MD.45

MD.45 was a side project of Megadeth guitarist/frontman Dave Mustaine, Fear guitarist/vocalist Lee Ving on singing duties, Electric Love Hogs and future Goldfinger bassist Kelly LeMieux and former Suicidal Tendencies member Jimmy DeGrasso (who later joined Megadeth for Risk and The World Needs A Hero) on drums. The band name derives from the initials of the band members: M and D for Mustaine, Dave, and V and L for Ving, Lee (assuming that VL is a Roman numeral for 45, which is in fact erroneous because 45 is actually represented as XLV).^[1]

History

The first (and only) album released was The Craving in Japan first on May 29, 1996 and in other nations on July 23, 1996. According to the album's liner notes, The Creed was originally a Megadeth demo song, which is on the 2004 remastered edition of the album featuring the then line-up of Megadeth.

Almost a decade later, while Capitol Records was releasing remastered versions of Megadeth's back catalog, Dave Mustaine chose to remaster The Craving. According to the liner notes, during the remastering process, it was realized that the vocal track and harmonica track were missing.^[2] These have been seen as suspicious omissions since Ving's vocals and harmonica work had been a drastic departure from the sound of Megadeth, and partial reasons fans initially hadn't accepted the album.

It should be noted however, that in his book, Mustaine mentions that he chose to replace Ving's vocals to better appease the Megadeth audience and hopefully have better sales.

To complete the remaster, Mustaine chose to do the vocals himself and simulate the harmonica parts on the guitar.

Lineup

• Lee Ving - Vocals (Original issue)
• Dave Mustaine - Guitar, Vocals (on remastered)
• Kelly LeMieux - Bass
• Jimmy DeGrasso - Drums

Discography

References