As one of the long-serving members of Megadeth, former bassist and vocalist David Ellefson has earned a rare vantage point when it comes to the band’s recorded legacy and how things generally go in the studio.
On a recent episode of The David Ellefson Show, the longtime Megadeth alumnus shared his candid thoughts on the band’s newly released, self-titled final studio album — a record that has already made history.
Released on January 23, Megadeth has become the first album in the band’s career to debut at No. 1 on the Billboard 200, a milestone moment for the thrash metal pioneers. But while the commercial achievement is undeniable, Ellefson‘s artistic reaction is far more complicated.
After finally getting his hands on a copy, Ellefson didn’t mince words. “I hear it and I go, ‘Okay this is a Dave solo record,'” he said. “This is Dave and his new band, Dave and his new guys. It says Megadeth, so obviously it gets all the attention, but realistically I hear it, and to me it just doesn’t sound like Megadeth.”
Ellefson continued, framing the album as a closing chapter for Mustaine rather than a continuation of the band’s legacy. “It’s like Dave, doing what Dave does, but with a different set of guys in a new day. And this is Dave‘s retirement, you know? So that’s my view on it.”
The comments arrive against the backdrop of a long-simmering rift. Ellefson‘s tenure with Megadeth ended abruptly in 2021 following a highly publicized sex scandal, after which his position was terminated and the once-close partnership with Mustaine devolved into a frosty public silence.
One of the album’s most talked-about moments — a cover of Metallica‘s “Ride the Lightning” — also drew Ellefson‘s scrutiny, particularly given the irony surrounding Mustaine‘s history with the song. Mustaine famously co-wrote the track before being ejected from Metallica in 1983.
“The funny thing is,” Ellefson noted, “[Mustaine] was mad at Kirk Hammett for playing his solos and now here’s Dave playing Kirk‘s solo — unless that’s Teemu.”
Ellefson has previously spoken about Mustaine‘s long-running fixation on Metallica, a relationship Mustaine himself has confirmed remains fractured following a 2015–2016 royalty dispute with James Hetfield and Lars Ulrich.
Digging deeper, Ellefson reflected on his own memories of first hearing Ride the Lightning in the mid-’80s. “I remember being at some party down in Orange County… Ron McGovney was there from Metallica… somebody had the new Metallica album, Ride the Lightning, and we listened to it,” he recalled.
The reaction, according to Ellefson, was immediate. “I remember Dave goes, ‘They fucking stole my riff.’ That ‘dah-dah-dah-du-dah-dah-dah,’ right? Because we had that. Dave used to play that in the apartment.”
Ellefson suggested the riff may have originated in an early Megadeth-era idea. “Greg Handevidt seems to think that was actually in ‘Set the World on Fire.’ And he may be right… And then we had to take it out because they used it.”
Still, Ellefson was careful to acknowledge the nuances. “So look, did Dave have a participation? Yeah, but it seems to me more like that song was sort of put together after he was out of the group. But again, I wasn’t there.”
He closed with a pointed observation about songwriting evolution. “James is a very different lyric writer than Dave was. So by ‘Ride the Lightning,’ you hear very much James coming into his own as his own lyricist, as I hear it.”
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