David Ellefson recently explained why Malice guitarist Jay Reynolds wasn’t a right fit for Megadeth and was replaced with Jeff Young. He shared his perspective in an interview with Indiepower TV.
The former Megadeth bassist addressed the brief period when Reynolds joined the band. He explained why the collaboration didn’t work out as expected.
“Jay [Jay Reynolds, Malice guitarist] was a good friend of mine, friend of Dave’s, good friend of mine. We used to hang out, go to the Rainbow party, whatever. And yeah, the opening came and Jay said, ‘Hey, I’d love a shot at it,'” Ellefson said. “So, we were hanging out, you know, at the apartment playing guitar a lot and, you know, we gave Jay a shot at it and he realized, he goes, ‘Yeah, this might be over my head.'”
Ellefson explained how the situation developed. He also shared why they ultimately made the change.
“He called Jeff Young to come in and do tracks and solos for him and we just realized, okay, Jay’s a good friend. He’s not the right fit in Megadeth. And that’s all it is. People just have different styles and that’s all it is. Jay and I remained dear friends. I haven’t been in touch with him that much in recent years, but you know, we remained friends,” he continued.
The bassist also elaborated on why Jeff Young proved to be a better musical match for the band’s evolving sound.
“Jeff Young was the better musical fit. And you know, continued this guitar style of Dave being you know, Jimmy Paige, Ted Nugent style playing, you know, this real guttural, rip from the hip kind of guitar playing that Dave did. Versus Chris Poland, Jeff Young, you know, then Marty Friedman, and everybody were the smoother, more legato. Always kind of jazz influenced guitarists, you know, that set the bar, you know, that became the dichotomy and how it was going to go for the Megadeth sound. So, in a way, Jeff was a better fit to sort of continue that style,” Ellefson said.
This guitarist change occurred during a particularly turbulent period in Megadeth’s history. The band was working on their third studio album at the time.
Wikipedia reported that Reynolds was brought in during 1987 to replace Chris Poland. Poland had been fired from the band due to substance abuse issues and for selling band equipment. The timing was critical as Megadeth was preparing to record what would become their breakthrough album “So Far, So Good… So What?”
The situation became more complicated when Reynolds struggled with the technical demands of Megadeth’s material just six weeks into the recording process. Guitar World documented this development. Rather than continue struggling, Reynolds made the decision to call in his guitar teacher, Jeff Young, to handle the more challenging solos and lead parts.
Loudwire noted that after the thrashers hired Reynolds to replace Poland, Reynolds commissioned Young to help with the recording. Young was both a guitar teacher and session musician. This arrangement quickly revealed that Young was better suited for the band’s evolving sound and technical requirements.
Reynolds’ brief tenure with Megadeth didn’t mark the end of his metal career. Encyclopaedia Metallum showed that he later joined Metal Church as their lead guitarist. He served two separate stints with the band from 2001-2008 and again in 2012, proving his abilities in a different musical context.
