I Was Stunned And Angry And Told Them I Couldn’t Even Consider It

It began in 2014 when drummer Shawn Drover and guitarist Chris Broaderick stop Megadeth. Rumors swirled that Megadeth was about to reunite their basic Rust In Peace lineup – which meant getting guitarist Marty Friedman and drummer Nick Menza again within the fold. That reunion ended up not taking place, Megadeth employed guitarist Kiko Loureiro and recruited session drummer Chris Adler for the Dystopia album, and everybody moved on.

In his new ebook Dreaming Japanese (through Blabbermouth), Friedman reveals that he met with Megadeth in 2015 to debate a reunion and obtained a reasonably insulting wage supply. Friedman notes he would’ve been paid much less in per week with Megadeth than he makes in a single day by way of his work in Japan, which is… not nice.

“Let’s simply say he wasn’t even within the ballpark. Hell, he wasn’t even within the car parking zone for the ballpark. The quantity they supplied was proper across the first wage I received once I joined Megadeth in 1990. If I might had any concept they’d lowball me like this, I by no means would have met with them in Anaheim. Had I taken that supply, I’d have been paid much less in per week than I made in a standard day in Japan. I used to be shocked and offended and informed them I could not even take into account it. I made a counteroffer, which was the naked minimal I might settle for, and much lower than I’ve obtained from any of the artists I’ve toured with in Japan.”

Friedman later speculates {that a} Rust In Peace-era lineup reunion would’ve made Megadeth larger than they’d ever been earlier than, and that it might’ve very effectively led to greater excursions with extra money. Which then y’know, might’ve led to the wage Friedman was on the lookout for and everybody would’ve been joyful.

“I used to be prepared to take the monetary hit as a result of a reunion tour with Megadeth opening for Iron Maiden might open doorways for me once more in America. And what adopted might be a much bigger tour than something we had beforehand executed. Even when they met my fee, the tour would have been an enormous windfall for them. They simply might have agreed to that, and the reunion would have been on, however they mentioned I needed an excessive amount of cash.”

Friedman added: “I used to be pleased with my profession in Japan, doing what I cherished, making actual cash with out the type of drama that comes with Megadeth. They did not even acknowledge they’d simply misplaced their guitarist and drummer and wanted me greater than I wanted them. After I received over my preliminary anger, I used to be puzzled and unhappy.”

Sadly, a Rust In Peace-era lineup reunion can by no means occur now. Drummer Nick Menza died in 2016, and it would not actually appear to be bassist David Ellefson is rejoining Megadeth anytime quickly after his video-related extramarital jaunt. If you have not gotten your copy of Dreaming Japanese simply but, you can get it here.