Megadeth recently sat down for a SiriusXM Front Row interview with Jose Mangin on Liquid Metal to promote the band's 17th and final studio album, Megadeth.
During the conversation, Dave Mustaine spoke candidly about his long, complicated history with Metallica, offering rare words of respect and admiration for his former bandmates while discussing Megadeth's newly recorded cover of Metallica's "Ride The Lightning."
According to Mustaine, the idea to cover the song came late in the album process and marked unfamiliar territory for Megadeth. "We were nearing the end of the record and we've had cover songs by other people, but never a version of a song that I'd done before, excluding what happened with 'Mechanix' back in album number one," Mustaine explained.
After some encouragement from management, Mustaine decided to take on the challenge — but only if Megadeth could put its own stamp on it. "You've got to do it as good as they do it or better. So how do you do a song better than Metallica?"
Mustaine said the band focused on modernizing the track, speeding it up slightly, reinforcing the drum fills, and reworking the solos. Guitar duties were split between Mustaine and Teemu Mäntysaari, with a nod to how Kirk Hammett originally approached the leads. "Kirk was doing it the way that I was originally doing it," Mustaine noted.
Vocally, Mustaine took a different approach from James Hetfield, acknowledging their contrasting styles. "James and I have two very unique voices… I sang it a little bit more. I think James kind of had a more forceful delivery."
Aware that comparisons would be inevitable, Mustaine admitted there was pressure in tackling such an iconic song — but said fan reaction so far has been overwhelmingly positive. "So far everybody that I've talked to really likes what we did… a lot of people noticed that we sped it up or beefed up the drums and solos, and they like it."
Beyond the musical details, Mustaine emphasized that recording "Ride The Lightning" was also about respect and closure. "I wanted to pay my respects to James and to Lars… close the circle."
He shared a personal anecdote from Metallica's early days, recalling the first time he saw Hetfield step into the role of guitarist and realizing the band had found something special. "I watched him and I went, 'I don't know how it happened, but hooray for me and hooray for Metallica because this guy is as good as I am, and now we're going to be great.'"
