In a recent Cameo video message requested by Jonathan Montenegro of Sobre La Dosis, MEGADETH's Brazilian-born guitarist Kiko Loureiro was asked to name his favorite heavy metal album of all time. He responded (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "That's hard. When I was young, I was really into BLACK SABBATH with [Ronnie James] Dio, so 'Heaven And Hell', 'Mob Rules', 'Live Evil'. Yeah, I would say those BLACK SABBATH [albums] with Dio. Also SCORPIONS — 'Blackout'. What else? Man, so many. Bands like SAXON. [IRON] MAIDEN… of course 'The Number Of The Beast', for sure, 'Killers', 'Powerslave'… And LED ZEPPELIN. So it's hard to mention one album." In an October 2015 interview with The Irish Sun, MEGADETH leader Dave Mustaine was full of praise for Loureiro, saying: "A lot of times guitarists won't know how to add to something — they'll put something in there that's kind of like tits on a bull, unnecessary. Kiko came in and immediately started making some really good suggestions that we applied [to MEGADETH's 2016 album, 'Dystopia']. When he first came in, I knew he had the ability but I didn't know if the songwriting technique and talent was going to show up this early on." He continued: "What was great about the suggestions that Kiko made was that they weren't just guitar ones — he made a bass part in a song called 'Me Hate You' [that made it] really come along. In fact, that was one of the songs where he made a huge melodic contribution in the chorus and I said, 'Man, this sounds like something.'" According to Dave, Kiko possesses all the elements that are required to become part of a legendary metal act like MEGADETH. "For me — really simply stated — if you want to be a musician, that's one thing. If you want to be a rock star, that's another," Mustaine said. "But if you want to be legendary, you need to have three very important components: you need to have ability, you need to have appearance, and you need to have attitude. Without all three of those things, it's kind of like trying to have a three-legged milk stool without three legs — it's just not going to work." He continued: "I found with Kiko, his ability was astronomical, with his attitude he was very confident in what he did — there's a difference between confidence and arrogance. In appearance, he was very classy and very subdued on the street, but up on stage he totally takes command of his performance. When he came up to Nashville to visit with me, I didn't even have him play for the majority of the day he was there. I just wanted to hang out with him and it's been a really long time since I hung out with a guitar player before I hired him. Usually I would listen to how he played and then I'd go, 'Okay, we'll work it out.' I didn't want to do that again. Hanging out with Kiko, and having lunch and kicking back and talking music was all I needed — I knew he was the right guy." MEGADETH recently completed work on its new album, "The Sick, The Dying And The Dead", for a tentative July release.
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