After months of teasing, Megadeth’s self-titled final album is here in full. And while we’re all hyped to hear the new songs Dave Mustaine cut with his long-running thrash institution, the record’s release means we can also finally crank the band’s mega-anticipated reworking of Metallica’s “Ride the Lightning.” And what a ride, indeed.
As previously reported, Megadeth concludes with Mustaine’s new take on “Ride the Lightning,” a song he’d initially co-written while he was still in Metallica in the early Eighties. A few months back, he’d confirmed that he was coming “full circle on the career of a lifetime” by paying his respects “to where [he] first started.”
More recently, Revolver’s Winter cover story on Megadeth’s long goodbye found Mustaine reconfirming that the cover wasn’t a way to reclaim his old riffs, but rather a way to nod at the “fun” and “dangerous” times he’d spent with ‘Tallica.
“I really respect James [Hetfield’s] guitar playing. And I think that Lars [Ulrich] is a tremendous songwriter,” he said. “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.”
While Megadeth are set to mount a headlining Canadian tour with Anthrax and Exodus in February, and have plans to hit the road this summer with Iron Maiden and Anthrax, Mustaine also quipped to us that he’d be keen on reconnecting with Hetfield and Ulrich for a tour before he officially retires.
“I think what needs to happen is there needs to be a Megadeth/Metallica tour. Period,” he asserted. “That would, I’m sure, make everything right. We could hang out. Spend time together.”
Only time will tell whether that package tour will materialize. In the meantime, you can hear how Mustaine honors his cherished metal legacy with Megadeth’s newly delivered version of “Ride the Lightning.”
Ready to feel the flame? You can let it burn in your brain via the player above. And you can blast the full album below.
Megadeth is out now via BLKIIBLK. CD, cassette, and exclusive “Blue Flame” vinyl copies of the album are available now in Revolver’s shop, where you can likewise pick up a copy of Revolver’s Winter Issue.