Dave Mustaine has once again opened up about his current relationship with the members of Metallica . In a recent interview, the Megadeth stated that he had a great influence on his former band's sound and complained about Metallica's lack of initiative to do a joint tour.
The controversial statements were made in a conversation with Guitar World , according to transcripts published by The PRP and Blabbermouth . Initially, the Megadeth guitarist and vocalist acknowledged that the rivalry between the groups attracts a lot of public attention.
“In my opinion, there’s no competition between Megadeth and Metallica. 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,” he said.
Next, Mustaine discussed how his brief stint with Metallica in the band's early days played a crucial role in the group's later success – and also took the opportunity to vent.
“Remember, Metallica had a huge head start, and that was thanks to the [material] I helped create. They became one of the biggest bands in the world, but they still waste their breath trying to discredit me and say, ‘Dave isn’t a good guitarist,’” he complained. “‘Excuse me, what the hell did you say?’ I think I wrote a lot of the songs that made you famous, so you should reconsider that bullshit statement. But that’s the crap they say, and there are still sheep who follow them and believe it.”
Despite the recurring exchanges of barbs in the press, Dave Mustaine states that he would like to "reconcile and be friends" with the members of Metallica, but sees no initiative from the other side.
“For whatever reason, they didn’t do it. They’re represented by the same agent as Megadeth, and I’ve already spoken to our agent, saying, ‘You manage Metallica too, why don’t they play with us? What are they afraid of?’”, Mustaine recounted. “The fact is simple: the world wants to see Megadeth and Metallica playing together. Does Megadeth need Metallica? No. But Metallica always talks about their fans, but they don’t do what the public is asking for. What are they afraid of? I don’t know. [The problem] isn’t me, it’s them.”
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