James Hatfield has developed an image of machismo and bravado over the years, but I've known him a long time. I know who he is inside. James and I were destined for greatness. Just not together.

My favorite guitar solo? Probably the one on Time by Pink Floyd. I'll tell you, Dave Gilmour can do more with one note than most other guitarists can do with the entire fret board.

Well, I liked Marty when I first met him, because he was a gentle guy and was really dedicated to his craft. But I was kind of put off by his appearance. Our manager had his CD [Marty Friedman's 1988 solo album, Dragon's Kiss] on his desk for months, and I would look at it and just be like, "No way. But one day, I put in the CD and was just like, "Wow! This guy wants to play with us? Let's bring him in. And Marty showed up, and he was pretty funny looking - he had the two-color hair and all that stuff. He was living hand-to-mouth in Hollywood, you know? But he was great. [explaining his initial impression of Megadeth guitarist Marty Friedman]

I could have sounded just like Metallica if I wanted to, and I didn't. Megadeth doesn't sound anything like Metallica. It really doesn't.

It's like you pull up to a stop light, you know, and you have your own car and so do they. They're both Mercedes, but yours says 'smaller number.' I mean it's like, you know, there's still that penis envy. [on the rivalry between Megadeth and his former band Metallica]

I'll tell you what I won't sing any more: 'Anarchy In The UK'. That says: 'I am an antichrist' - and I'm not. [from a 2004 interview with Classic Rock magazine]

I hated them. I was so mad at them I figured, 'I need to regroup and I need to start over again, because now I'm going to get revenge.' Part of the whole reason why I formed Megadeth was to get back at them. [describing his feelings toward Metallica, after his dismissal from the band]

The success didn't matter. Countdown to Extinction was double platinum. That didn't matter. I had the house, I had the wife, I had the kid, I had everything. But I had nothing because I was still comparing myself to my previous band. [on having Megadeth's fifth album, Countdown to Extinction, being outsold by Metallica's self-titled fifth album]

"Last album, Lars Ulrich from Metallica said something to me through the press. He said he thinks I am talented but that I should take more risks, which I took as good advice. As this new record evolved, it became more and more appropriate to call it Risk. And after all, the band is called Megadeth - we aren't afraid to take chances." (1999)

"There's two kinds of drunks: There's happy drunks, and there's violent drunks. And I would get violent." (on being intoxicated while he was a member of Metallica)

"There are two ways you can hear this next song, there's our way and then there's their way, for those of you who think that this is their way, this song is called Mechanix".

I didn't like the way I was let go from Metallica. There was no civility in the way it happened. They just said, 'You're out' and I said, 'What, no warning, no second chance?'

Megadeth is a legend, and I'm not gonna cheapen it like some of these bands that keep going long after they should.