Marty Friedman sat down with FaceCulture for a new interview, sharing his thoughts on his 2023 reunion shows with Megadeth.
He explained that the performances were better than when he was originally part of the band, saying, “Oh, it was wonderful. I thought that they sounded better now than they did when I was in the band.”
The guitarist shared how much he enjoyed the reunion, adding, “They just sounded great, and it was a joy. I’m their biggest fan.”
No Bad Blood with Megadeth
Reflecting on his past with Megadeth, Friedman earlier made it clear that there’s no bitterness between him and the band. “What Megadeth did for my career, it was absolutely my first step into the real world of the music business and how incredibly grateful I am for that opportunity,” he explained to Talk Louder in an interview. “There’s absolutely no sourness related to Megadeth at all. There’s absolutely no negative feelings, and none of that. So there’s no kind of bashing; there’s no negativity. There’s just truth.”
He also opened up about his sobriety during his time with the band. “”All the things are exactly from my eyes, how it happened, how I wrote it. I was completely clean and sober the entire time I was in the band. I didn’t even drink a beer. When I was, like, 14, 15 and 16, I was a maniac. I lived three lifetimes of doing all the drugs, all the drinking, all the partying, all the rock-star shit in my first band Deuce. I did so much of that, and there was something that made me just stop cold turkey right there, which is a long story, which I got into.”
“But by the time I was in Megadeth, I was straight edge way before straight edge was even a term. So I remember all that stuff with clarity and great appreciation,” the guitarist added.
Friedman also reflected on the struggles he faced toward the end of his time with Megadeth, mentioning a panic attack before his final performance that landed him in the ER. Even though he was feeling unwell, he powered through and performed as though everything was fine.
