Former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson recently shared details about the circumstances that led to guitarist Marty Friedman’s departure from the band. He revealed a pivotal moment during the Risk album tour. The revelation came during an interview on the David Ellefson Show.
When asked if he felt that ‘Risk’ was Megadeth’s equivalent to Kiss’s controversial album ‘(Music From) The Elder,’ Ellefson discussed how the tour’s struggles ultimately led to Friedman’s exit from the band.
“It was all just going in the wrong direction. But it was on that tour…so, we didn’t play these songs together much at all,” Ellefson said. “Most of them we didn’t even play at all as a band in the rehearsal room, we just rented the studio.”
Ellefson explained how the band quickly realized the new material wasn’t connecting with their audience during live performances.
“And then we go out on the road and we realize, ‘Oh my God, these songs don’t work at all with our audience.’ And we were playing clubs,” he continued. “We were playing not the right rooms, we’re playing smaller venues. And as we’re playing them, we’re going, ‘These songs are not connecting at all.’ So, you go from having 5 songs in the set, to 3, to 1.”
The bassist then recounted the specific moment when everything changed during a bus ride after a show in Philadelphia.
“I think it was Crocodile Rock [a venue in Philadelphia], we’re leaving there and we’re having a discussion in the front lounge of the bus. We’re driving down to Myrtle Beach, I think,” Ellefson recalled. “And Dave [Mustaine] says, ‘This ain’t working. We got to go back to being a thrash band.'”
This declaration from Mustaine prompted Friedman’s immediate and definitive response.
“And Marty just goes, ‘If we’re being a thrash band I’m out.’ And there’s this just, silence in the front lounge of the bus,” Ellefson said. “He just says, ‘I don’t want to do it. That’s it.’ And he turns around, he closes the door, goes back in the bunk area, goes to the sleep.”
The remaining band members were left to process this unexpected ultimatum and its implications for Megadeth’s future direction.
“We were just sitting there in the front lounge: me and [Jimmy] DeGrasso and Dave, and it was just kind of like, ‘Wow. What a weird moment. Are we doing that? Are we going to go back, after ‘un-thrashing’ ourselves, are we going to now just try to go back in,'” Ellefson explained. “And can we do it? Or is it gonna sound fake? Are we just gonna sound like a band trying to right that fucking riff again from ‘Rust in Peace’?’ And then the next day, Marty told David he quit.”
This pivotal moment marked the end of an era for Megadeth. It highlighted the creative tensions that had been building around the band’s controversial musical direction during the late 1990s.
Metal Academy noted that Risk marked a clear departure from Megadeth’s classic thrash sound. The album incorporated more commercial rock and alternative elements that alienated many longtime fans. The album represented an artistic risk that contributed to mixed reception among critics and audiences alike. Despite some standout tracks like “Insomnia” and “The Doctor Is Calling,” the record was widely seen as lacking the aggression and conviction typical of the band’s earlier work.
The backlash from Risk helped steer Megadeth back towards their thrash roots on subsequent albums. Wikipedia reported that this lineup change was particularly significant as Risk was the first Megadeth album released after drummer Jimmy DeGrasso joined the band. It became the last to feature Friedman. The guitarist’s departure marked a significant shift in Megadeth’s musical direction and lineup stability.
The tensions revealed in Ellefson’s account reflect broader challenges many metal bands faced during the late 1990s as they attempted to evolve their sound. Houston Press observed that the period saw numerous established metal acts experimenting with more mainstream approaches. This often came at the cost of alienating their core fanbase.
These developments underscored the ongoing tension between evolving artistically and maintaining the core sound that defined Megadeth. The Risk era ultimately proved that for a band built on thrash metal foundations, straying too far from those roots could have significant consequences. Both commercial success and internal band dynamics suffered as a result.
