MD.45

MD.45
Genres	Punk rock, heavy metal
Years active	1996
Labels	Slab Records Capitol Records
Associated acts	Megadeth Fear Suicidal Tendencies Electric Love Hogs
Past members	Lee Ving Dave Mustaine Kelly LeMieux Jimmy DeGrasso

MD.45 was a side project of Megadeth guitarist/frontman Dave Mustaine, Fear guitarist/vocalist Lee Ving on singing and harmonica duties, Electric Love Hogs and future Goldfinger bassist Kelly LeMieux and former Suicidal Tendencies member Jimmy DeGrasso (who later joined Megadeth for Risk and The World Needs A Hero) on drums.

According to an answer given on the Megadeth website, "Mustaine and Ving created the band name by reversing their initials. Dave Mustaine's reversed are MD and Lee Ving's are VL which is 45 in Roman numerals hence the name MD.45",^[1] although 45 is more properly represented in Roman numerals as XLV, acknowledged in a later answer.^[2] The initials also stand for members of the band: Mustaine, DeGrasso, Ving and LeMieux.

History

The first (and only) album released was The Craving in Japan first on May 29, 1996 and in other nations on July 23, 1996. According to the album's liner notes, The Creed was originally a Megadeth demo song, which is on the 2004 remastered edition of the album.

Almost a decade later, while Capitol Records was releasing remastered versions of Megadeth's back catalog, Dave Mustaine chose to remaster The Craving. According to the liner notes, during the remastering process, it was realized that the vocal track and harmonica track were missing. These have been seen as suspicious omissions since Ving's vocals and harmonica work had been a drastic departure from the sound of Megadeth, and partial reasons fans initially hadn't accepted the album.

It should be noted however, that in his book, Mustaine mentions that he chose to replace Ving's vocals to appease the Megadeth audience and hopefully have better sales.

To complete the remaster, Mustaine chose to sing Ving's vocals himself and simulate the harmonica parts on the guitar.^[1]

Lineup

• Lee Ving - Vocals, Harmonica (Original issue)
• Dave Mustaine - Guitar (On both issues), Vocals (on remastered issue)
• Kelly LeMieux - Bass
• Jimmy DeGrasso - Drums

Discography

Date of Release	Title	Label	Chart positions	US sales
July 23, 1996	The Craving	Slab Records		53,000
July 24, 2004	The Craving (Remastered)	Capitol Records

References

1. Megadeth: Scorpion, 3.3.2008.
2. Megadeth: Scorpion, 5.12.2008.