''The Craving'' is the debut and only album by American rock band

MD.45 MD.45 was an American heavy metal/ punk rock band formed as a side project by Megadeth guitarist/vocalist Dave Mustaine and Fear vocalist Lee Ving. Bassist Kelly LeMieux (of Fear) and drummer Jimmy DeGrasso (of Y&T and on a break from Alice ...

, released on July 23, 1996, on Slab Records, a subsidiary of

Capitol Records Capitol Records, LLC (known legally as Capitol Records, Inc. until 2007) is an American record label distributed by Universal Music Group through its Capitol Music Group imprint. It was founded as the first West Coast-based record label of note ...

. A remastered version was released in 2004 on Capitol Records which features the original vocals by

Lee Ving Lee James Jude Capallero (born April 10, 1950), also known as Lee Ving, is an American guitarist, singer and actor. Ving is the frontman of the Los Angeles-based hardcore punk band Fear. As an actor, Ving played topless club owner Johnny C. ...

removed and re-recorded by the band's guitarist,

Dave Mustaine David Scott Mustaine (born September 13, 1961) is an American musician. He is the co-founder, lead vocalist, rhythm guitarist and primary songwriter of the thrash metal band Megadeth, as well as their sole consistent member. Mustaine has releas ...

, due to Capitol losing the original vocal tracks. Mustaine has stated that he replaced Ving's original vocal tracks "to entice interest from

Megadeth Megadeth is an American thrash metal band formed in Los Angeles in 1983 by vocalist/guitarist Dave Mustaine. Known for their technically complex guitar work and musicianship, Megadeth is one of the "big four" of American thrash metal along wit ...

fans who might have overlooked the original."Mustaine p. 274 ''The Craving'' did well considering there was no budget money for the promotion of the album, selling 35,000 copies first week. The album, as of 2014, has sold nearly 300,000 copies with the remix/remaster selling an additional 100,000 copies.

Track listing

Personnel

;Original release *

– vocals, harmonica *

– guitar *

Kelly LeMieux Kelly Thomas LeMieux (born April 7, 1967 in Salem, Oregon, United States) is an American bass player. He is known for being the bassist of the band Goldfinger and his work in the Dave Mustaine project MD.45. He was the touring bass player for L ...

– bass *

Jimmy DeGrasso Jimmy DeGrasso (born March 16, 1963) is an American heavy metal drummer. DeGrasso played with Mama's Boys and Lita Ford before eventually working with Y&T and Megadeth and as a session or touring musician for Ozzy Osbourne (1986), White Lion ...

– drums ;2004 remix and remaster * Dave Mustaine – vocals, guitar * Kelly LeMieux – bass * Jimmy DeGrasso – drums Megadeth (performs only on "The Creed" (Megadeth Demo)) * Dave Mustaine – vocals, guitar *

Marty Friedman Marty Friedman (born December 8, 1962) is an American guitarist, best known for his tenure as the lead guitarist for thrash metal band Megadeth from 1990 to 2000. He is also known for playing alongside Jason Becker in Cacophony from 1986 until ...

– guitar *

Dave Ellefson David Warren Ellefson (born November 12, 1964) is an American musician, best known for his long tenure as the bassist for thrash metal band Megadeth. Ellefson initially became an accomplished bassist and honed his songwriting skills while leadin ...

– bass *

Nick Menza Nicholas Menza (July 23, 1964 – May 21, 2016) was an American musician best known as the drummer for thrash metal band Megadeth from 1989 to 1998. He recorded drums on four of Megadeth's albums: ''Rust in Peace'' (1990), ''Countdown to Extin ...

– drums ;Production * Produced by Dave Mustaine * Recorded by Billy Moss, assisted by Aaron Carey * Mixed and vocals recorded by

Max Norman Max Norman is a British record producer and recording engineer active since 1973. He produced many acclaimed heavy metal releases. While Norman was resident engineer at Ridge Farm Studios in London, Ozzy Osbourne was recording his debut solo ...

and Dave Mustaine, assisted by Mike Tacci and Laurence Jacobson *

Mastered Mastering, a form of audio post production, is the process of preparing and transferring recorded audio from a source containing the final mix to a data storage device (the master), the source from which all copies will be produced (via meth ...

by Wally Traugott ;2004 remix and remaster *Produced by Dave Mustaine *Mixed by Ralph Patlan and Dave Mustaine *Engineered by Ralph Patlan, assisted by Lance Dean *

Edited Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, photographic, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, orga ...

by Lance Dean and Scott "Sarge" Harrison, assisted by Bo Caldwell and Dave McRobb *Mastered by Tom Baker

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Craving, The 1996 debut albums