Marty Friedman was Megadeth's guitarist between 1990 and 2000, and his arrival coincides with the moment the band became technically unassailable. Born in Washington, D.C., in 1962, he came from Cacophony, the instrumental duo he formed with Jason Becker, and joined in time to record Rust in Peace (1990). What he brought was not speed — Megadeth already had that in excess. It was vocabulary. Friedman builds solos on scales rock does not use: modes of Japanese, Middle Eastern and Hawaiian origin, intervals that sound uncomfortable to anyone expecting the blues pentatonic, and a slow, wide vibrato recognisable within two notes. The solo in "Tornado of Souls" is routinely cited among the finest ever recorded in metal, and that is why: it sounds as though it came from another musical tradition, fitted into a thrash record. He also recorded Countdown to Extinction (1992), Youthanasia (1994) and Cryptic Writings (1997), leaving in 2000 over a disagreement about direction. What followed is unusual: he moved to Japan in 2003, learned the language and built a second career there as a musician and television personality, hosting programmes and taking part in Japanese pop productions. The Japanese government named him a cultural ambassador, and he is better known to the Japanese public for his television presence than for his years in Megadeth.
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