Geoff Tate to Rocklahoma, "You Guys Suck"

Eyesore wrote:

I think DeGarmo is immensely talented, and I believe he can still write some great music, but people thinking he'd somehow lead Queensryche back to their metal roots would be sorely disappointed.

The Spys4Darwin EP wasn't great. Wasn't very good, actually. The tracks he co-wrote on Tribe aren't very good, nor is the song, "Justified," he wrote for the Sign of the Times album. The tracks he co-wrote with Dredg are excellent, but Dredg has more in common with Radiohead than anything Queensryche has ever done.

That's been DeGarmo's musical output since he left Queensryche. And of course the oft-hated Hear in the Now Frontier was largely written by DeGarmo. So why anyone would think he'd help usher back in the old-school metal style is beyond me. But I'm assuming most people do it because they blame Geoff for the band's shift in style and don't know what DeGarmo has done since his days in Queensryche. It's easy to blame Geoff.

It's easy to blame Geoff because he has made statements in the past about not wanting to be "metal" any longer, and how Queensryche wasn't really a metal band any more. I wish I could cite specific sources, because I know I had read that in an interview some while back, but I don't recall where. On the other hand, when I saw the 'ryche back in 2000 with Halford and Iron Maiden, he pandered to the crowd by saying he knew they were there "for the metal!" before launching into "Queen of the Ryche", so who knows. But I think Geoff is outspoken enough and doesn't generally appear to give a flip about what folks think of him in the media, so one always has to deal with misinterpretation and general fallout from that kind of public outspokenness. I have personally felt, for some time, that despite his talent, he sort of comes off kind of douchey, and that he probably has a higher opinion of himself than perhaps is warranted. Sure, he spawned a generation of sound-alikes among the prog rock/metal landscape, but that doesn't mean that some of them have out-sung him in recent years or that his influence is the only one that is evident in the clones. Just my $.02 on the matter

I can't believe dudes in their 50's would act so ....childish:


Queensryche off shoot Rising West say they’ve been locked out of the band’s website and Facebook page.

The band’s fan network is loaded with reference to singer Geoff Tate’s solo tour and wine business – but carries no mention of Rising West’s upcoming live debut.

Four fifths of Queensryche – Michael Wilton, Eddie Jackson, Scott Rockenfield and Parker Lundgren – last week announced their new outfit, fronted by Crimson Glory singer Todd La Torre, and said they’d focus on performing material from their first five albums.

Asked about rumors of internal tension, a spokesman insisted, “Geoff Tate is concentrating on his acoustic solo performances this summer, while the other members of the band have formed Rising West. Everyone wants to stay busy, try new things and do what they do best: rock in front of the masses. Queensryche are slated to perform select dates throughout the year.”

But the Rising West have now released their own statement, saying, “We are being denied access to our own Facebook page and website (meaning Queensryche) so please spread the word for about Rising West. Rising West will be on KISW 99.9 this Thursday around 4:30. Thank you for your support and we hope to see you at our shows!”

Last night fans reported their comments about Rising West were being deleted from the Queensryche Facebook page. One stated, “Banning, censoring, what else? All we wanted to do was ask why we could not hear or see anything on the upcoming Rising West project. This is getting pretty darn sad.”

Another added, “Whoever is running this page is clearly being petty and desperate. Rising West is about to derail the Tates’s gravy train.”

Rising West will play at the Hard Rock Cafe in Seattle on Friday and Saturday.

They just unveiled the new logo...

SRYCHE

Queensryche have blown for YEARS! This Rising West thing is KILLER! Funny to see a publicist try to cover smurf poo up when people (the fans) see it all 1st hand that all the members are posting. There's been a rift between the musicians and Tate for years!

Queensryche should have STAYED metal, not this soft rock garbage they are playing now!

Lurideath wrote:

Queensryche have blown for YEARS! This Rising West thing is KILLER! Funny to see a publicist try to cover smurf poo up when people (the fans) see it all 1st hand that all the members are posting. There's been a rift between the musicians and Tate for years!

Queensryche should have STAYED metal, not this soft rock garbage they are playing now!

... so most people would say how they are tired of band trying to write Mindcrime again and again. I'd be happy if they release a good song after all.

no internal tension my

They tried writing Mindcrime again and it SUCKED! All I'd want to hear is the band playing great metal with those powerful screams which they haven't done in a long time!

Since others are stating their opinions, so will I!

In my opinion, they haven't been great since Operation Mindcrime, and they haven't been good since Empire.

They can still write some great songs. "Right Side of My Mind," "Re-Arrange You," "At 30,000 Feet," "The Hands," "Liquid Sky," "Blood," maybe one or two others.

And I still maintain that, without comparing them to any other album, Promised Land and Hear in the Now Frontier are great. Promised Land is brilliant, if you ask me.

But since then, far more miss than hit.

Jason Slater has been revealing a lot about the writing and recording process of the last few albums over at Anybody Listening. Apparently, the majority of the members hardly had anything to do with the writing process. From his stories, Michael Wilton was completely disinterested in QR and spent hours getting the right tone in the studio during demo sessions on guitars he hadn't used in years, playing System of a Down albums and just wasting time before he left without accomplishing anything. It sounds like the band was in crisis mode for a long time coming.

Quote :

Promised Land is brilliant, if you ask me.

I completely agree...that was their last "great" album...

glassprison wrote:

Jason Slater has been revealing a lot about the writing and recording process of the last few albums over at Anybody Listening. Apparently, the majority of the members hardly had anything to do with the writing process. From his stories, Michael Wilton was completely disinterested in QR and spent hours getting the right tone in the studio during demo sessions on guitars he hadn't used in years, playing System of a Down albums and just wasting time before he left without accomplishing anything. It sounds like the band was in crisis mode for a long time coming.

Well, you can see that from the songwriting credits. Wilton doesn't have a single credit on the last two albums, and only like three on OMII.

At this point, I don't think they have anything to lose by reuniting with Chris Degarmo. It can't get any worse... And the fans would probably really like to see them all back together on stage.

The handling of the FB page sounds childish, especially after 30 years. I can't see that reuniting with DeGarmo would bring about the old sound, so I think that Rising West is probably the best result for all concerned.

Lurideath wrote:

All I'd want to hear is the band playing great metal with those powerful screams which they haven't done in a long time!

Build time machine, set for 1985.

S.D. wrote:

Lurideath wrote:

All I'd want to hear is the band playing great metal with those powerful screams which they haven't done in a long time!

Build time machine, set for 1985.

Great scott! Looks like we're going back to the future!

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

Quote :

Promised Land is brilliant, if you ask me.

I completely agree...that was their last "great" album...

x3.

Promised Land was the last Queensryche album I really got into. I sampled most of their more recent albums a couple years ago, but I didn't hear anything that prompted me to add them to my collection.

manny wrote:

I can't believe dudes in their 50's would act so ....childish:


Queensryche off shoot Rising West say they’ve been locked out of the band’s website and Facebook page.

The band’s fan network is loaded with reference to singer Geoff Tate’s solo tour and wine business – but carries no mention of Rising West’s upcoming live debut.

Four fifths of Queensryche – Michael Wilton, Eddie Jackson, Scott Rockenfield and Parker Lundgren – last week announced their new outfit, fronted by Crimson Glory singer Todd La Torre, and said they’d focus on performing material from their first five albums.

Asked about rumors of internal tension, a spokesman insisted, “Geoff Tate is concentrating on his acoustic solo performances this summer, while the other members of the band have formed Rising West. Everyone wants to stay busy, try new things and do what they do best: rock in front of the masses. Queensryche are slated to perform select dates throughout the year.”

But the Rising West have now released their own statement, saying, “We are being denied access to our own Facebook page and website (meaning Queensryche) so please spread the word for about Rising West. Rising West will be on KISW 99.9 this Thursday around 4:30. Thank you for your support and we hope to see you at our shows!”

Last night fans reported their comments about Rising West were being deleted from the Queensryche Facebook page. One stated, “Banning, censoring, what else? All we wanted to do was ask why we could not hear or see anything on the upcoming Rising West project. This is getting pretty darn sad.”

Another added, “Whoever is running this page is clearly being petty and desperate. Rising West is about to derail the Tates’s gravy train.”

Rising West will play at the Hard Rock Cafe in Seattle on Friday and Saturday.

very childish. Sign of the things to come.

"Would someone please let me know how we have spun out of control?
Has the captain let go of the wheel?
Or could we please try to find a way to be a bit more kind?
I see the road to tomorrow in the haze!"

How funny a line from their own song gives us a glimps into their future

On the formation of RISING WEST and the status of QUEENSRŸCHE:

"We have some time off this year, so we put a project and this kind of turned into this monumental, epic band. And we're doing that as kind of a side thing away from QUEENSRŸCHE."

"We still very much are QUEENSRŸCHE, and QUEENSRŸCHE will be continuing on. We want to just have some fun, play some old 'RŸCHE, bring back some memories and just kick it."

On Todd's involvement with RISING WEST and the status of CRIMSON GLORY:

Todd: "We've [CRIMSON GLORY] got some shows in Europe coming up in August and we're writing a new album. But I met Michael at NAMM, a large music convention in California, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We were at a private artist dinner party for Seymour Duncan and we met there and had dinner and talked and it just kind of morphed from there."

"Obviously, the friendship side of it, [the other members of CRIMSON GLORY] are happy for me, they want me to do it. Profesionally, I'm sure that there's some concern, that they don't want CRIMSON GLORY to be diminished. It's not, we're still writing. But it's not a full-time touring band like what these guys do. And yeah, anybody would do what I'm doing. But they're happy for me. I mean, it's a very similar genre. Both bands are pioneering bands of the progressive metal genre, and so it's gotten a lot of cross-promotion for CRIMSON GLORY. And the QUEENSRŸCHE fans are like, 'Who's this guy?' So it's exposed both sides of the aisle. It's all for the love of the music and the style of music that we play and the style of vocals that I sing. It's more of a rare thing; it's not as mainstream. But the following for CRIMSON GLORY and QUEENSRŸCHE are the most loyal, devout, diehard fans that have been following both bands for 25 years for CRIMSON and 30 years for QUEENSRŸCHE. I mean, these are the guys that write the music, they play the instruments, they are the embodiment of these songs that we've all loved. And so for me to be able to come in and be asked to perform these songs is an honor. It's a lot of fun. I have personal attachment to some of these songs. When my grandmother passed away, I remember riding in my car and listening to the [QUEENSRŸCHE] song 'Roads To Madness'. I mean, these songs resonate with me in a different way. So when I sing it, it comes from my heart. And I think when you see a live performance, you'll see."

On performing all the QUEENSRŸCHE classics:

Todd: "I can just hit the notes. I've never had lessons. I'm not formally trained. We rehearsed today and we're playing all the old classics and I can belt it out just like the record. It's amazing, 'cause I'm a drummer my whole life — 24, 25 years; I started when I was 13 — and to be watching one of my largest influences on drums two feet from me playing, it's an amazing experience."

Scott: "He keeps playing when I leave the room to go to the restroom. And he's playing better than I am. It's really beginning to kind of piss me off."

On his RISING WEST bandmates:

Todd: "Honestly, they're all amazingly humble, they're funny. They all have families that are beautiful families. They're all down-to-earth, real people. No egos… It's amazing. I feel very welcomed. I don't feel like a 'hired gun.' I've been offered very equal say in the setlist, and even the [RISING WEST] logo. I mean, I was a very integral part of creating the logo. We all talked on the phone, conference calling."

On RISING WEST's setlist:

"It's the list from the fans, for a long time, that have wanted to hear a bunch of that material, and so we kind of start with that. Although that's a big list. And then we just look at it and go, 'OK, what do we wanna play?' We're playing some great stuff that we haven't touched for quite awhile."

"There's all different reasons why we haven't played some of the older stuff. For us now, it's just kind of us wanting to reach back and do all that."

"We're bringing the metal vibe back."

On whether RISING WEST's future includes more shows and studio work:

"The road ahead is a daily process for us, but we're keeping it open to all of that, to be honest — more music together playing shows, and more music together in the studio. This weekend is kind of the beginning of a beginning."

"You never know if RISING WEST will ever do another show — it might be something else that we do. You never know."

"There's some great stuff coming down for us with QUEENSRŸCHE. Until we're ready to explain what we're doing, it's kind of a day-to-day thing. RISING WEST is a way to go out, get to know Todd, do some music together with no strings attached and see what happens after the weekend. It's a major work in progress."

On QUEENSRŸCHE's performance at last month's Rocklahoma festival in Pryor, Oklahoma where singer Geoff Tate told the audience, "You guys suck":

"For us, it was a great show. We had a great show. There were some other comments made by other people not in this room right here who didn't have a good time. But we had a great time."

On why some "other people" didn't have a great time at Rocklahoma:

"I'm not sure, to be honest. We're still trying to figure it out ourselves."

On rumors that Tate was involved in a violent outburst with his QUEENSRŸCHE bandmates in Brazil in April:

"At this point in time the 'guy with the tie' told me what happens in Brazil is gonna stay in Brazil."

On whether they'd learned anything from their current situation:

"Make a band agreement."

thejokeriv wrote:

On rumors that Tate was involved in a violent outburst with his QUEENSRŸCHE bandmates in Brazil in April:

"At this point in time the 'guy with the tie' told me what happens in Brazil is gonna stay in Brazil."

That says it all right there.

chewie wrote:

thejokeriv wrote:

On rumors that Tate was involved in a violent outburst with his QUEENSRŸCHE bandmates in Brazil in April:

"At this point in time the 'guy with the tie' told me what happens in Brazil is gonna stay in Brazil."

That says it all right there.

I think he means lawyers...

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

chewie wrote:

thejokeriv wrote:

On rumors that Tate was involved in a violent outburst with his QUEENSRŸCHE bandmates in Brazil in April:

"At this point in time the 'guy with the tie' told me what happens in Brazil is gonna stay in Brazil."

That says it all right there.

I think he means lawyers...

I got the reference. my indirect point was that the rumors are obviously not rumors but he can't say anything because of da lawyers... and once you lawyer up... that says it all.

chewie wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

chewie wrote:

thejokeriv wrote:

On rumors that Tate was involved in a violent outburst with his QUEENSRŸCHE bandmates in Brazil in April:

"At this point in time the 'guy with the tie' told me what happens in Brazil is gonna stay in Brazil."

That says it all right there.

I think he means lawyers...

I got the reference. my indirect point was that the rumors are obviously not rumors but he can't say anything because of da lawyers... and once you lawyer up... that says it all.

Yep. That's the way I read it.

I realize Queensryche is a source of income for these guys, but if the singer of my band pulled a knife on me, that prick would no longer be in the band, or I wouldn't.

Eyesore wrote:

chewie wrote:

Shawn Of Fire wrote:

chewie wrote:

thejokeriv wrote:

On rumors that Tate was involved in a violent outburst with his QUEENSRŸCHE bandmates in Brazil in April:

"At this point in time the 'guy with the tie' told me what happens in Brazil is gonna stay in Brazil."

That says it all right there.

I think he means lawyers...

I got the reference. my indirect point was that the rumors are obviously not rumors but he can't say anything because of da lawyers... and once you lawyer up... that says it all.

Yep. That's the way I read it.

I realize Queensryche is a source of income for these guys, but if the singer of my band pulled a knife on me, that prick would no longer be in the band, or I wouldn't.

They're clearly testing the waters with these 2 Rising West gigs...

exactly!