Megadeth vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine has confirmed the recently teased inclusion of a Metallica cover on the upcoming final Megadeth studio album. The latter band’s forthcoming self-titled opus, due out January 23rd, will indeed feature a newly reimagined take on the title track to Metallica‘s 1984 sophomore album “Ride The Lightning“.
While Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine was infamously ousted from Metallica in 1983, he still received songwriting credits for two of the tracks found on that album, with the title track being one of them.
Newly speaking of covering that song now, Mustaine offered the following in a press release:
“As I come full circle on the career of a lifetime, the decision to include ‘Ride The Lightning,’ a song I co-wrote with James, Lars, and Cliff, was to pay my respects to where my career first started.”
Decades of bitterness and tentative truces have followed in the aftermath of Mustaine‘s dismissal from Metallica. While the hatchet has been buried a number of times before, the most recent wedge in their relationship came about back around 2018. That tension emerged over Metallica‘s plans to release a deluxe edition of their “No Life ‘Til Leather” demo.
Mustaine alleged that Metallica were looking to diminish his songwriting credit contributions to that recording, attempting to have him give up a % of his songwriting credits to drummer Lars Ulrich. Mustaine refused, the reissue was shelved, and the previously rekindled friendships with his former bandmates in the thrash metal legends once again turned frosty.
Seemingly in response to the dispute, Mustaine was said to have at one point privately pursued the idea of covering the “No Life ‘Til Leather” demo under the Megadeth banner. In an newly published interview with Rolling Stone, Mustaine elaborated further on tackling “Ride The Lightning“, stating:
“It wasn’t really that I wanted to do my version. I think that we all wanted it to turn out a certain way, and for me, this was about something so much more than how a song turns out. It was about respect.”
He clarified that respect was for his former Metallica bandmate, vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield. He elaborated on that:
“No one ever talks to me about that. One day he’s a singer, the next day he’s this fucking powerhouse and I’ve always respected him as a guitar player. So I wanted to do something to close the circle on my career right now, since it started off with Panic and several of the songs that ended up in the Metallica repertoire, I wanted to do something that I felt would be a good song.”
Mustaine further went on to explain of the cover:
“Our intentions were pure. I didn’t have any reason I was going to say, ‘Oh, hey man, this thing that we’ve had for 40 years where you guys will never tour with me, me doing the song is going to change things.’ That wasn’t it at all. It was more about: This is my life going forward. I want to do things that are respectable. And I think doing something where we can pay honor to the guy that … I mean, I hate to say this, because it’s just so fucking arrogant, but the guitar playing in Metallica changed the world.”
Mustaine went on to rule out performing the cover live and stated that neither of his former Metallica bandmates (Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich) were privy to the cover before hand:
“It was not for lack of having the thought or the courage or anything like that. I know the last time James and I talked, we were talking about some business stuff, and I haven’t spoken to him since. So I was hoping that we could get his approval on this before we release the track. But when it turned out the way that it did, I think there were so many people that were happy that we did this, that we just went for it. And I’ll be more than happy to talk to him when I get the opportunity, but I don’t have his number anymore.”
He went on to say about that estranged friendship:
“I also know that time takes time to heal wounds, and I don’t know if we still have that kind of relationship anymore. I know I would like to hang out and listen to new music and goof off and do shit like that, but maybe we’re all too old. I don’t know.”
He continued:
“I think the whole purpose of this was not to try and rekindle relationships or anything. It was about showing respect to a man that … I don’t believe he thinks I respect him and I wanted to make that clear. I wanted to pay tribute to the band. And just now that I’m getting ready to hang my guitar up, I wanted to make sure that nothing is left unsaid.”
Mustaine has since went on to release the following video discussing the cover as well:
The now confirmed final track listing for Megadeth‘s farewell album runs as follows:
01 – “Tipping Point“
02 – “I Don’t Care“
03 – “Hey God?!“
04 – “Let There Be Shred“
05 – “Puppet Parade“
06 – “Another Bad Day“
07 – “Made To Kill“
08 – “Obey The Call“
09 – “I Am War“
10 – “The Last Note“
11 – “Ride The Lightning” (Metallica cover)
Megadeth announced this past August that this forthcoming seventeenth studio album will herald the end of the multi-platinum thrash metal band’s career, with a global farewell tour to follow before Megadeth officially hang it up.
Update: October 30th, 2025 11:42pm: This story has been updated to include a new interview Dave Mustaine conducted with Rolling Stone over the cover choice.
