Dave Mustaine, former Metallica guitarist, made bold claims about his contributions to Metallica’s early success in a recent appearance on the Shawn Ryan Show.
The interview revealed details about Mustaine’s initial joining of Metallica through a newspaper advertisement. He also discussed his significant musical contributions before leaving the band.
“So I got a newspaper called The Recycler, and it’s just a rag from Los Angeles, Orange County. It’s like a county classified ad magazine. Go figure. The biggest band in the world would advertise in this newspaper. So I look at it and it says, ‘Wanted lead guitar player’ and mentioned a couple bands,” Mustaine recalled.
He described his first contact with drummer Lars Ulrich: “So I called up and I got Lars on the phone, and I said, ‘Yeah, well, I like Motörhead and I like Budgie.’ And he goes, ‘You like fucking Budgie, man?’ And I went, ‘Yeah, I do.’ And that was the icebreaker because Budgie is a Welsh band. And by me listening to them showed that I had credibility in the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal world because of the bands I was listening to.”
Mustaine revealed surprising information about one of Metallica’s early songs: “I went into his place and started talking to him. And he played this song called ‘Hit The Lights’ that was written by a guy named Lloyd Grant. Metallica didn’t write that song. Lloyd Grant wrote it, and then he was friends with Lars, and then Lars introduced him to James and then they started playing ‘Hit The Lights’.”
He explained how a car accident led to his dismissal: “James and Lars had made a decision to replace me because they tried to pin that driving thing on me as the last straw.”
His frustration about his musical contributions emerged in his final statements: “So it pissed me off and was a huge part of the fuel. At the time I was really mad and I didn’t want to forgive them for what they did. And I told them when I left, do not use my music. And of course, they used it. I wrote a lot of their music that made them. And all the solos on that first record were mine. The best Kirk could try and copy them.”
Historical records support some of Mustaine’s controversial claims about his contributions to Metallica’s early success.
Research from Riff Life highlighted Mustaine’s impact. His aggressive, technical guitar playing and complex riffing shaped Metallica’s early sound. This influence became particularly evident on their debut album “Kill ‘Em All.”
Documentation from Metallica Wiki confirmed his substantial songwriting credits. Mustaine co-wrote several songs on the band’s first album. He created “The Four Horsemen” (originally titled “The Mechanix”) during his time with Panic. He also wrote “Jump in the Fire.” His total contributions included two primarily self-composed songs and four tracks featuring his riffs or co-writing work.
The story behind his 1983 departure revealed more complexity than the car accident incident. Riff Life reported multiple factors led to his dismissal. These included conflicts over substance abuse, aggressive behavior, and internal tensions within the band. Kirk Hammett replaced Mustaine and continues in this role today.
This pivotal departure reshaped the metal landscape. Mustaine formed Megadeth afterward and established himself as a prominent figure in the thrash metal scene.
