chartattack.com, the Canadian music source reports that Megadeth founder/singer/guitarist Dave Mustaine has every right to be pissed. The original lead guitarist for Metallica 20 years ago, he’s been getting screwed over by them via taunting and/or being outright ignored for years.
And now they’re screwing with him again. This time around, the kick in the ass comes prior to the release of Megadeth’s 10th official studio effort This System Has Failed (Sanctuary/EMI). While Mustaine has a number of lucid comments on This System Has Failed [the album speaks for itself frankly], the sordid Megadeth history and his own career, it’s when he’s able to vent about the Metallica movie Some Kind Of Monster that his wit and frustration truly come out.
"Everyone says how the part with me [in the movie] is the most intense. Yeah, because I’m the only one who thinks Lars is a punk," he continues. "Everyone else is afraid of him. He looks like a fuckin’ Eminem wannabe right now. Anyone who watches that movie and doesn’t realize that whoever comes into contact with Lars hates him… If you watch the movie closely, you see that Lars treats everyone so badly. They all end up in therapy! Even the counselor ended up in therapy!"
Mustaine has always been vocal about his issues with Metallica. But he feels most scorned that they couldn’t be bothered to acknowledge him at all until it served their purposes.
"For years [Metallica] said I wasn’t important to them; that I was a temporary guitar player or they never said anything about me," he says. "But now all of a sudden I’m so important that they need me in their movie. Were you lying then or are you lying now? Why am I so important that I need to be in your stupid movie? And when I told them I didn’t want it used — I told the director I didn’t approve of it — and they went ahead and used it. Then Lars goes online and says he doesn’t understand why I’m so pissed off. You didn’t listen to me! Then when he catches wind that I’m getting sick of his crap he says, ‘Aww, I just want to hug Dave. I’m sexually attracted to him.’ What the hell happened to you?"
Mustaine also says that classic Metallica songs such as "Jump In The Fire" and "The Four Horsemen" are his. Along with a number of others.
"Not only [the songs on] Kill ‘Em All, but 'Ride The Lightning' title track, 'Call Of Kthulu,' parts of 'Leper Messiah…' listen to parts of 'Leper Messiah' and then 'Ride The Lighting.' It’s that same spider chord. I invented that! How the hell can you not credit me for writing that?"
Mustaine has his own answer.
"James [Hetfield] didn’t want to give me credit because he’s jealous of me. His whole frontman persona he copped from me. In the beginning of the band, he just sang and I did all the guitar work. When he was done singing, he’d walk away from the microphone and I had to walk up to the mic and talk. I’m like, ‘What’s wrong with this picture? I’m getting your beer tonight!’ I think the most disappointing thing out of all of it is that when you look at all of the accomplishments they’ve made over the years, people are trying to make me invisible. My career’s been successful; I’ve had a blast while I’m here but it would have been nice if Metallica fans really knew what my contribution was instead of them saying there wasn’t any."
Not that it will matter much longer as the Metallikats seem to be desperately bailing that sinking ship. Regardless, Mustaine is blunt. It still hurts.
"I don’t want to look bad on anybody, but it’s like the Flight Of Icarus: if you fly too high, you’ll melt your wings," Mustaine says. "I think there are so many people that are happy it’s over; that they’re failing. I don’t wish that on James at all. I really don’t care about Kirk — he stole my job, but at least I got to bang his girlfriend before he took my job — how do I taste, Kirk? I do miss James though, even though we’ll never work together again. With the silence, it’s like, what are you afraid of? If I have to be in the movie, then obviously I mattered. Why didn’t you say in the movie, ‘Hey listen, I’ve been a twat because for 20 years. I pretended you were invisible.’ Then I would have been like, ‘OK! You can put my part in!’"
