It’s been a very long time now since Metallica’s earliest days. But even to this day, we fondly remember the events of the era. Even those struggles and fights between early members are looked upon dearly since they all led to the present moment and the incredible music we’ve got from two great bands – Megadeth and Metallica.
But, of course, to those who were there, these events are much closer to reality. Especially to Dave Mustaine who was ousted from Metallica. Sure, he later formed Megadeth, achieving his own success. But getting out of Metallica was definitely a traumatic experience for Dave.
But what was also potentially traumatic is that Metallica did something that, according to what Dave said in a recent visit to Joe Rogan, he didn’t allow them to. The first album contains a lot of the parts that he has written. There are also some songs on the second album and there are discussions about whether they included his parts on their third album “Master of Puppets.”
Discussing the matter, Dave said (transcript via Blabbermouth):
“I think in my mind I went right into Megadeth, but at the time I was still kind of trying to digest everything that took place.”
“The thing that bothered me the most was I had all my music, and I left it behind and I said, ‘Don’t use my music.’ And of course they did. They used it on the first record [1983’s ‘Kill ‘Em All’], on the second record [1984’s ‘Ride The Lightning’].”
“There’s parts of my music on a song on the third record [1986’s ‘Master Of Puppets’]. All the solos on the first record are mine, except that they’re just performed by Kirk [Hammett]. And [they’re] close but not the same. And he’s not a bad guitar player.”
When asked about royalties and whether he got paid fairly for the stuff he has written, Mustaine answered:
“Well, most of ’em, yeah, but Kirk got my royalties for [the song] ‘Metal Militia’ [from ‘Kill ‘Em All’] for many, many years. And he has to see the check, so I know somebody saw that I wasn’t getting paid.”
Of course, one can’t help but feel string bitterness vibes from anything Metallica-related that Dave is talking about. But as he further explains, there’s no bitterness. He adds:
“Not bitterness – I’m over it. It’s just money. At the end of the day, my happiness and my family and my wife and my children are more important to me than anything in this world. I love our fans. I have so many things in this life that I’m happy about. But, man, it’s my family. And obviously my relationship with God. I take that very, very personal. And I don’t talk to people about it; I don’t push it on ’em at all. It’s my thing.
“And I just look at it like where I’m at right now… Yeah, [I was] 20 [years old] in Metallica, and now, look at me, I’m 60 [years old] in Megadeth. And I’m a Grammy winner. I’m a New York Times best-selling author – all these things.”
Photo: Ralph Arvesen (Megadeth performing in San Antonio, Texas (27420120171)), Ralph Arvesen (Kirk Hammett 2017)
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