MEGADETH's DAVE MUSTAINE Has A Theory About Why He Is So 'Hated'

MEGADETH mainman Dave Mustaine was asked in a new interview with Westword.com why he thinks he is "openly despised" on "a handful of web sites." He responded: "I think a lot of it goes back to the breakup from METALLICA. There are people that have picked up that feud, and they don't even know why they're choosing sides."

He continued: "I have nothing against METALLICA fans. I was in both bands. I like Lars [Ulrich] and I like James [Hetfield] and, contrary to what people say, I do think Kirk [Hammett] is a good guitar player."

Mustaine added: "In the beginning, when I was bitter, yeah, there was shit going back and forth. They were justifying firing me, and I was telling them that they were wrong. That's just been perpetuated over and over again. It's been put to bed. I've got no beef with those dudes. We're two totally different bands."

Mustaine, who was a member of METALLICA for less than two years, from 1981 to 1983, before being dismissed and replaced by Kirk Hammett, was not inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame with the band during the April 2009 ceremony at Cleveland, Ohio's Public Auditorium.

METALLICA drummer Lars Ulrich later explained to The Plain Dealer that Mustaine was not included because "you've got to kind of cap it somewhere. Dave Mustaine never played on any METALLICA records. No disrespect to him. But there [were] half a dozen other people that were in the lineup in the early days. We thought . . . the fair thing to do would be to include anybody that played on a METALLICA record."

He added: "Dave Mustaine was in the band for 11 months, predominantly in 1982. . . . I'm not trying to play it down. I have nothing but respect and admiration for his accomplishments since."

MEGADETH's new album, "Dystopia", debuted at No. 3 on The Billboard 200, having shifted 49,000 equivalent album units in the week ending January 28.

In terms of pure album sales, "Dystopia" opened with 48,000 copies, marking MEGADETH's highest-charting album since 1992's "Countdown To Extinction" debuted and peaked at No. 2 on the chart dated August 1 of that year. "Dystopia" also logged the group's best sales week since 2007, when "United Abominations" landed at No. 8 with first-week sales of 54,000.