Metallica Songs Co-Written by Dave Mustaine Ranked Worst to Best

Here are all six Metallica songs co-written by Dave Mustaine, ranked worst to best.

Mustaine played a crucial role in the early development of Metallica. Between 1982 and early 1983, the future Megadeth leader cooked up a smorgasbord of riffs that would eventually find their way onto Metallica’s first two albums, Kill ‘Em All and Ride the Lightning.

“When we got out to New York [to try to get a record deal], I had a reel of tape, this quarter-inch tape, that had probably two days’ worth of guitar riffs on it, just me playing and playing and playing,” Mustaine told the Shawn Ryan Show in 2025. “And we took that tape player and the reel of tape with us out to New York.”

When Metallica famously fired Mustaine and sent him packing on a Greyhound bus back to San Francisco, Mustaine left them with an order. “I told them when I left, ‘Do not use my music,'” he recalled. “And of course they used it.”

Mustaine’s frustration is understandable, considering his ideas helped spawn some of Metallica’s best and most enduring songs.

Read on to see all six Metallica songs co-written by Dave Mustaine ranked worst to best.

6. “Jump in the Fire” (Kill ‘Em All, 1983)

“Jump in the Fire” isn’t a bad song, per se, but it’s the most primitive track on Kill ‘Em All — unsurprising considering it was the first song Mustaine ever wrote. Its chunky, chromatic riffs and simplistic grooves hew closer to vintage punk or classic rock than the full-throttle thrash Metallica were busy pioneering.

It gets by on sheer charisma, but it’s far from essential.

5. “Phantom Lord” (Kill ‘Em All)

With its high-speed riffs, blistering solos and throttling tempo, “Phantom Lord” found Metallica bridging the gap between NWOBHM and thrash to exhilarating results. The synthesized bass intro and sinister, mid-tempo bridge hinted at the more ambitious compositions the band would pursue on future albums as well.

4. “Metal Militia” (Kill ‘Em All)

You wanna talk about “full speed or nothing”? Look no further than Kill ‘Em All‘s breakneck closing track, “Metal Militia.” Jam-packed with diabolically fast, tremolo-picked riffs and James Hetfield‘s charred-to-a-crisp vocals, it’s a lightning-fast ode to the power of heavy metal.

Mustaine might not have played on “Metal Militia,” but the relentless composition is proof that nobody could match his untamed aggression when he was feeling inspired.

READ MORE: Megadeth Albums Ranked Worst to Best

3. “The Call of Ktulu” (Ride the Lightning, 1984)

Metallica made a quantum songwriting leap between Kill ‘Em All and Ride the Lightning, as evidenced by the latter’s epic instrumental “The Call of Ktulu.” Clocking in at nearly nine minutes, the album-closing track boasts some of Metallica’s most impressive dynamics to date. And if the sinister, arpeggiated chord progression that opens the song sounds familiar, there’s a good reason for that — it’s the one Mustaine wrote and later repurposed for “Hangar 18.”

2. “The Four Horsemen” (Kill ‘Em All)

“The Four Horsemen” remains one of Metallica’s most popular songs and enduring setlist staples and for good reason. With its jagged riffs, galloping drums, shout-along choruses and swaggering half-time bridge, it’s got all the makings of a metal classic.

It had to sting Mustaine to hear Metallica use these riffs, hence why he recorded a faster version of the song under the name “Mechanix” for Megadeth’s debut album, Killing Is My Business … And Business Is Good!

1. “Ride the Lightning” (Ride the Lightning)

The crown jewel of the MetalliDave catalog, “Ride the Lightning” remains one of thrash metal’s fiercest, catchiest and most ambitious anthems. The bridge utilizes Mustaine’s classic “spider chord” technique and, according to the Megadeth leader, he’s responsible for the bulk of the song’s epic, metallic grandeur.

“I didn’t write all of the music in ‘Ride the Lightning,'” Mustaine told Rolling Stone in 2017. “Lars [Ulrich] wrote the melodic intro, and then the next part I wrote and then the next part I wrote and then the next part and then it went back to his part and then it went back to my next three parts and then at that point … who’s keeping score?”