Ex-Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland says that bandleader Dave Mustaine calling him a “liar” negatively affected his career.
Poland joined the thrash metal icons in 1984 and played on their first two albums, 1985’s Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good! and 1986’s Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying?, before being fired for disruptive behaviour stemming from heroin abuse.
Talking to fellow former Megadeth member David Ellefson on Ellefson’s podcast, Poland claims that Mustaine branded him a “liar” onstage for “years” after his firing.
“I have no regrets about everything that’s happened – except one,” Poland says (via Blabbermouth). “I regret that Mustaine for years would go onstage and call me a liar. I never really thought much about it, but then I did the math and I realised that’s why things were so hard for me to try and get deals.”
As evidence, he points to an interaction he had with guitar manufacturer Carvin. “I walked into Carvin one day and I thought, ‘You know what? These guitars aren’t bad. I wanna talk to their A&R guy.’ So I spoke to the guy and he goes, ‘Dude, we don’t use people like you on our roster.’”
Poland continues: “I have a feeling that Dave’s anger with me about what it was really was like dragging around a fucking 50-pound ball all the time – back then.”
Ellefson, who was fired from Megadeth in 2021, then backs Poland up, pointing to the experiences of former guitarist Jeff Young. Young played on the thrashers’ third album So Far, So Good… So What! (1988) and was fired due to Mustaine believing that Young had flirted with his then-girlfriend.
“There was some derogatory comment [Mustaine made] that kept [Young] from getting work for a long time,” Ellefson explains. “I could say the same was attempted at me. Fortunately, I just kept moving. I just kept going and was like, ‘Alright, I’m just gonna ignore that comment and keep moving.’”
In a 2022 interview with Sofa King Cool, Poland stated that he was the subject of the song Liar from the So Far… album. “Obviously, Dave was very upset with me when I left the band – when he fired me, basically,” the guitarist explained.
When asked if the lyrical scathing made him angry, he said no and pointed towards Mustaine’s own heavy drug use at the time: “It’s like the pot calling the kettle black, man. When you point your finger, man, there’s three pointing back at you. I just rolled my eyes and was like, ‘Really?’”
That same year, Poland claimed that he took a job in a diner after his Megadeth exit.
“I would be bussing tables on a weekend, and some guy would go, ‘Dude, you’re Chris Poland!’ And I'd have to go, ‘Yeah, I am!’,” he told The Metal Voice. “And it was so weird, because he just looked at me like, ‘Dude, what the fuck are you doing here?’ And I would just say, ‘Hey man, I’ve gotta eat. I’ve gotta pay the rent.’”
Poland briefly reunited with Megadeth in 2004, playing guitar on their album The System Has Failed. However, things soon soured again, with Poland suing Mustaine over the inclusion of three demos on a 2004 re-release of 1990 album Rust In Peace. Poland said in 2022 that the pair haven’t spoken since.
Megadeth – now composed of Mustaine (vocals/guitars), Teemu Mäntysaari (guitars), Dirk Verbeuren (drums) and James LoMenzo (bass) – released their latest album The Sick, The Dying… And The Dead! in 2022 and are currently in the studio working on its follow-up.
