This one might be a controversial one, but I think a new perspective is needed…
In case you haven’t seen it, Marty Friedman recently made headlines all over heavy metal news sites because we are now getting excerpts from his upcoming book, Dreaming Japanese. While some of these excerpts didn’t generate much conversation because they were rather innocuous, one about Megadeth’s failed reunion in 2015 did.
In one particular segment, Marty discusses how he was dissatisfied with the financial offer he received. Well, according to his words, he felt “angry” and then “sad” about it.
Here is what Marty is alleging, according to multiple outlets:
“If I’d had any idea they would lowball me like this, I never would have met with them in Anaheim,” says the guitarist, noting that “had I taken that offer, I would have been paid less in a week than I made in a normal day in Japan.”
“I was stunned and angry and told them I couldn’t even consider it. I made a counteroffer, which was the bare minimum I could accept, and far less than I have received from any of the artists I’ve toured with in Japan.”
Before I go any further, let me address one thing. As much as I enjoy Megadeth, I also enjoy Marty’s music. I’m a big fan of his solo career. I’ve seen him live with his solo band and followed his career since he left Megadeth. I have nothing against him. Furthermore, he’s entitled to his opinion about how the reunion talks turned out. But there is something that bothers me deeply. People online, in an extremely predictable fashion, called Dave Mustaine all kinds of names because Marty didn’t get the offer he hoped for. I have a problem with that. It’s not because Mustaine can’t be criticized. Everyone can and should be criticized when warranted! And I’ve done exactly that on this site. But the RIP era reunion attempt goes deeper. There’s a reason Marty was given an offer he didn’t like. Calling Dave Mustaine “cheap” over this is entirely missing the point! I don’t blame Dave or the Megadeth camp for not being able to match Marty’s expectations. When you know more, you won’t blame them either.
Back in 2015, Megadeth tried to reunite with Marty Friedman and Nick Menza. It was shortly after Chris Broderick and Shawn Drover left, leaving the band in search of new members. I will tell you honestly, this attempt was dead on arrival anyway. I thought then, as I think now, that a reunion with these guys, as much as I would have loved to see them in the band, was not going to happen! Nick, sadly, had some issues that David Ellefson discusses at length in his book, More Life with Deth. I won’t go into much detail, but suffice it to say he wasn’t physically fit enough to play Megadeth music, according to Ellefson. Marty also was never going to be satisfied. I don’t even know why he entertained the meeting. He left Megadeth because he didn’t wish to play riff-based heavy metal music. He enjoyed his musical freedom way too much. What made Megadeth think he would give that up is beyond me. I think, sadly, some fans contributed to this. The band faced the pressure. I remember the online comments. We forgot that Marty wasn’t fired in early 2000. He left! He didn’t want to be there. I love the guy, and I respect his decision. However, why would I want someone back in the band who didn’t desire to be there in the first place? Why would any fan want it?
But let’s move on from that and focus on Marty’s comments. So, he wasn’t happy with the financial offer. What exactly was that offer? And why couldn’t Megadeth meet him where he wanted to be?
I don’t claim to know all the details. But, we do have one source who was there and who has written about these topics. No, it’s not Mustaine. But we have David Ellefson’s book, More Life with Deth, to shed some light on what went on. I will now give you three excerpts from Ellefson’s book and then I’ll comment on them. Remember, the following are David’s words, not mine! And he was there at the negotiations!
“Dave and I were speaking almost daily during this period. Once again it was back to just ‘Dave & Dave.’ We discussed a shortlist of new potential guitar players, and one thing he assured me is that no matter who came into the band next, I would always be the highest-paid second member of the group. This was comforting, and I thanked him for it.”
(…)
“As a sober guy for almost twenty-four years at that point, I couldn’t put my finger on what was happening with Nick, but I knew he was not in possession of his full mental faculties. As always, I tried to be the cheerleader and diplomat for the effort, but just like in 1998, I had to agree with Dave that Nick was not going to make the cut.”
(…)
“One of the big issues was money. Nick’s manager had the grand idea of asking for $7,500 per week, which was far beyond the salary cap in the band anyway, let alone what a returning member who had been let go so many years before might deserve. In addition to that, he wanted to use his own drums and cymbals, and call his own shots, when in fact Dave had arranged through his endorsement deal with Dean to have their drum brand, DDrum, provide a kit.”
(…)
“Within a few days, Marty put forth his salary request, which was double what Nick was asking for, and now the entire deal was dead in the water. Honestly, I think Dave and I were relieved. As much as it meant we were back to the drawing board when it came to rebuilding the band, at least we could hold our heads high, knowing that we had explored every possible option to reunite the famed Rust In Peace lineup, and that it was not our fault that it didn’t work.”
Let’s break this down, okay? Number one, Dave Mustaine was very protective of Ellefson at the time. They had a fallout a few years ago over Ellefson’s own actions, but back then, they were on good terms. Mustaine made sure that Ellefson’s status in the band was not affected. He’d already lost Broderick and Drover and didn’t need to lose his bass player. It would have been horrible news for Megadeth at the time. So, he made him a promise that he’d be the highest paid second member of the group. And David appreciated this. He was on board being that person. And that makes sense. Nick hadn’t been in the band since 1998. Marty hadn’t been in the band since early 2000. So, why would they get more than Ellefson? Not to mention Ellefson also speaks of salary caps in the band which indicates the band already knew what they would be able to pull off financially.
Then, you get into the salary requirements. Look, Marty deserves whatever money he’s made and continues to make. I have no problem. I want him to make as much as he can make! But as successful as Megadeth has been, I don’t know how they would afford such salaries when they didn’t even know how the chemistry would work. Nick asked for $7,500 per week, according to Ellefson. David then says Marty asked for twice as much as that, which makes $15,000. For each week. How are you affording this? We don’t know Megadeth’s finances. And they don’t owe us any info; I know it’s private. But can you at least see how they wouldn’t be able to meet this demand? If you engage in a 10 week tour and you make this requirement, you’re talking about $150,000. And that’s for one person! You have other members in the band and you have a whole crew to pay for. I don’t know about you, but I don’t think Megadeth is that big. I wish they were – I love this band! But the reality just doesn’t align with this. If you were one of those people who blamed Mustaine over the failed reunion, can you maybe now understand why this didn’t work?
I will reiterate (and I have to do this since this is the Internet) that I respect Marty’s decision to leave Megadeth back in the day and I also don’t blame him for negotiating. You are free to ask for whatever in any negotiation. But I don’t know why he was “angry”. The band certainly didn’t mean to insult him. They just couldn’t meet him where he was. It happens. It’s called a negotiation! But my issue isn’t even with Marty. It’s with everyone who jumped on the bandwagon to blame Mustaine for what they believe was a “cheap” response. Well, I guess they can now get their answer from another person – David Ellefson – who was there during these talks and who fully agreed with Mustaine that these demands couldn’t be met. They weren’t being cheap, they were protecting the entire Megadeth camp. Hopefully it’s now clear.
The truth is, these kinds of financial disagreements among our favorite musicians become intensely debated simply because we generally pick a side and we don’t allow ourselves to even consider there’s another side. We always see our favorite person who didn’t get what they asked for as the “victim” and the other side is the “abuser”. The details don’t even matter. I know that sometimes there are people who get insulting offers. I get it. But that doesn’t mean that’s true in every disagreement. Sometimes, it’s just a business negotiation that just didn’t work out. This is exactly one of those situations. If you don’t want to take my word for it, take it with David Ellefson who pretty clearly lays out what occurred. Megadeth was in no position to meet Marty’s demands. There was no insult intended and no one was some kind of victim in the end. Think what you like about Dave and David. That’s up to you. But in this particular case, I don’t blame them. I don’t understand what people suggest they should have done. If Dave had bet on Marty and met his demands, Ellefson was going to ask for the same amount of money or else he was going to quit. But even if the band was able to do this, which is doubtful, do you really want to put all your eggs in one reunion basket? You raise everyone’s salary, increase costs for the band, but if the reunion tour doesn’t work out and you still have to go your separate ways, now you have to pay someone else to join your band. It is a huge risk. Some bands take it (think of the first reunion Anthrax attempted and how that failed). But that’s a risk not every band is willing to take.
One thing I’ll also add here is that Marty claims Megadeth needed him more than he needed them. Sorry, but as fans who were already fans back then and who paid attention, that statement is not true. This is evidenced by the fact that Chris Adler and Kiko Loureiro brought a lot of great energy and Dystopia became the highest charting Megadeth album since Countdown to Extinction. This doesn’t exactly seem like the band was desperate to get him back now, does it? I respect Marty, and I will also acknowledge that his book might give me more context and I may not be getting his whole point of view. But from these excerpts, I can’t ever agree with that claim.
In the end, I think the Rust in Peace era reunion was a bad idea to begin with. My one criticism of Megadeth is them even attempting this in the first place. My opinion is that Marty was never going to join this reunion anyway. He was way too happy with his musical freedom to ever want to give that up. I’m also a little critical of some Megadeth fans who just couldn’t let go of this idea and kept pressuring the band to give it a try. Marty left for a reason. He didn’t want to play Megadeth music. I say this as someone who is a fan of both sides. But I’m glad Megadeth found Kiko Loureiro at the end of all this. I’m not a fan of trying to recreate past magic. I’m super glad Marty was in Megadeth throughout the ‘90s. But when he didn’t want to be there anymore, the band moved on and released some great records and Marty also released some great music. Megadeth didn’t need this reunion. It’s always better to look into the future. The past is the past for a reason…
Sources & Additional Reading
- Ellefson, David & Hazaert, Thom. More Life with Deth (2019). By Jawbone Press.
- Marty Friedman says he rejected Megadeth’s Rust In Peace lineup reunion due to “lowball” offer. (Guitar.com)
