band. There’s so much other musical complexities that are going on in there.
“The earlier stuff with Gar [Samuelson, drums] and Chris [Poland, guitar] – those guys were fusion guys. I had played in jazz band growing up as a kid, so I kind of was familiar with what they were doing, so I made a nice fit in the rhythm section.
“Dave [Mustaine] – as much as he writes these incredible riffs, he grew up – his sisters listened to Motown. The musical stuff he references – David Bowie, this kind of stuff – it’s not metal, so it’s funny, Megadeth being this ‘metal’ band, has this really wide palette of musical information.”
Here are the riffs:
“I always liked ‘Dawn Patrol,’ just because it’s something I came up with.
“But another one I like is ‘Go To Hell.’ I love that. I play it in the jam room all the time.
“There’s other ones like ‘Ashes in Your Mouth,’ ’99 Ways to Die’… even ‘Angry Again.’ The bass kind of just plays the guitar parts, but it’s just a really cool movement *sings riff* and then puts a nice kind of floor under it, just riding the part.
“Those are some of my favorites – and ‘Five Magics’ probably being my all-time favorite.”
https://youtu.be/9r-8rJbXVWk
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