In a recent conversation with Terry Palamara of “Loud And Proud Italy,” Megadeth bassist James LoMenzo was asked to reflect on what it means for the band’s latest and final album, Megadeth, to debut at No. 1 on the U.S. charts.
He replied (as transcribed by Blabbermouth):
“We’re walking on clouds. We are so elated by the response of the fans buying the record. You have to realize that both Dave [Mustaine] and I come from this career of ours making records for years and years and years, going all the way back to the ’80s, ’90s. And it was a real hard thing to let everybody know you had a record. And then get it out on the radio and make sure that you could promote it and make sure they knew the music was there. That meant nothing if the audience didn’t really love what they were hearing. So at this point for Megadeth, to have a No. 1, to be included with Megadeth on this album release, for me it’s a career high. I’ve never experienced anything quite like this.”
“We’ve spoken to each other over the past couple of days in celebration, preparing to go for our tour to Canada, and we just cannot thank our fans enough for showing such interest in this new record, in this final record, which is really gratifying to bring the legacy of Megadeth to this really terrific close,” he added.
When questioned about whether Dave Mustaine had an early sense during the writing stage that Megadeth would ultimately be the band’s final album — particularly given that a track like “The Last Note” reflects on life on the road and stepping away from the band — LoMenzo explained:
“You know what?! If he did, he never intimated that to us. He never shared that with us going into the record. We came off tour last year, and we had decided to an album and find a new label. Frontiers was terrific, but it was just gonna be business as usual. We tried to make a really good Megadeth record. And we really focused on trying to find out what there was in all the albums past that kind of made them so Megadeth-y, and tried to really focus together and really intellectually think about what made some records work better than others, some songs better than others, what fans really enjoy. We know it ’cause we play the hits every night when we get out there. So we kind of know what the parameters of that are. So we discussed that. So there was no indication. I mean, Dave was just gung-ho, ‘Let’s just make a great Megadeth record.’ And it wasn’t until we were, like, halfway, two-thirds through that he started letting us know where he was at with it all. And you would think at one point, everybody would be, like, ‘Oh, man, come on.’ Teemu [Mäntysaari, Megadeth guitarist] had just joined the band and all that. But we’ve seen [Dave] out there and we’ve seen ourselves out there. And touring is not for the faint of heart unless you’re 19; [I] used to be 19. Doing it at this level and bringing the music to the masses takes a lot. And Dave‘s a bionic dude now. Everybody’s well aware of his history. So for him to get out there and really wanna do it really speaks volumes. Giving in to the idea that maybe his hands might not be working as well in the future going forward, it really made a lot of sense to all of us, this was the time to really celebrate Megadeth and bring this thing to its potential close. And I think Dave was a warrior. He never really gets the lyrics all going until the end of the record, to answer your first question. So, we’ll go out there, record some stuff, and he’ll start writing and putting stuff up and testing, and he’ll send it to us and ask us our opinions. And I’ve done a few of these records with Dave before, and it really starts to — it’s like a snowball; the lyrics get better and better. So what ended up happening in this case was when I finally heard ‘The Last Note‘, and I really heard ‘The Last Note‘, the last version of it, it put a lump in my throat ’cause I could really feel Dave‘s journey. And I didn’t expect that. I didn’t expect him to be that candid and honest about things. And so the follow-up was we should let the audience know that we’re gonna gonna chug this thing out as long as it’s possible. And if you put it into a number, I mean, yeah, a couple of touring cycles is probably what would do it.”
When asked about his own role in the songwriting process for Megadeth, James stated:
“In my case, I do what I’ve done for most of my career as a bass player. Bass players are weird people, most of them, in that we don’t require the spotlight. Real bass players kind of have this roundabout way of looking at things where we love to really service the music to make it as good as it can be. Okay, so the genre of metal — sure, there’s the great metal bass players like Steve Harris [Iron Maiden], who leads the band in a way. Megadeth‘s never been that. So I have to come in with that attitude and go, ‘Okay, how do I support what’s going on?’ And any good musician would listen first and then add later. If it’s not my song we’re working on, and it’s Dave‘s song or it’s Teemu‘s song or it’s Dirk‘s [Verbeuren, Megadeth drummer] song, I have to listen to what’s going on and decide what would elevate it and probably not just egotistically step on people’s toes and do a big show-off in a space where it doesn’t belong. So, I think this record is probably the most refined I’ve been as far as contributing to the music. Whenever we’d sit around in a circle and put things, we’d all kind of go, ‘Hey, try this’ or ‘Try this riff.’ And we’d put it down and then we’d listen to it and go, ‘Well, that works better than that.’ So, some of my music ended up with the other guys’ music on their songs. And that’s kind of the way Megadeth works. It’s this great democracy that has a fantastic traffic cop, Dave, who really knows, because he’s walked this whole journey his whole life, who really knows what it’s going to be in the end. And you can’t be in this band without trusting that. Otherwise I think you’re gonna fail the whole thing.”
Megadeth opened at No. 1 on the U.S. albums chart with 73,000 equivalent units sold in the week ending January 29, according to Luminate, driven largely by 69,000 in pure sales. Released via Dave Mustaine’s Tradecraft imprint through Frontiers Label Group’s BLKIIBLK label, the album also topped the charts in Australia and Austria, while landing top-five positions across multiple countries including the U.K., Germany, Finland, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, the Netherlands, and New Zealand.
Megadeth Track Listing:
- “Tipping Point“
- “I Don’t Care“
- “Hey, God?!“
- “Let There Be Shred“
- “Puppet Parade“
- “Another Bad Day“
- “Made To Kill“
- “Obey The Call“
- “I Am War“
- “The Last Note“
- “Ride The Lightning” (bonus track)
- “Nobody’s Hero” (exclusive bonus track)
