Last year, Megadeth announced plans to retire following a farewell tour and what the band claims is their final studio album. Now, frontman Dave Mustaine has said he hopes to reunite with his former Metallica bandmates for a joint tour before stepping away for good.
“I think what needs to happen is there needs to be a Megadeth-Metallica tour. Period,” he told Revolver in a new interview. “That would, I’m sure, make everything right. We could hang out. Spend time together. But I know they don’t really tour like we do. I mean, when we go out on tour, we play many, many shows.”
Megadeth’s final album, released Friday (Jan. 23), includes a rendition of Metallica’s classic track “Ride the Lightning,” which Mustaine co-wrote during his time with the band.
“I wasn’t trying to do anything disrespectful, that much I can tell you,” Mustaine said of the decision to record a new version of the song. “I really respect James [Hetfield’s] guitar playing. And I think that Lars [Ulrich] is a tremendous songwriter. I really did enjoy my time with them. That’s why I had such a hard time when it ended. And this is me closing the circle, paying my respects.”
When asked if covering “Ride the Lightning” is his way of saying goodbye to Metallica, Mustaine added:
“I didn’t think that, no. I loved that time. It was very fun. We were dangerous. But no, there’s no hidden agenda… This is about showing respect. … I liked [James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich]. If the friendship was restarted, it wouldn’t bother me. I would accept, and I think it would be nice to revisit some of those times. But I just think because there was a lot of hurt and misunderstanding around our time together that it would be difficult not to keep bringing up the past.”
