In a recent interview with Support Life and Music, former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson revealed the impact of management changes that created a divide within the band during the late 1990s.
Ellefson shared details about new management decisions during the ‘Risk’ album era. He specifically highlighted a controversial incident with a manager that changed the band’s dynamics.
“The ’90s were a good decade for me career-wise, but toward the end of the ’90s, there was a lot of transitions, new managers coming in, divide and conquer,” Ellefson explained.
The bassist recalled a pivotal moment that initiated the band’s internal struggles.
“I literally had a manager sit in my living room one day and say, ‘You know, Dave [Mustaine, Megadeth guitarist/vocalist] is Bruce Springsteen; you guys [the rest of Megadeth] are just the E Street Band,'” he revealed. “And my wife was ready to throw a f*cking frying pan at his head. It’s, like, ‘Get the fuck out of my house.’ The guy who’d been there for, like, a year comes in and says that.”
Ellefson emphasized the significance of this incident for the band’s future.
“And that really was the beginning of the divide and conquer of Megadeth; it really was. That was a dividing moment that we never — we didn’t survive it, and we never came back from it,” he continued. “And all it takes is sometimes an outside ear to come in and start chirping, an outside voice to come in and start chirping in the right ear.”
The bassist connected these events directly to their controversial album: “And that was on the ‘Risk’ album. So there it is. That was as we were going into the ‘Risk’ album. So this isn’t a feeling; this is a fact of what happened from that leadership regime.”
The management conflicts emerged during a crucial transformation period for the band. They were actively pushing toward a new musical direction with ‘Risk.’
Records from Wikipedia show that ‘Risk’ dropped on August 31, 1999. The album marked a clear shift from Megadeth’s traditional thrash metal sound to a more radio-friendly, hard rock style.
The album brought several significant changes to the band’s lineup. uDiscover Music noted that ‘Risk’ introduced drummer Jimmy DeGrasso’s studio debut. It also became guitarist Marty Friedman’s final album with the band before his departure the following year.
Archival interviews documented the management’s strong influence on the band’s creative process. This became evident in the controversy surrounding the song “Breadline.” Management pushed for a more radio-friendly sound. This led to disagreements over Marty Friedman’s original solo and eventual changes to the song’s composition.
The creative tensions and management interventions during the ‘Risk’ era triggered major changes. These changes affected both the band’s lineup and musical direction in subsequent years.
