Geoff Tate to Rocklahoma, "You Guys Suck"

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

S.D. wrote:

Personally it doesn't matter to me at all, the last Queensryche album I purchased was Promised Land in 1994. It would take a REALLY impressive album from these guys to get back on my radar after almost 20 years.

This lineup doesn't have a Promised Land in them...IMO.

Especially considering DeGarmo was the primary songwriter on every song on Promised Land except for the intro and Disconnected.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Aside from the voice, does anyone know what this new guy Todd brings to the table? Has he written anything or shown that he can do other things than just sing?

I don't really know anything about him other than what I've seen here. Maybe he's got some song writing skills?

I don't know. He keeps mentioning that he's a drummer, though. Not sure why. Maybe Scott can sing instead.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Dark Horseman wrote:

What audience is Tate going after.

The wine and cheese crowd. Folks that are smarter and more refined than the average metal lunk-head.

He'd be more content in the laid back, Peter Gabriel vibe these days...and would probably do it well. I was one of the few who liked his solo album...

Make that two of us, I thought his solo album was really good and different then what Queensryche was doing. I am sure Tate will do well, not so sure about Queensryche

Phoenix Reign Drummer wrote:

I would think Rising West is done and Queensryche is fronted by Todd. No sense not to use Queensryche. This will be interesting because people are always bothered when members change in bands and say its not the same etc. Well I think this one will be an exception. I think people will actually welcome this.

yep. I am normally one of those people but i think this will be a good exception.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Dark Horseman wrote:

What audience is Tate going after.

The wine and cheese crowd. Folks that are smarter and more refined than the average metal lunk-head.

at least they think they are smarter and more refined....

I think professionally Geoff Tate might come out ahead, the rest of Queensryche blew off opening for Scorpions and Tate was able to take his solo band and at the last minute fill in for the missing band.

I am not a promoter or manager of a rock act, but I am not sure if that looks well to blow off a gig because the band and your vocalist can't play nice for 45 minutes

They'll probably both do fine. Tate can do his acoustic art-rock I Wanna Be Peter Gabriel stuff on the coffeehouse circuit, meanwhile Queensryche will rake it in on the retro-festival circuit by playing the old stuff with a guy who can actually still hit the notes. Everybody wins (except the fans)!

Fat Freddy wrote:

They'll probably both do fine. Tate can do his acoustic art-rock I Wanna Be Peter Gabriel stuff on the coffeehouse circuit, meanwhile Queensryche will rake it in on the retro-festival circuit by playing the old stuff with a guy who can actually still hit the notes. Everybody wins (except the fans)!

I think the fans win in this one - we might get some metal from the band again.

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Whoa! Didn't see that one coming! Honestly, I thought Geoff would keep the name and the rest of the guys would move on without him in Rising West.

So does this mean Rising West is done and any new material written with Todd will be a new Queensryche album?

By the way, here's the gist of the story for anyone that's too lazy to click on the link...

Quote :

According to Billboard.com, Seattle progressive rockers QUEENSRŸCHE have officially parted ways with vocalist Geoff Tate and have replaced him with CRIMSON GLORY singer Todd La Torre.

"Over the past few months, there have been growing creative differences within QUEENSRŸCHE," drummer Scott Rockenfield said in a statement. "We want our fans to know that we hoped to find a common resolution, but in the end parting ways with Geoff was the best way for everyone to move forward in a positive direction. We wish him the best of luck with all of his future endeavors. We can't wait to bring QUEENSRŸCHE to our fans with Todd behind the microphone."

The statement also said that scheduled QUEENSRŸCHE performances "are on hold at [the] present time and revised routing is being worked on. Fans can check the band's website for all of the latest tour information as it [becomes] available."

I was wondering if Rising West will now rename themselves Queensrÿche as well.

Todd is still Crimson Glory's vocalist.
"I am not a 'former member' of CRIMSON GLORY. Both bands are fully aware of my involvement. CRIMSON GLORY is still alive and well, and we are continuing to write material for the new record. QUEENSRŸCHE enters a new chapter; buckle up."

So it's Queensryche then. I guess.

Required Fields wrote:

I was wondering if Rising West will now rename themselves Queensrÿche as well.

I would imagine that there's no need to keep up the Rising West "side project" charade anymore now that he's officially in Queensryche.

Like I said, Rising West was probably never intended to be a "new project," it was simply a try-out to see how Todd would do fronting the band.

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

S.D. wrote:

Personally it doesn't matter to me at all, the last Queensryche album I purchased was Promised Land in 1994. It would take a REALLY impressive album from these guys to get back on my radar after almost 20 years.

This lineup doesn't have a Promised Land in them...IMO.

Agreed. And even "Promised Land" was a big step down from "Empire" ... which was a big step down from "Operation: Mindcrime".

MetalGuy71 wrote:

Aside from the voice, does anyone know what this new guy Todd brings to the table? Has he written anything or shown that he can do other things than just sing?

I don't really know anything about him other than what I've seen here. Maybe he's got some song writing skills?

Wasn't I saying the same thing like 2 or 3 pages ago?

Listen to the clips of his solo album that he is working on on his personal YouTube clip.

If that was meant to make me think he can't write a good tune, it failed. Sounds like quality to me. Lots of potential here.

Temple of Blood wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

S.D. wrote:

Personally it doesn't matter to me at all, the last Queensryche album I purchased was Promised Land in 1994. It would take a REALLY impressive album from these guys to get back on my radar after almost 20 years.

This lineup doesn't have a Promised Land in them...IMO.

Agreed. And even "Promised Land" was a big step down from "Empire" ... which was a big step down from "Operation: Mindcrime".

I definitely don't agree with that, I'm one of the few people who feel Mindcrime is WAY overrated. There are a few great tracks, but many of the songs are glorified filler dressed up with sound effects to trick people into thinking they are listening to something important like "The Wall Part 2". I'm sure many people think it's great art, I'm just not one of them. I like Empire, Promised Land and The Warning alot more than Mindcrime.

Yeah, I know, I'm a heretic.

i think Empire was waaay better than Mindcrime. Promised Land was too, but not by much. Empire was their best imo.

Mindcrime was alright, but overall it bored me. Empire seemed to flow a lot better.

S.D. wrote:

Temple of Blood wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

S.D. wrote:

Personally it doesn't matter to me at all, the last Queensryche album I purchased was Promised Land in 1994. It would take a REALLY impressive album from these guys to get back on my radar after almost 20 years.

This lineup doesn't have a Promised Land in them...IMO.

Agreed. And even "Promised Land" was a big step down from "Empire" ... which was a big step down from "Operation: Mindcrime".

I definitely don't agree with that, I'm one of the few people who feel Mindcrime is WAY overrated. There are a few great tracks, but many of the songs are glorified filler dressed up with sound effects to trick people into thinking they are listening to something important like "The Wall Part 2". I'm sure many people think it's great art, I'm just not one of them. I like Empire, Promised Land and The Warning alot more than Mindcrime.

Yeah, I know, I'm a heretic.

Agree. There are some great song on O:M, but as a whole, I think Promised Land is better, as is RFO and The Warning.

Geoff LaVey has left the building...

Operation: Mindcrime is a stone-cold classic, deserving of every ounce of praise it's ever gotten.

Temple of Blood wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

S.D. wrote:

Personally it doesn't matter to me at all, the last Queensryche album I purchased was Promised Land in 1994. It would take a REALLY impressive album from these guys to get back on my radar after almost 20 years.

This lineup doesn't have a Promised Land in them...IMO.

Agreed. And even "Promised Land" was a big step down from "Empire" ... which was a big step down from "Operation: Mindcrime".

I know a lot of people don't get into Promised Land, but IMO it was the last brilliant Queensryche album. That album, IMO, is like the organic cousin to Rage For Order...dark and weird and the songs are amazing, IMO.

As for Empire being a "big step down" from Mindcrime, I disagree with that too. Each album beginning with The Warning and moving through Promised Land were all very different animals, yet IMO nearly equally great. They continued the tradition of "different every time" after this, but the songs IMO lacked the intensity and passion of the 83-94 material.

I loved 'Empire' and 'The Promised Land' both excellent albums and very different then the albums that came before it.

IMO 'Operation: Mindcrime' is still an excellent album and lyrically, with the current poisonous political atmosphere currently in Washington, the theme of the album is more timely then ever.

I have two side/solo albums from Queensryche members, one is Geoff Tate's solo album, which is a great album, it sounds nothing like Queensryche and Scott's band Slave to the System, which is ok but nothing outstanding.

I will give the "new" Queensryche a chance, if they record new material, and if the new material is good. I doubt I would support this version of the band live.

S.D. wrote:

Temple of Blood wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

S.D. wrote:

Personally it doesn't matter to me at all, the last Queensryche album I purchased was Promised Land in 1994. It would take a REALLY impressive album from these guys to get back on my radar after almost 20 years.

This lineup doesn't have a Promised Land in them...IMO.

Agreed. And even "Promised Land" was a big step down from "Empire" ... which was a big step down from "Operation: Mindcrime".

I definitely don't agree with that, I'm one of the few people who feel Mindcrime is WAY overrated. There are a few great tracks, but many of the songs are glorified filler dressed up with sound effects to trick people into thinking they are listening to something important like "The Wall Part 2". I'm sure many people think it's great art, I'm just not one of them. I like Empire, Promised Land and The Warning alot more than Mindcrime.

Yeah, I know, I'm a heretic.

Agree on Mindcrime being overrated. Like most concept albums it's very uneven and the story is stupid. I think Empire and Promised Land are worse though. Warning is their best full-length release but the EP is the best thing they ever released.

I understand how 'Painkiller' can be overrated....I understand how 'Master of Puppets' can be overrated.....I understand how Led Zep and Rush in general can be overrated, and I am the first, always the very first to try and get people to stop doing the same thing over and over and over and try something unfairly overlooked.

But I honestly don't see how 'Mindcrime' is one ounce overrated. Like all good music, Queensrÿche was always a 'total' package - you can't hear some riffs or portions of the music and yet not absorb things lyrically or mood-wise, and get a complete picture..... metal fans are quite notorious for doing that, and I just really don't see how it can be done if the artist is an artist of integrity. If they are of integrity, then that means that everything you hear is meant to be heard, and nothing discarded, and therefore, you miss out by doing so. Even if it's a foreign band, even if the English is shaky, even if it's..whatever it is, you need to come to the entire thing on its turf and not yours. Now Witchfinder find the story of O:M to be weak and I can see how that could be the viewpoint from a certain angle. However, even if we are taking points off for just the story itself as a whole being imperfect, we need to look at the mini-stories each song tells. Let me put it bluntly: if you're like me, if you're an angry and discontented person, if you're a romantic like me and obsessed with the fact that the average is what is chased after rather than excellence that could be strived for.....if you're just a METAL fan and understand that there is just something wrong with the world as it is...ESPECIALLY if you live in America..........then I see no way that you won't or can't connect with the songs on this record. I don't mean any amount of disrespect at all... but it really is a matter of 'speaking the language' so to speak. Many, many, many records are like that, many are loved for that reason and also hated or misunderstood for that reason. Whatever genre or record it is, you've got to live it. I don't see any universe in which O:M is not a prime example of the dissatisfaction and frustration expressed since metal was first birthed.

And all that isn't even taking into account how in-his-prime Tate is and how ridiculously dynamic the rhythm section is and how crisp the digital sound is, how on-target each riff is.......................I could just go on and on, if Skyliner can make our debut half as good as this record is, I'll be happy.