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Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine has once again aimed some criticism at his former bandmates in Metallica. In a recent conversation on the Shawn Ryan Show, he claimed that he “was the driving force behind much of their music that propelled them to success.”
Mustaine reflected on his dismissal following a car accident:
“When we made the decision to relocate to New York, it was because Lars [Ulrich] found someone he wanted to manage us, a guy named Jonny Zazula, who owned Megaforce Records. He heard our demo tape, the ‘No Life ‘Til Leather’ demo, and was blown away, just like everyone else. They wanted us to come out and record an album.
As we were heading there, we were involved in a car accident. We were driving through snow, and only Lars, being from Denmark, knew how to handle it. I was behind the wheel of a Ryder truck, a 24-foot vehicle towing James [Hetfield]’s pickup. We hit black ice and spun out while I was driving. Fortunately, I managed to keep it from flipping over in the middle of the freeway, but the truck came to a halt with oncoming traffic barreling towards us. At that location, the producer—Mark Whitaker, who worked on their first [Metallica] record—was doing our sound. He nearly lost his life.
I had to push him out of the way just in time to prevent him from being struck by an oncoming truck. If I hadn’t seen it and saved him, he would have died. Later, at the U-Haul, James and Lars decided to replace me, trying to use my driving incident as the final excuse.”
He also tackled speculations indicating that his drinking contributed significantly to his exit:
“We all drank. That’s why they called it ‘Alcoholica.’ It wasn’t just ‘Dave-Alcoholica.’ We all participated in drinking. They continued even after my departure. I believe that was the beginning of our downfall. When we reached New York, I had a reel of tape with two days’ worth of guitar riffs that I had created. We brought it along.
After two shows, they woke me one morning and announced, ‘You’re out of the band.’ I asked, ‘What do you mean?’ They replied, ‘You’re out of the band.’ I questioned, ‘No warning? No second chance?’ They just kicked me out without warning, which felt deeply unfair and reflected a grotesque lack of character. This infuriated me and fueled my anger.
I felt really upset at the time and wasn’t inclined to forgive them. I told them, ‘Do not use my music.’ Of course, they did. I wrote ‘Ride The Lightning’, ‘The Call Of Ktulu’, and several others like ‘Phantom Lord’, ‘Metal Militia’, and ‘Jump In The Fire’. I contributed to ‘Leper Messiah’ from ‘Master Of Puppets’ as well.
They didn’t credit me for that. If you listen to those riffs, it’s clear they were mine. You think I wouldn’t recognize my own riffs? Yes, I wrote a significant portion of their music that helped define them, and all the solos on that first album were my work—Kirk [Hammett, Metallica guitarist] could only attempt to imitate them.”
When asked why his drinking was highlighted, he elaborated:
“Because when I got drunk, I became violent. One time, James and I went to a club called Mabuhay [Gardens in San Francisco], across from The Stone. Someone came out of the alleyway and said, ‘There’s a guy beating up a girl in the alley.’ Naturally, I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.
So, James and I went down that alley, and since James wasn’t a fighter, he started yelling, ‘Kill him, kill him!’ The guy emerged from behind a van, larger than James, and taunted, ‘Who’s gonna kill me?’ James pointed at me. I swiftly tackled the guy and began beating him until he stopped moving.
Afterward, we waited for paramedics to arrive. I guess he saw that and thought, ‘I don’t want to be involved with this. Dave’s already had a confrontation with me in LA, and he’s just too violent.’ James would also get hurt; he took a punch from me after kicking my dog.”
Mustaine then recounted his physical confrontation with Hetfield:
“During my days selling pot, I did a concert where people recognized me on stage, and they broke into my place and stole my weed. I was furious. I got two dogs; my nephew took one, and I took the other to rehearsal. She was playing around, and when she leaned on Ron McGovney’s nice GTO, James kicked her. I couldn’t believe it.
I shouted, ‘What did you just do?’ Things escalated from the front yard into the house. I warned James, ‘You better stop or I’ll punch you.’ Ron intervened, saying, ‘If you hit him, you’ll have to hit me first.’ I replied, ‘Stay out of this!’ and then James repeated, ‘If you hit him, you’ll have to hit me first.’ In the heat of the moment, I just hit James, then hip-tossed Ron into his TV setup. That was the end of it. Lars was pulling his hair, saying, ‘I don’t want it to end this way.’
I thought to myself, ‘I’ve already told you, it’s either me or James.’ We had similar clashes frequently because James was constantly acting foolishly. I warned James, ‘It’s either me or Lars, ’cause Lars isn’t any good.’ In the end, I got the boot. So, it’s all good. Whatever.”
He shared what he did after being let go:
“When I got home, I reached out to a friend and told her, ‘I quit.’ She corrected me, saying, ‘No, you didn’t. You got fired.’ I replied, ‘Yeah, I got fired. I quit. I got fired, whatever. I’m back home. Doesn’t matter; it doesn’t change the outcome.’
I made sure never to say I quit, as I wanted people to understand that I was unfairly dismissed and didn’t care. While [Megadeth] may not reach the same heights as [Metallica], check out their biggest hit ‘Enter Sandman’ and compare it to Excel’s track—there’s a resemblance, especially ‘Tapping Into The Emotional Void.’
[via Blabbermouth]
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