NEW LEAD GUITARIST for MEGADETH has been CONFIRM! He is ....

[DaveMustaine]

DAVE MUSTAINE INTERVIEW 8/27/04
By Bob Nalbandian


On September 14th, the long awaited new studio album by Megadeth, The System Has Failed, recorded with drummer Vinnie Colaiuta, bassist Jimmy Sloas and guest soloist Chris Poland, will hit the stores. In addition, Megadeth's back catalougue has just been re-mixed and re-mastered by Mustaine himself, and is currently available worldwide. Indeed, Megadeth is back and sounding better than ever before!


In this interview, Dave Mustaine discusses the new album and upcoming tour as well as digging way back into Megadeth's past and, of course, some affectionate words about Metallica...


Bob Nalbandian: So can you tell us who is the new guitarist for Megadeth?
Dave Mustaine: His name is Glen Drover. He played with King Diamond and is in a band called Eidolon from Canada.


BN: How did you hook up with Glen?
DM: The webmaster for my website had talked to me about a couple guys and Glen's name popped up, we did some research and it was a perfect fit.


BN: So is Glen gonna be doing the tour as well?
DM: Yes.


BN: Are any of the tour dates confirmed?
DM: It's probably going to start in October, the first leg will be in America, we may do a second leg [in the States] but we're gonna really take it easy on this tour.


BN: Will Vinnie Colaiuta and Jimmy Sloas [played drums and bass on new CD respectively] be doing the tour as well?
DM: They're not doing the tour. I got Nick Menza back on drums and I haven't yet confirmed the bass player for the tour.


BN: Great to hear you got Nick back in the band. How's that working out?
DM: It's good, I missed playing with him.


[Taken from http://www.hardradio.com/shockwaves/mustaine1.php3]

 

[DaveMustaine]

DAVE MUSTAINE Interview Page 2
By Bob Nalbandian


BN: Since the conception of Megadeth, you've gone through several guitarists and drummers, but David Ellefson (bass) was always a mainstay from day one. That must have been difficult parting ways with David...

DM: It wasn't. Back during the Cryptic Writings tour I was gonna let Nick go and Marty (Friedman) had told me "we need to get rid of Ellefson too". And I was surprised, because I'd been sticking up for David with the producers all this time, they all wanted to get rid of him and bring in a session guy. Before this new record was to be made, I was still intending to use session guys to cut the record, but I figured I would call up the Rust In Peace line-up and get them on tape to see if they can beat any of the performances. Nick was in, Marty wanted to know everything six ways out of Sunday...he wanted to know all the details. I'm like, dude, you're just going to be soloing on a record, I can't imagine you ask these questions to other guys you did solos for on a record. And Ellefson wanted too much money. He wanted my publishing when the recorded was completely written - it was done. He just wanted more money than I felt he was worth.


BN: How in the hell did Vinnie Colaiuta come into the fold? Being a huge session drummer for the biggest name bands in pop, jazz, and fusion, I find it surprising he would record with Megadeth!

DM: Do you know how badly he wanted to do this record? He's been performing for artists like Sting and Faith Hill, and he has the chance to come in and belt blazing drum tracks with Dave Mustaine...doing lead drums...I mean, come on. I was so intimidated by him, when I first went in I shook his hand and said "I thought you were black." He started laughing, since he's this large Italian man. I just wanted to clear the air and make things fun from the get-go and let him know I'm a prankster. And then we just started recording, I would play air-drums on certain parts and said "do this", but I still gave him artistic license to do what he needed to do. And it was brilliant, he did the whole record in three days.


BN: The new album sounds incredible! It totally brings me back to the early years. Did you envision this album as sort of a "rebirth" of Megadeth?

DM: Actually, what it is...it's funeral marching music, because Megadeth is over. This is the last record and the last tour.


BN: So it is true, will this truly be the end of Megadeth? Do you plan on other musical ventures? I remember you once discussed with me about a Dave Mustaine solo album with guest musicians...

DM: That's what this album was originally intended to be. It turned out kind of funky with everything - but now given the lawsuits and such, there will never be a reunion...never. There's a difference between having a dispute and getting it settled [apparently referring to the pending lawsuit with Ellefson] verses trying to assassinate somebody's character.


[Taken from http://www.hardradio.com/shockwaves/mustaine2.php3]


:wink:

 

[DaveMustaine]

DAVE MUSTAINE Interview Page 3
By Bob Nalbandian


BN: I think most people would agree that Dave Mustaine is Megadeth, and you carry the name. And this intended solo album sounds more "Megadeth" than probably your last five albums.

DM: Because those guys kept dicking around with the process. They kept saying, "listen to my song, listen to my tape"...I'll listen to the tape"click click click" as I throw it out the f**kin'window!


BN: Going back to what you said about Vinnie Colaiuta really wanting to play with Megadeth...in actuality, it's really not that surprising. Even though most skeptics may look at Megadeth as simply a "thrash metal band," fact is, Megadeth were always one of the few thrash bands that were truly respected by musicians. Killing Is My Business... was truly a monumental album in that it was the first of its kind...molding fusion with thrash-metal and taking it to the extreme. And you continue that tradition with this new album. Was that your vision when you first started Megadeth...to mix fusion with thrash-metal and start a whole new musical trend?

DM: Truthfully, I just wanted to out-metal Metallica, and I knew it would be pretty hard since the band had "metal" in their name.


BN: But your music was so much more sophisticated...do you feel it was perhaps Gar Samuelson and Chris Poland's jazz/fusion background gave Megadeth in part its identity, even though you wrote the majority of the material?

DM: I think that Chris didn't really give anything other than playing solos. Gar certainly added some interesting stuff, but I wrote his drum parts pretty much the same way I've written drum parts [for all the drummers in Megadeth] to match the songs. I told them the same thing I told Vinnie [Colaiuta] - "have fun with it, and if it's not what I'm looking for, I will make suggestions. And if you're not getting it, then I will tell you exactly what I want you to do." I think that breathes an environment of a good atmosphere where you can have fun. If you're gonna be creating music with somebody, you want to respect them...and even when hiring session guys, I've respected them enough to come in and listen to their professional opinion and give them a shot at contributing to what I was doing. When this project was finished, I listened to what Vinnie had done and I knew I had made the right decision...he did everything in three days! Sadly, Vinnie is such a high-priced drummer that he can't come out on the road with me, otherwise I would have taken him along. Another thing, that is very peculiar, Jimmy Lee Sloas just disappeared and we can't find this man anywhere, in fact, nobody in Nashville can find him. He had problems with his marriage and with his kid and we just don't know what happened to him...he's gone.


BN: Any prospects for a new bassist?

DM: Yes, but I don't want to say anything until he is 100% confirmed.


[Taken from http://www.hardradio.com/shockwaves/mustaine3.php3]

 

[DaveMustaine]

DAVE MUSTAINE Interview Page 4
By Bob Nalbandian


BN: Did you ever consider asking Jason Newsted to play bass for this tour?

DM: I would love to have Jason Newsted play with me. I think it would be fun just to stick it up Metallica's ass. But I know he's got several projects going on at the moment and don't know if he could commit for an entire tour. This will be a long tour, it's not just 20 shows in America , it's gonna go on through next summer. So I don't want somebody who's gonna play five gigs with me and then say something like, "I got an opportunity to play with VoiVod again".


BN: What ever happened to Lee Rausch, your original drummer?

DM: I don't know. He wasn't necessarily an original drummer. He was a guy that we really liked, and then one day sitting on the steps of Billy Cordero's house, when David Ellefson and I were squatting...we just kind of met this kid, went to his house and filtrated his bedroom and never left for a couple months. Lee was telling us how he had given his soul to Satan, and I know enough about Black Magic that if you really do the actual act of giving your soul to Satan, you have to have sex with Satan to consecrate the deal. You had to have sex and have a Satanic Priest take the embodiment of Satan on so he can sodomize you. And I asked him, "So, who was the Priest?" And he said, "My Priest was a guy named David." I was like..."I'm out of here!"


BN: Enough about the past. Let's talk about the new record, The System Has Failed. The album sounds incredible, and, as you mentioned earlier, it sounds like you really enjoyed recording this record, and seems like you just went in with the intention of simply making a killer Megadeth record without any pressure from the label. It seems as though the label basically gave you the reigns- is that the case?

DM: That's exactly what the label said...have you been reading my mail?


BN: This sounds like the album you've been wanting to put out for a long time...

DM: After Risk, I told the guys, "we need to make a metal record again." And that's basically why Marty quit, he said "I'm not making metal music anymore." The thing that I found highly hypocritical was that he left Megadeth to go do Jap-pop and then made a solo record called "Speeding for Metal," or whatever it was called. Don't think the fans don't see the hypocrisy in your reasons for leaving Megadeth. And he blames me because my lyrics were too negative and my songs were too formulated. Prior to Marty joining Megadeth, we were very jazz-oriented, it was after he got in the band when it became very...verse, chorus, verse, chorus, solo...


[Taken from http://www.hardradio.com/shockwaves/mustaine4.php3]

 

[hifi_killer]

ermm no offence... but is this really necessary

 

[brundisium]

perhaps just like the other post on marketing local music.... is it necessary at all..... maybe it's just to make it more known to people......be it local music or dave mustaine.......

 

[hifi_killer]

i mean.. we all know megadeth is awesome.. but i dont see how we can reply to this thread constructively. Besides its all copy and pasting..

 

[DaveMustaine]

i mean.. we all know megadeth is awesome.. but i dont see how we can reply to this thread constructively. Besides its all copy and pasting..

Awww...cmon. This is going out to all those MEGADETH fans out there in SG. Jus feel free to discuss anything regarding this latest interview with Dave Mustaine, if u hav anything to add.

Btw, check out the hilarious comments he make of Lars Ulrich in the next interviews (below). 1 of the funniest stuff out there & it cracks me up, man.

 

[DaveMustaine]

DAVE MUSTAINE Interview Page 5
By Bob Nalbandian


BN: Let's talk about the concept behind The System Has Failed, from the lyrics to the album cover with (what looks like) Vic the Rattlehead handing money to President Bush.

DM: He's not handing money to Bush, he's taking money from these guys and Bush is not giving him money, he's pointing the finger at him saying "what are you doing". Everyone else is buying these 'passes' to get out of jail free. On the side of the board, where Vic is standing, there's a list of different charges for the "unholy" Ten Commandments. What he's done was turned each one negatively and you can buy that to go into court and get out of court. In the song, "Kick The Chair", it says "justice means nothing today now that the courts are for sale." So Vic is just basically selling off all this stuff. The billboard on the back cover says "jurors sale 50% off". You got that guy from, I think it was Adelphia, who stole 3 billion dollars worth of investors money and one of the jurors wouldn't convict him because they'd found out whom her family was.


BN: You just shot a video for the track "Die Dead Enough," tell us about that...

DM: Well, I was walking with Pam [Dave's wife] in Ocean City, New Jersey and we talked about being in a silo in an underground area with a bunch of monitors looking back on my career. And I just wrote it out and sent the treatment over to the director Thomas Minion and we went back and forth with a couple different edits and came up with the final version.


BN: You mention this is going to be the last album and tour for Megadeth...is there going to be a special DVD with perhaps a couple other videos or performances from the new record and tour?

DM: I'm not sure, I think the label wants to do one more video from this record. The record has, I believe, a couple very strong potential singles. I also don't want Sanctuary to feel obligated to do anything more than that because they were left in a very negative situation when Megadeth broke-up since, obviously, they would have been able to create more sales if the band were to continue touring. Also, there was some really under-handed stuff that was done prior to the band breaking up by some people who were working with the group. They had gone to the label and took a bunch of money from them so we were left at a serious deficit. If they want to do another video then I would be thrilled to do that. I want to be as good to them as possible because they have my next three solo records.


BN: Just prior to your arm injury, didn't you sign something like a ten album deal with Sanctuary?

DM: I think it was five Megadeth records and my three solo records.


DAVE MUSTAINE Interview Page 6
By Bob Nalbandian


BN: Let's talk about the solo records - have you put any thought into that or is your mindset only on Megadeth at the moment?

DM: Well, The System Has Failed was a solo record.


BN: But it is being released as a Megadeth record...

DM: It was a solo record...I wrote 22 songs and I was going to the studio to record two albums, like Ozzy did with Blizzard Of Oz and Diary Of A Madman. Record all the songs at once and then split them in half and release one record, wait two years, and release the other record. Kevin [their manager] went over to notify EMI and Merck at Sanctuary. Sanctuary was great, they said, "whether it's Megadeth or Dave Mustaine (solo)...we just want Dave's music." And Merck told me, just like you said, just write for yourself...don't write for the press or radio, just write your own record, which I was just thrilled to hear. When he went to EMI and said "Dave's gonna do a solo record, will that count for the last Megadeth record, making him a free agent?" They said, "no, it won't and until Dave gives us that last Megadeth record we own him forever and ever." So that's why this is a Megadeth record.


BN: How did you handle the recording process for this record?

DM: I went into the studio in Nashville, took my hard-drive that contained eleven of my songs and put them into the pro-tools rig and Vinnie played along to it. I laid scratch guitar tracks and scratch bass tracks in some parts, Jimmy Sloas laid down bass in other parts, and after the three-day period, I went home. Then Jeff started working on stuff and I came back out and finished my overdubs, my guitar, my solos, my singing, and all my acoustic and slide work. Then we went back and did keyboards and background vocals.


BN: You're referring to Jeff Balding, he produced and mixed this record, correct?

DM: He produced the record with me. He mixed the record in Nashville and Arizona.


BN: So, now you have fulfilled your obligations with EMI...this is for Europe, correct?

DM: No, here in America. My contract is up with EMI now.


BN: I know Capitol/EMI just recently reissued the Megadeth back catalog. You not only re-mastered these albums, but you remixed and even re-recorded some vocal and guitar parts on certain tracks. Did you feel this was necessary or you just wanted certain parts on the albums changed.

DM: After Killing Is My Business... was remixed and reissued it made so much sense to reissue the other records. So I proceeded with Capitol to get them to do it. It took a couple years to get it all worked out because the guy that was head of the whole project of remixing had got let go.

 

[DaveMustaine]

This is funny.... LOL

DAVE MUSTAINE Interview Page 7
By Bob Nalbandian


BN: Now, I know you also reissued the MD-45 record with Lee Ving (Fear)...

DM: Yeah, but I re-sang it and played guitar where the harmonica was because Lee's vocal parts and harmonica parts had somehow disappeared, it was really weird.


BN: Let's go way back to the old days, even prior to when I first met you with Metallica...You and I both lived in Huntington Beach at the time, and you were in a band called Panic. Let's talk about the old Orange County days...when you played clubs like the Woodstock, Radio City, Concert Factory, and how you eventually hooked up with Lars and James...

DM: I met Lars through an ad in Recycler, a local classified ads newspaper, the ad read "looking for a guitar player influenced by Motorhead and Iron Maiden". I called the ad and told him some of the bands I liked, and I mentioned Budgie, and Lars said, "f**k man, you like Budgie!" [mimicking Lars' Danish accent]. So I went to his house and sat in his bedroom and we smoked a little pot next to a huge stack of Danish pornography and licorice, and I thought 'this is interesting for a teenager to have this much Danish porno', but I didn't ask any questions. I told him that the version of "Hit The Lights" with Lloyd [Grant] on it needed more guitar solos, so I put a solo on the track with Lloyd. It was like a 45 single and he just thought it was the shit, and I listened to it and didn't think it was that great, the drums were pretty bad too. Then I met with James and Ron [McGovney] and it was time for me to audition so I turned on the amp and started warming up but nobody had come in to listen. So, I went into the other room and said "what's going on?", and they said, "you got the gig," so I was like, "wow, that's cool". I was actually pretty pleased with that, to go from Panic to joining Metallica, even though I didn't know what was going on. And then I remembered Lars introducing James to me as their singer, and I looked at James and thought "aren't front-men supposed to be sexy?"


BN: [Laughing] I remember those days. I was fortunate to have witnessed the very first Metallica show at Radio City (Anaheim) and then the following show you did opening for Saxon at the Whisky. Everyone that saw the first few Metallica shows had thought you were the front-man of the group, even though you were just the guitarist...you were the one that brought forth the energy and the character of Metallica in the early days. James was so shy, he didn't say a word in-between songs. You were the only one who really had any stage presence as well. Did you feel you put a lot more into Metallica than what you are credited for?

DM: I don't think they've ever given me the credit for what I did. I'm not gonna say, 'for what I deserve'...since I don't really know what I deserve, but they never gave me proper credit for what I did. And the sad thing is that James had denied the fact that I even existed and Lars said that I was just a temporary guitar player and that I really wasn't that good and wasn't that important. And then you see this stupid movie [referring to Some Kind Of Monster] and he's just carrying on and on. I didn't want to be in the movie and he was telling me that I had to be in it since it was a vital part of the film. Why was it such a vital part of the movie when I didn't want to be in the movie?


DAVE MUSTAINE Interview Page 8
By Bob Nalbandian


BN: So they insisted, in a sense, that you be a part of their movie...

DM: I saw my footage and I said I didn't want to be in it. Two days before the movie, if you remember, we had just been attacked in N.Y. and they were still pulling dead people out of the buildings. [I hung out with Dave a few days after when Megadeth played the House of Blues in Los Angeles when he first told me of this]. That September 13th I turned 40, I was stuck in Vancouver...on the 11th I was in Seattle when I heard the towers' had been hit, we canceled our show and drove into Canada and did that show. On the 13th I was supposed to fly home but all the flights were grounded. So I have to drive all the way from Canada down to San Francisco while Lars is calling up saying "hey, let's f**kin' get together man". And I'm thinking to myself, "My God, my life has come to this...I've turned 40 and I'm with Lars." And he's telling me, "hey, we got this counselor here and we'd like to kind of work through some things in the past and kind of make it right." And I'm thinking, that's fine, I've been through enough psychotherapy and I understand that may be good. So we go in and talk for like three hours while they're filming it, and I was uncomfortable about that...


BN: Do you feel it was simply them wanting to add "drama" to their movie rather than having anything to do with making amends with what happened in the past?

DM: Yeah, they just wanted to continue using me. The thing you got to ask yourself, Bob, is if I was so unimportant that James didn't mention my name ever in the last 20 years, and now they're all saying that I need to be a part of this...what part of 'this' do I need to be a part of? James was saying that we have so much in common and that he wants to talk to me...I'm like, dude, I'm approachable, I'm locatable, drop the horse-shit, if you want to talk to me then call me. As far as Lars in concerned...the last thing he said on Blabbermouth is that he was sexually attracted to me!...Dude, what has happened to you?


BN: Is that true? Or was he being sarcastic as usual?

DM: I've been around Lars enough to know that he's got some pretty questionable things he's said and done over the years and I don't know whether he was joking or not. But I do know this...if Lars wants to get sexual with me, he's gonna be on the bottom.


BN: [Laughing] I thought what might have bonded you and James after all these years was the fact that he has recently become clean and sober...

DM: Just because two people are clean and sober doesn't necessarily mean they will get along or bond together. It's obvious that the footage they used on me in the movie was to make them look good. The fact that people boo my scene [in the theatres]...f**k you! How stupid are you? There would be no Metallica if there wasn't me.

 

[lars_ulrich]

damn, looks like dave mustaine is still sore after being kicked out of the biggest heavy metal band in the world. and the fact that metallica had always overshadowed megadeth...

 

[FUCKFEAR]

:lol:I think we should stay out of this mustaine and metallica thing.This thing has been going on for more than a decade and still things don't work out for them .They know the true story better than us anyway.They may told one story on other magazine,but still they have something that they hide from public.Never really the truth.One moment u heard they are in good terms,next they bashed each other.Funny to thing abt it that they are coming in their 40's man!!!

 

[DaveMustaine]

damn, looks like dave mustaine is still sore after being kicked out of the biggest heavy metal band in the world. and the fact that metallica had always overshadowed megadeth...

:lol:I think we should stay out of this mustaine and metallica thing.This thing has been going on for more than a decade and still things don't work out for them .They know the true story better than us anyway.They may told one story on other magazine,but still they have something that they hide from public.Never really the truth.One moment u heard they are in good terms,next they bashed each other.Funny to thing abt it that they are coming in their 40's man!!!

Yupz, FUCKFEAR, u nailed it. There are obviously alot of pain going on deep inside Dave Mustaine. I thik its hard for us to fully comprehend. Jus imagine if u were in Metallica and then after receiving alot of raves being their lead guitarist, the next minute u woke up, they ask you to get out.

Its not easy but im thankful we hav MEGADETH which i thik is as kickass as Metallica if not better.

lars_ulrich: Yep, Metallica has always overshadow MEGADETH. I thik having tat "Deth" in the name really hurts both the sales & the way pple are willing to open up their mind to give MEGADETH music a chance.

Then again, im the kind of guy tat likes to support the "under-dogs" or bands tat are good but under-rated. Tats just me, i guess.

 

[blahblah]

metallica is bullshit man...bunch of corporate whores who sued napster just because their crap album sales dropped and they couldn't buy a golden fountain or a rolls royce.

 

[lars_ulrich]

erm ure saying metallica is pro-record company? can u be serious man? metallica kinda invented being anti-record company back in the early days when they dared not to sign on wif a record company.anyway, i do agree megadeth is underrated. they certainly have got real kick ass metal classics. but their success or lack of it has nothing to do wif "deth". look at black sabbath, iron maiden, slayer. those arent pretty names but look at them.

 

[FUCKFEAR]

To compare between slayer,sabbath,iron maiden and mega deth is pretty silly.Mega deth is way up.They r in the same league wit Metallica.They done so many clips just like Metallica.Receive awards etc.....Slayer,sabbath,iron maiden,testament some other bands r still stuck or playing for wat their fans want.To me Metallica and Mega Deth are bunch of headstrong musicians...They dont follow the so-called Metal rules & regulations.Metallica take the risk for composing ballad in Ride the lightning.Cut their hair to silly hair styles..Then its pretty obvious to us that Mega deth trying to out-metal Metallica by playing ballads...Except for hair.. :roll:

 

[lars_ulrich]

i really ddnt understand what u were trying to say in that last post.

 

[FUCKFEAR]

Then u should read the Dave mustaine interview fully.Take your time. :wink:

 

[DaveMustaine]

Then u should read the Dave mustaine interview fully.Take your time. :wink:

Yupz, agree wif ya totally. So here's the rest of the interview, Page 9 & Page 10 + the latest interview of Dave Mustaine from Brave World & Bloody Knuckles.com website, where Dave talk abt how he found out this new lead guitarist, Glen Drover.


-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DAVE MUSTAINE Interview Page 9
By Bob Nalbandian


BN: Since it was a Metallica movie, obviously they had the last word as far as the editing and how you were going to be portrayed in it...

DM: Sure, they didn't show Lars getting up, crying and then running to the bathroom to wash his face...


BN: I've yet to see the movie, but it seems to me [like their last album] this movie is just their attempt of trying to stay hip with the younger MTV generation. Reality TV is the popular trend these days, and this is simply Metallica's version of The Real World...is there anything you can do, or would like to do or say to set the record straight?

DM: I really don't care. Lars and I are done. If James wants to talk, that's fine, but I'm not gonna talk to Lars ever again. He just killed the relationship for good and for all. And he can call up and say he's sorry, but that's it...it's over. I always had hopes that we would someday play together again, but now, the only thing I would play with Lars is Russian Roulette, and I'd let him go first with all six bullets [slight laughter].


BN: How's your relationship with Kirk Hammett?

DM: I don't like Kirk, I never have liked him and I still don't like him, and I don't think I ever will like him. He made this comment like, 'well, you signed the paper' [referring to the movie]. Kirk should just stay out of this and just continue to live his life as a Johnny Depp wannabe .


BN: When you were in Metallica and you first hit the scene, with the "No Life til' Leather" demo, there weren't any bands here in the US doing that style of music. And obviously you personally brought a lot to the table with your guitar riffs and solos and the fact that you were influenced by the NWOBHM as well. I had seen your early shows in LA and OC, but never made it up to San Francisco for the shows. Before the band moved to SF, Metallica was portrayed, and written off, in Los Angeles as an amateur metal band that had no place in the Hollywood glam-rock scene. Did you foresee back then, that Metallica had the potential to become hugely popular and that the band would inspire a whole new genre of thrash metal? Or did you just look at it as having fun jamming and playing clubs?

DM: The whole Metallica thing...we just didn't want to be associated with LA. Lars was a spoiled tennis star's kid from Newport Beach, James was suffering from the loss of his mother, and Ron [McGovney] was a little pretty boy whose parents owned a condo where the band sometimes stayed and rehearsed at. And me, I was a young guitar player that sold drugs to survive. It was a recipe for disaster.

 

[DaveMustaine]

DAVE MUSTAINE Interview Page 10
By Bob Nalbandian


BN: Or a recipe for success...Lars had the intuition, but you had the initiative and the drive. Whereas the rest of the members lived fairly comfortably, you had to really fight and work for it. And seeing the band's live performances back then, you definitely were the one that had the drive, the intensity, and the attitude and brought it into the band, and they just carried it on.

DM: The funny thing I thought Bob, the first time I heard all my solos on the record [Kill 'Em All] I was like, "Goddammit". And the first time I saw them live [with Kirk], it was like looking in the mirror watching how James had ripped off all my mannerisms. At that point, I just stopped doing that and thought I now have to do something different. It's kind of like someone dresses a certain way and then another person cops his look so he reinvents himself. It was the same thing once I left Metallica, I could have sounded just like Metallica, that would have been very easy. But I didn't.


BN: And that's what I think most people respect most about Megadeth. Whereas most thrash bands that followed (particularly from the Bay Area) sounded very reminiscent of Metallica, Megadeth had a sound all it's own, even with the changes you made with the latter records, like Cryptic and Risk, you didn't cop some other band's sound, it was just a different side of Megadeth but it was still original. And that is really emphasized when listening to this new album.

DM: Thank you.