MARTY FRIEDMAN On 'Dragon's Kiss' Solo Debut: 'There's A Lot Of Things I Would Do Differently Now'

November 28, 2019

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.

Find more on

Prev More News Next

Comments Disclaimer And Information

BLABBERMOUTH.NET uses the Facebook Comments plugin to let people comment on content on the site using their Facebook account. The comments reside on Facebook servers and are not stored on BLABBERMOUTH.NET. To comment on a BLABBERMOUTH.NET story or review, you must be logged in to an active personal account on Facebook. Once you're logged in, you will be able to comment. User comments or postings do not reflect the viewpoint of BLABBERMOUTH.NET and BLABBERMOUTH.NET does not endorse, or guarantee the accuracy of, any user comment. To report spam or any abusive, obscene, defamatory, racist, homophobic or threatening comments, or anything that may violate any applicable laws, use the "Report to Facebook" and "Mark as spam" links that appear next to the comments themselves. To do so, click the downward arrow on the top-right corner of the Facebook comment (the arrow is invisible until you roll over it) and select the appropriate action. You can also send an e-mail to blabbermouthinbox(@)gmail.com with pertinent details. BLABBERMOUTH.NET reserves the right to "hide" comments that may be considered offensive, illegal or inappropriate and to "ban" users that violate the site's Terms Of Service. Hidden comments will still appear to the user and to the user's Facebook friends. If a new comment is published from a "banned" user or contains a blacklisted word, this comment will automatically have limited visibility (the "banned" user's comments will only be visible to the user and the user's Facebook friends).