Former MEGADETH guitarist Jeff Young has unloaded a can of Holiday whoop ass in an open letter to the band’s grizzled mainman Dave Mustaine, accusing him of, among other things, “dissing, exaggerating and just plain lying on some level about nearly every talented musician that has passed through his dysfunctional little ensemble.”
“Until now, I chose to keep my mouth shut, even for the VH1 ‘Behind the Music’ episode,” Jeff writes on his official MySpace blog. “And boy, could I have eaten up some serious air time with the truth about what REALLY went on ‘behind the music’ in MEGADETH. But it’s been well over twenty years and the guy just can’t seem to stop himself.
“Here [Mustaine] goes again, bragging in the pages of Guitar World about how he allegedly sings the solo melodies to all his lead guitarists!!
“Seriously, folks? This guy should take his comedy act on the road, if you’ll pardon the pun.
“I can’t speak for the others but as exceptional as all the MEGADETH lead guys have been, I don’t believe his preposterous yarn for a second.
“Regarding the ‘So Far, So Good, So What?!’-era sessions: Mustaine was nowhere in the building during any of my rhythm or lead tracking sessions. And since I came into the process at the last minute, there were also NO band rehearsals whatsoever. So when, exactly, did he sing me those solos?
“Fact is, from what I heard of his unedited ‘So Far, So Good, So What?!’ lead tracks, the guy can barely play his own lead lines, let alone sing some of the stunning lines that Chris [Poland], Marty [Friedman] or Glen [Drover] played.”
Jeff then addresses Dave directly, stating, “Let’s be clear for the record: you were not in the studio with me during any of my tracking… not one song — not one second. You know it and I know it. You need to stop blatantly lying to your fans and in the media.
“Perhaps next time you look in the mirror with the ole’ ‘hello me, meet the real me’ crap — you’ll pause to consider why you feel the need to continually perpetuate ridiculous bullshit and belittle others in order to make yourself seem more significant or talented.
“You consider yourself a ‘genius,’ yet after all these years, you’re still not smart enough to comprehend that when you diminish others, you dimish yourself most of all — even as you clearly telegraph your raging insecurity for anyone with an ounce of insight to see. You may also want to go back and re-read the lyrics you wrote in ‘Liar’. Then consider the giant glass house you’ve built for yourself and put your silly little stones down, once and for all. At the very least for all the players that helped create all the success you now so arrogantly and selfishly enjoy.”
Young concludes his missive by stating, “Oh, and while we’re at it: you may want to stop telling the world that you invented the ‘spider chord!’ Classical guitarists commonly use that approach and it is considered part of the standard classical guitar technique, you fool.”
Read Jeff Young’s entire message at this location.
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