Dave Mustaine Trashes Former Megadeth Members: “Marty Seems to Be the Only One That’s Ever Amounted to Anything”
Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson seems to have a hard time making up his mind how he feels about former bandmate Dave Mustaine, flip–flopping on a regular basis, but Mustaine doesn’t seem to have the same hold-ups about his former bandmates. In a recently-posted interview with Bloodstock TV, Mustaine shared his feeling that ex-guitarist Marty Friedman is the only former member of Megadeth who’s “amounted to anything.”
“[The recent reunion show at Budokan] did have a lot of those emotions [of days past]. It did feel like it was the good old days. Also, Marty has made quite a name for himself on his own since then. Of all of the ex-band members of Megadeth, Marty seems to be the only one that’s ever amounted to anything. No offense to the other guys — that’s how the facts are.
“If you look at their sales and stuff, Marty’s the only one that’s ever done anything significant. And to be able to go over and visit him in his world… It was neat to see him out of his environment. Plus, when he came in, he was very suggestive on some things to make the show really smooth. And he wanted to go over all the songs that we were playing several times to make sure everything was just really shit-hot.
“And, of course, Marty being in Marty fashion, he got out there and he mesmerized us all, me included. I found it kind of hard to watch him and do my job at the same time, but I very much wanted to just sit there and watch Kiko and Marty play together, because they two are some of the greatest guitar players in hard rock and heavy metal right now, and to watch the two of them play together was remarkable.”
It’s obviously not a fair claim to say that none of the other former members amounted to anything; they’ve played in various notable bands and all of them played on records for a member of the Big Four. Still, Friedman has the most name recognition and Mustaine isn’t known for his flowery compliments. You can watch video of the reunion here.
