Former Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland recently opened up about his post-band experiences, identifying one major regret from his time associated with the thrash giants: frontman Dave Mustaine repeatedly calling him a liar on stage, which Poland believes significantly hindered his subsequent career opportunities. Poland shared these candid thoughts during an appearance on “The David Ellefson Show,” hosted by his former Megadeth bandmate David Ellefson and Joshua Toomey.
While stating he has “no regrets about everything that’s happened — except one,” Poland elaborated on the impact of Mustaine‘s public pronouncements. “I regret that Mustaine for years would go on stage and call me a liar,” he said. “I never really thought much about it, but then I did the math and I realized that’s why things were so hard for me to try and get deals.” He recounted an experience with Carvin guitars: “I walked into Carvin one day… I spoke to the guy and he goes, ‘Dude, we don’t use people like you on our roster.’ So, I was, like, ‘Oh, okay.’ So I have a feeling that Dave‘s anger with me about what it was really was like dragging around a f**king 50-pound ball all the time — back then.” He later added, “It’s not sour grapes or anything. It’s just it finally dawned on me just how much damage that really did.”
David Ellefson chimed in, suggesting this was a pattern. “Well, look, he did it to [another former Megadeth guitarist] Jeff Young. There was some derogatory comment [Dave made] that kept [Jeff] from getting work for a long time,” Ellefson stated. “I could say the same was attempted at me. Fortunately, I just kept moving.” Ellefson also spoke about his role in trying to mediate such conflicts, recalling an instance when Jeff Young was publicly disputing Mustaine‘s claims around the time Ellefson rejoined Megadeth in 2010. “And I made it go away — as I do… It’s, like, we’re gonna come to peaceful terms… and we’re all gonna just move on.”
Years prior, Poland had confirmed to Sofa King Cool that the scathing Megadeth song “Liar,” from their 1988 album So Far, So Good… So What?, was indeed written by Mustaine about him. “Oh, yeah. Obviously, Dave was very upset with me when I left the band — when he fired me, basically,” Poland had said. His reaction to being the subject of the song was one of weary resignation: “No, man. 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?'”
Chris Poland was a pivotal member of Megadeth from 1984 to 1987, contributing his distinctive guitar work to their classic and highly influential albums Killing Is My Business… And Business Is Good! and Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying? He also returned as a featured soloist on the band’s 2004 album, The System Has Failed.
However, his relationship with Mustaine and the band also saw legal contention. In 2004, Poland and/or his representatives filed a lawsuit against Mustaine concerning the unauthorized use of three Rust In Peace-era demos on that album’s reissue. According to Megadeth‘s then-webmaster, Mustaine had included the demos believing Poland would appreciate the promotion. The webmaster also alleged that Poland attempted to sue for defamation after Mustaine called him a “thief,” but this was reportedly dropped after it was revealed Poland had taken band equipment and sold it for dr*gs, a situation purportedly confessed by Poland in Megadeth‘s VH1 “Behind the Music” special. The lawsuit was eventually settled for $9,500.
