Metallica fans were tantalizingly close to witnessing a reunion between frontman James Hetfield and former guitarist Dave Mustaine in the 2010s. The prospect of them working together for the first time since 1983 was on the horizon, only to be thwarted by unexpected complications arising from a Metallica reissue.
The seeds of collaboration were planted around 2015 when Hetfield and Mustaine initiated discussions about reissuing Metallica’s 1982 demo, “No Life ‘Til Leather.” Unfortunately, negotiations hit a roadblock when Hetfield allegedly insisted on crediting drummer Lars Ulrich on songs that Mustaine claimed he had written. The impasse not only hindered the reissue plans but also derailed an entire project that Hetfield and Mustaine had been considering.
In an interview with Guitar.com, Mustaine disclosed that these discussions marked the last time he spoke to Hetfield, and the potential project subsequently fizzled.
“There’s three sides to every story, right. There’s my side, there would be the other person’s side, and then there would be the truth which is somewhere right in the middle.”
“You know, oddly enough that was one of the last conversations I ever had with James Hetfield because we were talking about getting back together and doing a project. Something had come up about the publishing discrepancy that we have been arguing about for years and years and years, and I told James, ‘I’ll do it but we’ve got to get this stuff sorted out first.’ And he said, ‘Oh yeah, sure.’
“So I said, ‘Now these two songs you and me split 50/50. Lars didn’t write on this song — you know that. I don’t know why you gave him percentages, but I’m not. I’m not going to sign another deal that’s gonna confirm that because I never agreed to that.’ And James said, ‘Well, Lars has a different recollection of that,’ and I said that’s fine; there’s his side of the story, my side, and the truth is somewhere. And that blew his mind, and we haven’t talked since.”
Despite the setback, Mustaine expressed a lingering hope for a future collaboration with Hetfield to create new music. In a recent interview, he revealed his desire to work together again, acknowledging the potential positive impact on both Megadeth and Metallica.
“I have been secretly hoping there’d be a day where James [Hetfield] and I can write together again. I think the world really does want us to do that, and I think there is a pretty good possibility of it happening down the line. I do think that it’s possible that one day James is going to come around and that he and I are going to be able to do something together again. I guess that’s one of the things that has always kept me pushing forward. I think it’d be good for Megadeth, and it could be great for Metallica too.”