Former Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland recently opened up about his regrets regarding his time with the legendary metal band. He acknowledged his past behavior in a candid interview on the Beyond the Vibe Podcast.
Poland reflected on his departure from Megadeth and how he has come to terms with his actions during that period. When asked about how things went with Megadeth and whether he was upset at the time, Poland provided a remarkably honest response.
“Oh, I didn’t understand at all at the time. I was totally mad. You know, I mean, when I was in Megadeth, I cringe when I was just a terrible person. I was not a good person. I shudder when I when I see interviews of myself back then,” Poland said.
The guitarist took full responsibility for his past behavior. He explained how he eventually found peace with the situation.
“I can’t blame everything on anybody. You know, it’s like I my stuff was my fault and you know, I regret it. But once and I was even sober when I was still upset about it, but honestly it wasn’t until I met Nick Menza that I let it all go entirely cuz Nick was such a good person. He was like, ‘Dude, you can’t carry that around. You got to let that go,'” he continued.
Poland credited late Megadeth drummer Nick Menza with helping him become a better person and release the negative feelings he had been carrying.
“And he just taught me to really be a better man, you know. I mean, it’s such a weight, I think, when you hold these kind of feelings, it’s just it brings you down. It weighs you down, you know,” Poland explained.
Poland described his relationship with Megadeth frontman Dave Mustaine as brotherly despite the personal conflicts. He noted their musical differences ultimately led to the split.
“When I was in Megadeth, me and Dave would fight like brothers fought and the next day we say, ‘You’re a dick,’ you know. And I mean, you know, we’d, you know, play into the next night, and that’s how kind of how it was. But like I said, musically, we were like this. We were going in different directions all the time from the beginning to the end and just didn’t work out. But I’m blessed that I was on those records,” he concluded.
Poland’s reflections come decades after his tumultuous exit from one of thrash metal’s most influential bands. This departure marked a difficult period in his life and career.
Wikipedia reported that Chris Poland was fired from Megadeth in 1987 due to alleged substance abuse issues. The circumstances surrounding his departure were particularly challenging. Poland and drummer Gar Samuelson were let go after Poland had sold off equipment belonging to Dave Mustaine and David Ellefson, as well as his own gear. The split was acrimonious and largely centered on money. Poland later felt that he and Samuelson “were left in the dust.”
The aftermath of leaving Megadeth proved financially devastating for Poland. Louder Sound revealed that Poland struggled to make ends meet and was forced to work bussing tables at Denny’s from midnight to 8 a.m. This period represented a stark contrast to his time as a guitarist in one of metal’s rising bands.
Poland’s contributions to Megadeth’s early success cannot be understated. Guitar World noted that he was a key guitarist on Megadeth’s first two albums: Killing Is My Business… and Business Is Good! (1985) and Peace Sells… But Who’s Buying? (1986). He contributed primarily solos to these landmark thrash metal records. A friend of the band encouraged Mustaine to give Poland more solo opportunities on the debut album.
Poland’s relationship with Megadeth wasn’t entirely severed despite the bitter circumstances of his departure. Ultimate Guitar documented that Poland returned to work with Megadeth one final time in 2004 to record solos for the comeback album The System Has Failed. However, he chose not to rejoin the band full-time. This collaboration demonstrated that time had helped heal some of the wounds from their earlier conflicts.
