Dave Mustaine doesn't shy away from questions related to his brief years in Metallica . The current Megadeth was the band's first guitarist, between 1981 and 1983, and said he hoped for a second chance before being fired.
In an interview with Kerrang Lars Ulrich 's final decision to end Mustaine's contract with the band. On one occasion, Dave brought a pet dog to rehearsal and James Hetfield kicked the animal.
“I probably shouldn’t have brought the dog there, and I understand James. He was probably trying to scare the dog away – but there’s a difference between scaring it away and going too far,” he noted. “Looking back, I totally forgive him and apologize for my part, but things happened for a reason. Dog or no dog, I don’t think I’d be in this band now anyway. There were already conflicting personalities. It’s a strange dynamic when the guitarist talks to the audience and the vocalist doesn’t.”
Mustaine's dismissal was motivated by alcohol abuse, and the musician understands the band's decision now. Even so, he still doesn't cope well with the way his colleagues chose to do it: he was woken up suddenly and informed of the decision, without a chance to try to correct himself.
“It’s almost like it all happened to a different person, I’ve grown a lot since then. Sometimes you need time to process what happened to see your part in it. Because I had a part in it… I was definitely dangerous back then,” he admitted. “I understand why they didn’t want to take a chance on me when there was so much going on in Metallica. But, at the time, I wish I had been given a second chance. Just, like, someone saying, ‘Hey, Dave, you’re drinking too much, and please stop punching the singer in the face!’ I probably would have been okay with that.”
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