Dave Mustaine Names His Favorite Metallica Song (That He Wrote)

In a recent-ish interview with LA Weekly, Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine was asked which of the four songs he co-wrote on Metallica's 1983 debut album, Kill 'Em All, was his favorite. His response:

"My favorite? Hmmm. Interesting. Good question. You know, I like 'Phantom Lord' and 'Metal Militia' because they are very interesting songs. But I think if you were going to go for my favorite Metallica song that I wrote, it would probably have to be 'The Call of Ktulu' [from Ride the Lightning]. It stands on itself. And when you have a song that can stand on itself without words, that's a big statement."

LA Weekly also asked the guitarist how he spent the bus ride back from New York to California after being fired by Metallica in 1983.

"I was looking out the window," said. "A lot. And it was excruciatingly painful... Because, remember, I was living with them, had no job, no income, no money. They'd put me on the bus with no money. So I had no food money. No nothing. And I got on the bus and off I went for a four-day journey with nothing to eat, nothing to drink. So that whole journey was a four-day fucking hell. Learning how to panhandle.

"How to get people to buy you booze so you could sleep through the night on the bus. [Laughs] When you go into the bus station and the bus would stop and wait for another driver and you just pray to God you don't sleep through the connection and shit like that. Because I'd never done anything like that before in my life. It's different if you know what to do and where to go. And if you have money. Money's the key to all your problems. But if you can't even make a phone call? It's pretty fucked up."

Mustaine and Metallica eventially patched things up; they even jammed together during "Big Four" shows and Metallica's 30th-anniversary concerts in 2011. Here are two clips of Mustaine playing with Metallica in San Francisco in 2011. Enjoy!