Queensryche tosses Geoff Tate to the Curb

[Joe Stump]

I remember seeing the video for the Queen of the Ryche for the first time in the 80s and thought it was the most awesome thing I had ever seen!

This is the Queensryche I will always remember . That 4 song ep was Metal Bliss in a time when White Wedding by Bill Idol was the only other good song on the radio

[Nightbat]

Again, I'm not saying anyone is clean in this...but my money is on Mr. Tate. There's just too many things he said in that interview alone that can easily be proven wrong (some with previous statements of his own).

Well, reading the GT interview, it almost becomes 'TateRyche'
not just in their music, but all the business around it as well

[silar]

I am a vocalist by trade, guitarist second. One of my biggest influences in singing is Geoff Tate, from the day.. Rage to Order, Operation: Mindcrime, etc.. That guy could sing like no one else. The way I look at it, it will never be Queensryche again without his vocals. It's like what happened with Journey or any other band that changed singers. It just isn't and will never be the same anymore.

They all should have started another project, instead of trying to say they are still Queensryche...

[clifffclaven]

for me, tate is/was queensryche. Yeah, theyre all phenomenal musicians, etc. but when i went to see them live, it was tate i wanted to see.

Off topic a bit, but i think arnel pineda is every bit as good as steve perry. And has almost the same tone and inflection.

[markD]

a bit off topic as well, but dickinson was able to cover di'anno's material and add his own thing later on...

i think queensryche will be okay without tate, especially with his spotty vocals....

[silar]

for me, tate is/was queensryche. Yeah, theyre all phenomenal musicians, etc. but when i went to see them live, it was tate i wanted to see.

Off topic a bit, but i think arnel pineda is every bit as good as steve perry. And has almost the same tone and inflection.

I think so too, but when you try to find a singer that sounds just like the original, you might as well just be a cover band. I can go to the local bar and hear bands playing Journey songs that sound just like them, including the singer.. I've played Chinese Les Paul replicas that play, feel, and sound just like USA Les Paul, but it just isn't the same...

If I go to a concert to Listen to a band, I don't want a clone of someone. I am a guitarist, but as we all know, it's a lot easier to replace a guitarist or drummer who can get the same tone and style than a singer. The singer is the front man. I was lucky enough to see Pantera before Dime was killed, and the whole reason I went was to hear Dime play. Queensryche isn't that type of band. Their guitarists are good, but aren't guitar legends like Dime, Vai, Lynch, Freedman, etc, etc, etc.. Don't get me wrong... Queensryche had some amazing riffs for their time, especially back in the day compared to what was out there, but Geoff Tate was to vocals what the guitar gods were to guitar. You know it's Queensryche because of his vocals, not necessarily the guitar parts or drums. When Chris Degarmo left, it definitely changed Queensryche. Queensryche is dead now that Geoff is gone.

Just like you said.. Tate is/was Queensryche. He may not have created the name of the band, but without him, they would have never had the impact they did in the 80's and early 90's...

[charvelguy]

I'm not a huge QR fan, certainly it took a few albums for me to get involved even though my buds were into it from the beginning. Mindcrime was brilliant though, and Empire certainly was great in its own. After New Frontier, I pretty much lost interest.

Looking at the bands website though, it sure seems like everything is revolved around Geoff and that its his band backing him under the QR name.
It certainly seems the band felt the need to uproot Tate in every respect in order to move the band into a new direction, musically, show, and business. Whether they do it as Rising West or QR is what will have to be sorted out.

[charvelguy]

Well, on the Journey thing, as far as I recall how that dynamic seemed in their respective camps according to the MTV documentary. Perry said he didn't feel like he was really a part of the band and Schon said "I can't see how he would feel that way since he had control over everything" (more or less the quote)
Seems a similar type of deal although Perry definitely brought huge mainstream success to Journey. In the early 90's, my ex g/f was totally into everything music, from all forms of metal to classical and jazz so she turned me onto all types of diverse music. I was really into Tall Stories before Steve Augeri joined up. Storm was another band out at the time that had a future Perry replacement Kevin Chalfant.
The ex was a huge Journey fan so, when Perry left or was replaced, she said it would never be the same for her and she would not attend any Journey concerts. Steve Perry toured shortly after that as a solo and we went to see that.

People do identify with the voice and the lyrics, but its not like bands have not continued with touring, recording and having relative success. Similar things happened with Head East when Birney and Sommerfield left and Schlitt was fired.
Did they lose some of their fan base? maybe some, but the majority stayed. Same with Gillian and Purple, but Coverdale/Hughes took Purple into a new direction.

[lerxstcat]

Chris DeGarmo and Geoff Tate were Queensryche to me. When Chris left they lost a lot. I get that they wanted to continue and the new guy was decent enough. But Queensryche without Geoff Tate is silly. Just like Judas Priest without Halford, Journey without Steve Perry, Van Halen without Roth, Sabbath without Ozzy, etc. The guys they got to replace them were all very good of course but when a band that's been playing that long loses their voice it's just not the same. Sabbath/Van Halen sounded completely different with Dio/Sammy - they were great in there own way but they were completely different bands with different singers. Journey sounds like a tribute band now.

The first "new guy" Kelly Gray, was a total hack. Didn't even try to play DeGarmo' solos, which were composed and not improvs. But Tate wanted him because he had been in Myth and it cemented Tate's growing control.

Tate was great in the early years, but his disdain for metal and his dominance after DeGarmo left led the band down the path to suck like no once-great band ever before. I think for years the others must have been disgruntled, but thought, "Who could replace Geoff Tate?". Then Wilton met Todd la Torre at NAMM and they struck up a friendship. Todd is certainly their Arnel; he can sing the songs WAY better than Tate can today and is excited about the classic material that Tate no longer likes - because he can't sing it!

Look at Rage For Order and Operation: Mindcime. Michael Wilton wrote a lot of the best songs on those records. Anyone who doesn't think he is capable of writing new material in their classic vein needs to look again.

If you want to see midgets and Tate dancing in his underwear, go to his solo show. If you want to hear Queensryche sound like they did 20 years ago, go see the current lineup when they come to town.

[silar]

I have to say, I was actually impressed when I heard what they sound like with Todd. He actually does bring out the impact Queensryche had in their heyday..

Listen to this...

[Cleveland Metal]

Yeah, all a mess. But, Todd is a great replacement and I'll be going to see them when they tour. I'm a huge fan of the band but only Empire and back. I have not had those two releases out of my CD changers in years, and they're always in my MP-3 players. As well as having done a lot of their material in my cover bands.

Yeah, Wilton is a big part of it, and carries the flame well live. But apparently CDG was a bit bigger. Not much great musically has happened for Queensryche since CDG left.

GT has been done since Empire. Queensryche as a band has been too. Not expecting them to put out anything close to OMC or Empire, but bands rarely will nail their peak material. Great stuff happens when planets align and the time is right. Nonetheless, I do think Queensryche will get back to being a good metal guitar driven band and will be putting on some fun shows. I WILL be there to see it. I won't be at the GT solo shows, lol...

Gonna miss GT, but even when seeing GT now I miss him, because I look for the 1986 GT who left the building 20 years ago. I'm excited to see Todd doing this, he's really cool dude, I've chatted with him. Hes pays attention to the fans and Queensryche is a true passion of his. It's all quite fitting. Nonetheless, I doubt we'll be seeing any masterpieces like OMC or Empire, but that was then, that was a magical time. Things like that just don't happen these days. They could actually put out something amazing and no one would care that much anyways.

I'm just happy they are going to still be hitting the circuit with a great replacement and although it won't be GT singing it, the band will sound great.

[RacerX]

Hi John!

[Cleveland Metal]

Yo Ron Took a Queensryche posting to drag me out of the woodwork, lol...

[lerxstcat]

Yeah, all a mess. But, Todd is a great replacement and I'll be going to see them when they tour. I'm a huge fan of the band but only Empire and back. I have not had those two releases out of my CD changers in years, and they're always in my MP-3 players. As well as having done a lot of their material in my cover bands.

Yeah, Wilton is a big part of it, and carries the flame well live. But apparently CDG was a bit bigger. Not much great musically has happened for Queensryche since CDG left.

GT has been done since Empire. Queensryche as a band has been too. Not expecting them to put out anything close to OMC or Empire, but bands rarely will nail their peak material. Great stuff happens when planets align and the time is right. Nonetheless, I do think Queensryche will get back to being a good metal guitar driven band and will be putting on some fun shows. I WILL be there to see it. I won't be at the GT solo shows, lol...

Gonna miss GT, but even when seeing GT now I miss him, because I look for the 1986 GT who left the building 20 years ago. I'm excited to see Todd doing this, he's really cool dude, I've chatted with him. Hes pays attention to the fans and Queensryche is a true passion of his. It's all quite fitting. Nonetheless, I doubt we'll be seeing any masterpieces like OMC or Empire, but that was then, that was a magical time. Things like that just don't happen these days. They could actually put out something amazing and no one would care that much anyways.

I'm just happy they are going to still be hitting the circuit with a great replacement and although it won't be GT singing it, the band will sound great.

Hey John! Great to see you, man!!

CDG was a huge part, but look at the writing on the material up to and through Empire and you actually see Wilton wrote or cowrote a LOT of it. He particularly had a big hand in Rage For Order and Operation: Mindcrime. In fact when Tate and CDG went in the mellower direction of Promised Land, which to me is kind of when they started to suck, that is also when Wilton was eased out as a writer.

He also had a lot of ideas that he submitted in the years after CDG left, but Tate had made a policy decision to move away from metal and to bring in outside writers, who he wanted to keep busy. He apparently rejected dozens of ideas from Wilton and Rockenfield in those years. My feeling is that we will hear the heavy side of Queensryche again now that Wilton will be a main writer again. That is what they are promising anyway. But even if they just kick ass with the material from the first 5 albums as they originally announced, that will be good enough for me, and I think for most oldschool QR fans. For the first time since I walked away from the Promised Land tour show in L.A. shaking my head going "WTF!?!" I am excited about seeing them again.

I hope Tate takes this as a wakeup call too. I don't wish him any ill, but he has let his voice go to shit from smoking and I think that has pushed his direction away from the classics that he can't sing anymore. Quit smoking, bring Yoko into line or toss her, and retrieve your voice and your dignity. That, or book a Cabaret tour with Dennis DeYoung and Steve Perry, LOL!!

[Cleveland Metal]

I'd agree on all fronts really Lerx, and hello my friend.

I have ignored Queensryche after Empire, literally. And always felt CDG/Tate cross had a lot to do with the greatness of the OMC and Empire. Though I noted CDG had a lot to do with PL, ugh... And well, that was ummm, well. crap. I was always on the fence on the older stuff. It was hit or miss with me. Some great, some ungreat, lol... Always felt like hurling hearing "wanna get close to you", yet they play it live. Yet, some were absolute classics. It took Mindcrime to totally enamor me. Empire was a bit more commercial, yet gave me some of my favorite material from that band.

Yes, I also agree them touring on the old stuff, kicking ass, will be good enough for me as well. I don't expect to capture the magic of Empire etc. That was then. Hopefully, they put out some good heavy stuff, and don't get into the common "dragon humping" themes of "ye moderne" day progressive acts. Somewhat like Crimson Glory does currently. Not so sure where they're gonna fit (successfully/financially) into this modern day era of metal. I mean they are different. Closest thing is say Symphony X. Hopefully, somewhere they can profit and be viable. Their "style" that was truly their success is long gone and they could out do OMC today and not that many would care. Time to re-invent I guess, and hopefully go a decent direction. Hate to see them remain a nostalgia act. And, the other succesful areas are Lamb of God/Arch Enemy like, or Kamelot/Rhapsody (dragon humping music). Curious where they will lay their material at...

Nonetheless, I'm truly excited as well, can't wait to see a good show with Todd. He's really a cool guy to boot.

I think I saw you on anybodylistening.net? I myself just joined to babble a bit. I really don't do the Boards much these days. But, it's always good to babble with like minded people, as yourself.

Hope you are well