Former MEGADETH lead guitarist Marty Friedman has recently added songs from his debut solo album, "Dragon's Kiss", to his live repertoire. Released in 1988 via Shrapnel, "Dragon's Kiss" followed up Friedman and Jason Becker's legendary CACOPHONY album, "Speed Metal Symphony", which quickly put the two players on the guitar playing map. Friedman and Becker would release one more CACOPHONY album, 1988's "Go Off!" before Friedman was tapped to join MEGADETH in 1990 in time to record "Rust In Peace". "Looking back at it now and planning to play it now gives me the opportunity to right any wrongs that I find when I'm listening to it," he told Australia's Heavy magazine (hear audio below). There's a lot of things that I would do differently now, of course, but when I listen to it, it's really not that bad. I really agree with a lot of the stuff that I did back then. I think it's exciting to touch extremes from that world. It's almost like doing a cover of somebody else. When you go back and you haven't heard much of it or played much of it in several years, it's almost like listening to somebody else. It's kind of a fun thing to do when it's actually your own music. I don't cringe as much as I thought as I was going to cringe. [Laughs]" In a 2014 interview with Glide Magazine, Friedman said that he was "very happy" to still be talking about "Dragon's Kiss" three decades after its release. "To me, it's just like anything else that I've ever done," he explained. "I just did the best I could at that time and it was a fantastic experience. It was my first solo album, the first album that my name was going to be on the headline. So I guess there was somewhat of a high standard that I was achieving, but I probably would have went for that same standard anyway, because I've never been the type to be lazy when it comes to something that is going to be released. So I'm sure that I put in plenty of blood and sweat and tears on it, but that really doesn't stand out to me more than anything else that I have done." Friedman is continuing to tour in support of "One Bad M.F. Live!!", which was released last October. The album was recorded in Mexico City on April 14, 2018, during the final concert of Friedman's world tour in support of "Wall Of Sound". Joining Friedman on "One Bad M.F. Live!!" are his bandmates Kiyoshi on bass, Jordan Ziff (RATT) on guitar and Chargeeee on drums.
Continue reading...
Continue reading...
