DAVID ELLEFSON Reveals That DAVE MUSTAINE Wanted To Re-record Seven Songs From METALLICA's 1982 Demo

Summary
- David Ellefson revealed that Dave Mustaine wanted to re-record seven songs from Metallica’s 1982 demo No Life ‘Til Leather.
- The bassist called the making of The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead! a ‘spiteful’ and ‘hateful’ process, with all his parts removed.
- Ellefson declined to support the re-recording idea, which he believes led to his eventual split from Megadeth.
In a recent episode of The David Ellefson Show, former Megadeth bassist David Ellefson shared some revealing details about his final years with the band, focusing on what he described as a toxic environment and an unexpected proposal from Dave Mustaine. According to Ellefson, tensions were already high during the long, drawn-out creation of Megadeth’s 2022 album, The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead!.
So, surprising revelations? Well, Mustaine wanted to re-record seven songs from Metallica’s early demo, No Life ‘Til Leather, a release dating back to 1982 when Mustaine was still in Metallica.
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Ellefson Speaks Out
Ellefson said the working process for The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead! was filled with frustration and resentment.
“That was a brutal record,” he said. “I’m glad to be away from it, to be honest with you. It was a terrible process. It was five years in the making. Every song I wrote for it got taken off, every riff I added, every lyric I added. It was spiteful, it was vengeful and it was hateful.”
He also pointed to a highly digitized production approach that, in his opinion, stripped away the feeling of a real band playing together.
“I feel like fans are tired of these over-digitized, @#$%! locked-to-the-grid, these perfect heavy metal records,” he said. “Fans want @#$%! records that are more organic. It sounds like a band playing in the room together.”
Youthanasia Nostalgia
Ellefson took a moment to compare that experience with something more positive: the 1994 Megadeth album Youthanasia.
“Shawn Drover got me into that record again. And I hadn’t listened to it in a lot of years, and I listened to it and I go, ‘@#$%! we were good, man.’ That’s us playing together in the room, all four of us, laying down tracks together. And I miss that.”
No Life ‘Til Leather
The Metallica demo that Mustaine wanted to revisit is No Life ‘Til Leather, a raw 1982 recording widely circulated among early fans. It featured James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Ron McGovney, and Dave Mustaine himself on lead guitar.
The tape includes early versions of songs that eventually made their way onto Kill ‘Em All (1983), though some tracks were changed or dropped altogether. Notably, Mustaine’s “The Mechanix” was replaced by Metallica’s reworked “The Four Horsemen”.
Mustaine has long had a complicated relationship with Metallica’s early years, and this idea to re-record No Life ‘Til Leather had apparently been brewing for a while.
According to Ellefson, Mustaine brought up the idea in 2018, right at the start of a Megadeth tour in Oslo.
“He said he wanted to re-record [Metallica’s] No Life ‘Til Leather demo. I’m, like, ‘Are you kidding me? This is where we’re at? After all this time? We’re supposed to be writing a new album and new songs.’ I was just, like, ‘I am not down with that.’”
Ellefson admitted the idea of revisiting those songs was fun in theory, but not something he wanted to take on professionally.
“That’s one of my favorite Metallica recordings. But yeah, I ain’t down with that. I’m sorry. I couldn’t kiss the ring for that one. I was, like, ‘I’m out.’”
Fallout
Ellefson believes that moment marked the beginning of the end of his time with Megadeth. By refusing to support the re-recording idea, he feels he put himself on Mustaine’s bad side.
“As we went into the record, he knew I wasn’t willing to just @#$%! say, ‘Yes, Dave,’ and go along with @#$%!,” Ellefson said. “So eventually I’m out of the band. So it goes.”
Ellefson was officially dismissed from Megadeth in 2021. His bass parts on The Sick, the Dying… and the Dead! were re-recorded by Steve Di Giorgio of Testament.
Still No Interest
Ellefson hasn’t listened to the final album, even now.
“Sadly, I have not listened to it. I heard the one video… The record brings up bad feelings for me. And not being thrown out of the band, but just everything about that record.”
The Demo Tracks
The original No Life ‘Til Leather demo featured these seven songs:
- Hit the Lights
- The Mechanix
- Phantom Lord
- Jump in the Fire
- Motorbreath
- Seek & Destroy
- Metal Militia
All but “The Mechanix” would go on to appear in revised form on Kill ‘Em All. Metallica has long distanced themselves from reissuing or remaking the demo, partly due to disagreements over songwriting credits involving Mustaine.
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