DAVE MUSTAINE Says METALLICA Has “Always Tried” To Hold Him Back
“In my mind, there is no competition between Megadeth and Metallica.”
According to Dave Mustaine, there’s no competition between Megadeth and Metallica. Which almost feels like maybe Mustaine‘s ire toward his ex-bandmates has cooled until you read the rest of his comments.
In an interview with Guitar World, Mustaine said that he feels Megadeth has been the more consistent band over the years, and that Metallica got a “big head start” over him thanks to a bunch of music he wrote. Mustaine also says Metallica has been trying to discredit him over the years saying he’s not a good guitarist, and then once again cites the fact that he wrote a bunch of their early material.
“In my mind, there is no competition between Megadeth and Metallica,” he said. “We’re different bands, and I believe Megadeth has been more consistent. But the sad thing is that the drama between us has been more popular than the music ever was. And remember, Metallica got a big head start, and they did so on the back of what I helped create.
“They became one of the biggest bands in the world, and here’s one of the biggest bands wasting their breath trying to discredit me by saying, ‘Dave‘s not a good guitar player.’ Excuse me, what the fuck did you say? [Laughs] I think I wrote many of the songs that made you famous, so you probably should recheck that bullshit statement. But this is the shit those guys say, and you’ve got the sheep who follow them around believing it.”
Accusations of Metallica using Mustaine‘s riffs while he was still in the band are nothing new. Disagreements over writing credits resulted in the shelving of a No Life Til Leather demo box set, and the cancellation of a 2010s project between Mustaine and Metallica frontman James Hetfield.
