“That couldn’t have been easy.”

Megadeth leader Dave Mustaine recently sent a few good words aimed at Kirk Hammett in an interview with Guitar World. According to Dave, Kirk “did him an honor” for actually playing the original solos that he came up with before getting fired from Metallica.

The discussion regarding Dave’s old band came up when he was asked whether he heard Metallica’s 2023 album “72 Seasons.” He replied:

“No, I have not heard Metallica’s latest record. But there was a time around 20 years ago when we were not being friendly toward each other when I couldn’t listen to their music when it came on the radio. But none of that bothers me anymore, and it’s not why I haven’t heard the record, especially after the Big Four thing that we did. I really think we should do that again.”

Another thing he was asked is how he feels about the flak that Kirk received for his lead parts and whether he thinks it’s fair. He replied:

“It depends on which solos you’re talking about [laughs]. Jokes aside, I’ve always kind of poked fun at Kirk. And unfairly so, as he never did anything to me. Whenever I felt singled out, picked on, or antagonized by James [Hetfield] or Lars [Ulrich], it was really easy to pick on Kirk. But the truth is Kirk did me an honor by trying to play my solos on those early songs the way he did.”

Dave was asked to further elaborate on this to which he replied:

“Well, I think that some people would have just started over again. So, I thought it was honorable that Kirk took my solos and did his best to play them as I did. That couldn’t have been easy.

“But as far as his new solos on the new Metallica album, I haven’t heard them, so I can’t comment. But I will say that I think it’s sad how quickly some people can turn on people.”

He also added:

“There was a time when Kirk won every guitar contest in the world, and I don’t think he’s gotten any better or worse as a player. He’s always been really good. Kirk was a good player when he was in Exodus.

“And he’s been steady the entire time he’s been in Metallica. But does that mean Kirk Hammett is Dave Mustaine? No. And is Dave Mustaine Kirk Hammett? Also, no.”