Official Queensryche thread: Kickstart the next album

[wolfking]

I think of Tate/DeGarmo/Wilton a lot like Halford/Tipton/Downing.  All three were necessary for the final product.

[EPICVIEW]

well Tates voice is a very strong if not defining element of the QR sound...Like Plant, Bowie, Mercury or Tyler etc defining their bands sound.   DtC if one looks is a collaborative effort so to me it was a progression and and snap shot of the time and society.  much like many dont like HITNF ( I do a lot )  but the new Toddsryche simply does not have any feel like that IMO . Wilton and Jackson certainly dont define the QR sound at all IMO .

Longest post ever from EPICVIEW!

thank bro   yea pushed a lot buttons LOL ,  My typing style is curious for sure   I love mystery 

[TAC]

Nobody can deny how awesome Geoff is from 82-94. If I was to play classic hard rock/metal songs to someone who wasn’t familiar with the genre and I wanted to impress them, Geoff from that time period is on the extremely short list on who I would pick. I agree with Brian that with the later songs you can always tell it’s the same singer, but it’s just not the same. I might say that 82-94 Tate singing is someone where you stop what you are doing and listen intently. After that time period you might just listen and say to yourself this is a pretty good singer and continue with what you’re doing.

I agree Jason. Tate was starting to crack on Promised Land.

[EPICVIEW]

Nobody can deny how awesome Geoff is from 82-94. If I was to play classic hard rock/metal songs to someone who wasn’t familiar with the genre and I wanted to impress them, Geoff from that time period is on the extremely short list on who I would pick. I agree with Brian that with the later songs you can always tell it’s the same singer, but it’s just not the same. I might say that 82-94 Tate singing is someone where you stop what you are doing and listen intently. After that time period you might just listen and say to yourself this is a pretty good singer and continue with what you’re doing.

I agree Jason. Tate was starting to crack on Promised Land.

the PL tour still in many ways was the band at its zenith and about to sadly experience many internal and and external road blocks. but wow that tour was amazing   many dont understand that stamina Tate had that 90% of all singers dont have and Tate was an amazing stage performer who relished the acting and character roles, he really had no peers and was the star period, IMO   to me only Halford had his the voice but again no metal singer had the stage craft and voice that Tate had. of course IMO ! what do i know lol.  Tate still can do the long sets somehow but back then he was other worldly nightly... oh the good old days of debating the high note in THOTF...: )

[TAC]

The PL tour...fucking amazing. The album...not so much.

[Setlist Scotty]

the PL tour still in many ways was the band at its zenith and about to sadly experience many internal and and external road blocks. but wow that tour was amazing

Agreed. That tour was amazing, and everything they did after it paled in comparison. Unfortunately I missed seeing the local Empire show since my cousin got married on the same day out of town. But from what I've seen on the Operation: Livecrime and Building Empires videos, the 90-91 tour was pretty impressive, too.
 
 

Tate was an amazing stage performer who relished the acting and character roles, he really had no peers and was the star period, IMO   to me only Halford had his the voice but again no metal singer had the stage craft and voice that Tate had. of course IMO !

I don't know if I would go so far as to say he was amazing. Even on the PL tour, I thought some of the stuff he did came off a bit cheesy. And in the following years, especially once they returned to playing in theaters and clubs, you could see how much of what he said/did was just flat out shtick. I'd put Bruce Dickinson over him in terms of being a frontman and stage performer over Tater any day.

[EPICVIEW]

The PL tour...fucking amazing. The album...not so much.

I tend to agree  PL the album not my fav

[EPICVIEW]

the PL tour still in many ways was the band at its zenith and about to sadly experience many internal and and external road blocks. but wow that tour was amazing

Agreed. That tour was amazing, and everything they did after it paled in comparison. Unfortunately I missed seeing the local Empire show since my cousin got married on the same day out of town. But from what I've seen on the Operation: Livecrime and Building Empires videos, the 90-91 tour was pretty impressive, too.
 
 

Tate was an amazing stage performer who relished the acting and character roles, he really had no peers and was the star period, IMO   to me only Halford had his the voice but again no metal singer had the stage craft and voice that Tate had. of course IMO !

I don't know if I would go so far as to say he was amazing. Even on the PL tour, I thought some of the stuff he did came off a bit cheesy. And in the following years, especially once they returned to playing in theaters and clubs, you could see how much of what he said/did was just flat out shtick. I'd put Bruce Dickinson over him in terms of being a frontman and stage performer over Tater any day.

Hi SLS,
I saw all the early tours from 83 on , I loved them all, looking back its hard to say , Id have to say 83 into 84 was real exciting as Tates voice and the band was a big buzz in metal , and you are right when they got to do the medley of OMC for the first time live was one of my stand out memories, and my memory aint what it used to be LOL...
as far as Bruce, I see your point but IDK I saw Maiden w Paul and always liked Maiden w Paul more, something about Bruces voice doesnt grab me , but many do agree with you and the 3 Tremors is not bad company to be in.  Tate was more thinking and emotion to my ears and had better delivery idk  its all subjective to ones ears

[Cruithne]

I agree with Brian that with the later songs you can always tell it’s the same singer...

But can we tell that because we already know Tate's voice well? It's tough to put aside decades of listening to someone, as they evolve, and then step back and think about someone who's literally never heard him before and won't immediately pick up on the enduring characteristics that give him away to us and is just comparing a bright, high, piping, voice (with a habit of quacking out lines) to a deeper, darker, smokier voice that sounds in need of a tonsillectomy - try listening to Get Started, one of the few palatable tracks off D2C, and the start of the line "we can't get what we're looking for"... it really sounds like something is blocking his soft palate that he's trying to hack out.

I know anecdote is not the plural of data but I'll try and do an experiment at some point with my wife, if I can somehow do it without it being a leading question. Our music tastes overlap a bit but she really dislikes QR, for reasons I've never quite figured out, so she really doesn't know her Tate from her Halford (though she would recognise Bruce as she likes Run To The Hills...  ) so it'll be interesting to see if my theory falls down at the first hurdle 

...but it’s just not the same.

Exactly. Even as a kid I never really went in for this idea of "heroes" when it came to sport and music but in the late 80s/early 90s Tate and DeGarmo were as close as it got and I think the pedestal I put Tate on back then factors quite strongly into how I felt about his singing since, particularly from around Mindcrime II/AS on.

[Samsara]

Cruithne has a fair point when he mentions is it because we know Tate's voice so well. It could be, yeah.

I remember in 2000, I was in law school, and driving with my roommate at the time. I had on Q2k, and he couldn't believe it was Queensryche (he liked it -- he was a mainstream rock guy, not an old school metal guy). I didn't really think about parsing it out at the time to figure out if he meant the voice or the music, but in retrospect, maybe he was talking about the vocal.

Tate's voice indeed does not "sound" the same as it did in his early years. Back then, he had real good technique. These days he doesn't and he's more singing where he's comfortable, as opposed to reaching to sing in an upper register.

In 2009, on the American Soldier tour, they played "Resistance" at the show I went to. At first, Tate sounded really bad, because he was off key, singing it lower. But in the second half of the song, he realized how off he was and made some effort to reach and sing in his upper registry, and he sounded fine. (Resistance, the way it was recorded, was in Geoff's upper register the entire time.)

Anyway, I'm not sure Cruithne sees my posts, but he has a real good point about our familiarity with Tate. I still say though, many of us can be pretty objective when necessary. The guy singing "Get Started" sounds to my ears like the guy singing "Jet City Woman." It's just that the former song isn't good and he's crooning, as opposed to the latter, where he's really using his range.

[bl5150]

Back then, he had real good technique.

I remember reading (or hearing) an analysis of Tate's early technique from a vocal coach - might've been Ken Tamplin.   His conclusion was that Tate's unusual combo of head and chest voice would be quite damaging and unsustainable .  I guess that turned out to be the case , whether that was what Tamplin said or Tate just letting his voice go , age etc......or all of the above.

[Samsara]

Back then, he had real good technique.

I remember reading (or hearing) an analysis of Tate's early technique from a vocal coach - might've been Ken Tamplin.   His conclusion was that Tate's unusual combo of head and chest voice would be quite damaging and unsustainable .  I guess that turned out to be the case , whether that was what Tamplin said or Tate just letting his voice go , age etc......or all of the above.

Yes, you saw it on YouTube. I saw the same thing. It wasn't technique as a whole, but he felt that the way Tate pushed out those high notes was damaging. I believe him. But Tate's technique, other than when he pushed to hit notes, was fine.

[gazinwales]

Anyone listen to Todd's album yet? I have it ordered (being delivered Monday), but I just ran through it on Spotify.


First thoughts... It is heavy AF. Holy shit!

This album has way more in common with testament than it does with Queensryche. He goes into his Tate voice a few times, but the rest? Yikes!

After ONE listen, my main criticism is that it leaves me kind of cold. I was worried after the first three songs because other than the heaviness, I wasn't really feeling it. This album is short on vocal melodies. Darkened Majesty is a great song, and things start to look up at that point.

It does sound like a Halford meets Testament meets Barlow album. Todd goes way up Halford high, but honestly, I don't really connect with that. It's high to be high. Like I said, this album needs some vocal melodies.

The final (bonus) track, One By One has a great heavy intro, and features harshy vocals from Todd.

Finally arrived from USA today, loving the heaviness and Todd screaming his lungs out a la Halford and Midnight.
The compression on the CD is okay, hopefully the 'mastered for vinyl' copy I have will sound a little warmer and dynamic.

[Cruithne]

I remember reading (or hearing) an analysis of Tate's early technique from a vocal coach - might've been Ken Tamplin.   His conclusion was that Tate's unusual combo of head and chest voice would be quite damaging and unsustainable. 

This one? "You'll lose your voice over time if you don't strengthen your chest voice, stretch it as far as you can and then hand it over to your head voice later", then pooh-poohs Tate's singing coach (who also worked with Ann Wilson and Chris Cornell...)

I don't know what he's thinking but that sounds completely at odds with anything I've been taught and seems to fly in the face of how laryngeal tilt works to change your pitch.

Tate himself certainly doesn't think the way he was taught was a problem if this 2018 interview is anything to go by http://www.noizzeater.net/int/geoff-tate-interview-2018.php though good luck getting Tate to admit his voice isn't what it once was.

Everyone's voice changes as we age. We all drop in pitch, to some degree, and lose range. I think the difference between Tate and others is where he started from and how early the changes kicked in. Guys such as Joe Elliott and Geddy Lee get a bigger pass than Tate because I don't think either was ever particularly feted for their singing prowess, despite how good they were at one time, and one of them also happens to be one of the all time great bass players.

As to what happened with Tate, I think it's a combination of how low his speaking voice was already back in 1984 (seriously, there's interviews with him and DeGarmo and he's speaking almost an octave lower than DeGarmo...*) in concert with how high he was being asked to sing taking its toll, even for someone with that wide a range and with great technique, combined with a tendency toward a lifestyle which stories suggest was/is far from a monastic existence.

Nowadays Tate is talking with a speaking voice that's at a pitch belonging to a proper Operatic bass singer (not a baritone in a SATB choir choosing an easy life and hoping no-one notices the lack of power on the low notes...) and still going out there and having a good stab at singing his way through Operation: Mindcrime. Even down-tuned half a step and modifying some of the parts it's not an easy ask... how good you might think he sounds doing it is a matter of opinion.

* and this isn't one of those situations where someone sounds deeper than they are because of resonance and how full/rich their voice sounds.

[wolfking]

Anyone listen to Todd's album yet? I have it ordered (being delivered Monday), but I just ran through it on Spotify.


First thoughts... It is heavy AF. Holy shit!

This album has way more in common with testament than it does with Queensryche. He goes into his Tate voice a few times, but the rest? Yikes!

After ONE listen, my main criticism is that it leaves me kind of cold. I was worried after the first three songs because other than the heaviness, I wasn't really feeling it. This album is short on vocal melodies. Darkened Majesty is a great song, and things start to look up at that point.

It does sound like a Halford meets Testament meets Barlow album. Todd goes way up Halford high, but honestly, I don't really connect with that. It's high to be high. Like I said, this album needs some vocal melodies.

The final (bonus) track, One By One has a great heavy intro, and features harshy vocals from Todd.

Finally arrived from USA today, loving the heaviness and Todd screaming his lungs out a la Halford and Midnight.
The compression on the CD is okay, hopefully the 'mastered for vinyl' copy I have will sound a little warmer and dynamic.

I'm giving this a spin before I decided if I buy it.  I really like it, but I totally hear what Tim is saying.  It certainly gets better as it goes on.  I love the heaviness too.  The tones remind me of Owens era Priest and you can really hear the Testament/Metal Church heavy vibes.  I'll need another spin.  Not sure if it would have the lasting power.

Lol, One By One is a bonus track?  It could be the coolest thing on here.

[RodrigoAltaf]

I'll be speaking with Geoff Tate on March 17th, to promote the second Sweet Oblivion album.

[bosk1]

I'm so sorry, bro.  Need a hug?

[TAC]

I'll be speaking with Geoff Tate on March 17th, to promote the second Sweet Oblivion album.

See this is one reason I could never do what you do Rodrigo. Nothing against Tate, but you have to act all excited to talk to anyone and I could never fake my way through that.

[Setlist Scotty]

I'll be speaking with Geoff Tate on March 17th, to promote the second Sweet Oblivion album.

See this is one reason I could never do what you do Rodrigo. Nothing against Tate, but you have to act all excited to talk to anyone and I could never fake my way through that.

Right with you on that Timmy.

I haven't paid too much attention, but didn't the guy who ran the show for the first Sweet Oblivion album say that Tater tried changing things around or was very difficult to work with, and that he would refuse to work with Tater again? If so, Rodrigo, you gotta bring that up in the interview! I know you can't hit him over he head with it like a sledgehammer, but please make sure you bring that up. Give him some tough questions wrapped up in a sugar sweet way!   

[T-ski]

Anyone know where you could get a copy of Operation:Livecrime on dvd? Back in the day I got the vhs version (great forward thinking, I know), but I’d like the dvd version. Most places I’ve checked are rather pricey.

[Mladen]

If I were Rodrigo, I would get it over with by being as gracious and pleasant to Tate as possible. Why cause an inconvenience? We all know the mess that goes on, no need to beat him over the head with it in this interview as well. But then again, that's if I were Rodrigo. 

[Lupton]

Damn. Always appreciative of the valuable service Rodrigo provides the music community, but talk about taking one for the team!   

 I'm pretty sure I've seen Tate present himself as a reasonably normal person before. It's not like he's never done interviews or anything. It'll be fine.

[EPICVIEW]

Geoff is a great interview period.   enjoy Rod,  Im  sure it will be fun and interesting...

[Phoenix87x]

Anybody know what the deal was with the 92 unplugged show never being put out on cd or dvd?

There's some incredible stuff from that concert.

[jjrock88]

Anybody know what the deal was with the 92 unplugged show never being put out on cd or dvd?

There's some incredible stuff from that concert.

Fantastic performance

[gazinwales]

Anybody know what the deal was with the 92 unplugged show never being put out on cd or dvd?

There's some incredible stuff from that concert.

I'd hazard a guess that MTV own the rights and have for whatever reason decided not to officially release it.

[Setzer]

Anyone know where you could get a copy of Operation:Livecrime on dvd? Back in the day I got the vhs version (great forward thinking, I know), but I’d like the dvd version. Most places I’ve checked are rather pricey.

Ebay or Discogs will be your best options.

Anybody know what the deal was with the 92 unplugged show never being put out on cd or dvd?

There's some incredible stuff from that concert.

I think the timing wasn't right. They had just invested heavily in the LIVEcrime release (filming 3 entire shows etc.).
Putting out another show so soon after maybe wasn't desirable (I'm assuming they would have had to buy the full thing from MTV). Also they had taken 1992 and 1993 off. So maybe their minds just weren't on the business side of things back then.
Maybe Samsara can fill in.

[RodrigoAltaf]

 I know about the controversy regarding the first Sweet Oblivion. Apparently, the DGM guy, Simone Mularoni, wrote the whole album in the vein that Frontiers wanted: the Queensyche template with a modern edge. He sent the material to Geoff, and instead of just adding his vocal lines, he added a bunch of stuff in there, including horns, and drastically changed the direction of the material. Simone spoke with Frontiers, and they kinda pushed Geoff to release the material as originally intended. Simone went public about this in a very angry interview, but when I spoke with him about it late last year, he was a bit defensive and took the high road.

 I did interview Geoff when the first Sweet Oblivion came out, and that was before I knew of the issues in the paragraph above. Contrary to any other artist I ever spoke with, who set time aside for interviews, this one was done on the phone as he was on his way to a gig, inside a noisy tour bus. He seemed surprised at the success of the album, and didn't [want to/know how to] give details about the lyrics and other things pertaining to the album. He lit up a little bit more when I spoke about his tours playing the old Queensryche material and Avantasia.

I listened to the second album earlier today, and it follows a similar path than the first one. Simone Mularoni is no longer involved, but this is by any means a logical sequel to the first one. We'll see how this interview goes. For your amusement, here's the first one I did, about two years ago:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ypg9r9YLzWA

[Setlist Scotty]

I know about the controversy regarding the first Sweet Oblivion. Apparently, the DGM guy, Simone Mularoni, wrote the whole album in the vein that Frontiers wanted: the Queensyche template with a modern edge. He sent the material to Geoff, and instead of just adding his vocal lines, he added a bunch of stuff in there, including horns, and drastically changed the direction of the material. Simone spoke with Frontiers, and they kinda pushed Geoff to release the material as originally intended. Simone went public about this in a very angry interview, but when I spoke with him about it late last year, he was a bit defensive and took the high road.

 I did interview Geoff when the first Sweet Oblivion came out, and that was before I knew of the issues in the paragraph above. Contrary to any other artist I ever spoke with, who set time aside for interviews, this one was done on the phone as he was on his way to a gig, inside a noisy tour bus. He seemed surprised at the success of the album, and didn't [want to/know how to] give details about the lyrics and other things pertaining to the album.

Just did a quick search for Simone and found several interviews with him. It's funny because in most of them, he plays nice and there's no indication at all of any problems or ill will (probably forced on him by Frontiers) - in fact, when the question of taking SO on tour is asked, he always answered he was interested but it came down to scheduling, especially on Tater's end. But I also came across this interview:
https://metalwani.com/2019/07/simone-mularoni-reveals-how-geoff-tate-nearly-sabotaged-the-sweet-oblivion-project-it-sounded-like-hip-hop.html

So I would love to see you include some discussion on him adding a bunch of crap and trying to manipulate the direction of the album. Why did he do that? Definitely gives an indication of what he likely did back in 2010/2011 with QR's Dedicated to Chaos album.

[RodrigoAltaf]

I know about the controversy regarding the first Sweet Oblivion. Apparently, the DGM guy, Simone Mularoni, wrote the whole album in the vein that Frontiers wanted: the Queensyche template with a modern edge. He sent the material to Geoff, and instead of just adding his vocal lines, he added a bunch of stuff in there, including horns, and drastically changed the direction of the material. Simone spoke with Frontiers, and they kinda pushed Geoff to release the material as originally intended. Simone went public about this in a very angry interview, but when I spoke with him about it late last year, he was a bit defensive and took the high road.

 I did interview Geoff when the first Sweet Oblivion came out, and that was before I knew of the issues in the paragraph above. Contrary to any other artist I ever spoke with, who set time aside for interviews, this one was done on the phone as he was on his way to a gig, inside a noisy tour bus. He seemed surprised at the success of the album, and didn't [want to/know how to] give details about the lyrics and other things pertaining to the album.

Just did a quick search for Simone and found several interviews with him. It's funny because in most of them, he plays nice and there's no indication at all of any problems or ill will (probably forced on him by Frontiers) - in fact, when the question of taking SO on tour is asked, he always answered he was interested but it came down to scheduling, especially on Tater's end. But I also came across this interview:
https://metalwani.com/2019/07/simone-mularoni-reveals-how-geoff-tate-nearly-sabotaged-the-sweet-oblivion-project-it-sounded-like-hip-hop.html

So I would love to see you include some discussion on him adding a bunch of crap and trying to manipulate the direction of the album. Why did he do that? Definitely gives an indication of what he likely did back in 2010/2011 with QR's Dedicated to Chaos album.

Yeah, that was the only time when Simone opened up about it. We were going to do a follow up on that right after this interview was published, but other interviews got in the way.

I actually met Geoff at the hotel on the day of THAT show where he spitted on Scott Rockenfield in Sao Paulo. The man has a MASSIVE presence. I'd be very cautious of how to introduce this subject in an interview, but will give it my best shot. Will keep you posted!!!

Man, what a month!!! Steve Lukather, Richie Kotzen, Geoff Tate, Udo, Ronnie Romero...and more to come!!!!

[goo-goo]

Simone is no slouch in writing. He writes greats solos and riffs with DGM. He also redid the amps in Michael Romeo's solo album (War of the Worlds) and I just love how the heavyness of the guitars sound in Romeo's record. I enjoyed Sweet Oblivion when it came out. The fact that Simone is not involved makes me a bit skeptical on the second album.

[RodrigoAltaf]

Simone is no slouch in writing. He writes greats solos and riffs with DGM. He also redid the amps in Michael Romeo's solo album (War of the Worlds) and I just love how the heavyness of the guitars sound in Romeo's record. I enjoyed Sweet Oblivion when it came out. The fact that Simone is not involved makes me a bit skeptical on the second album.

The second one is just as good, man. And yes, DGM kicks ass!!!!

[Samsara]

Anyone know where you could get a copy of Operation:Livecrime on dvd? Back in the day I got the vhs version (great forward thinking, I know), but I’d like the dvd version. Most places I’ve checked are rather pricey.

Wow, I didn't realize it was out-of-print and that expensive (I just looked on Amazon). I agree with Setzer on the best online spots to find 'em. I'm wondering, however (and this is pure speculation on my part) if LIVEcrime might be included in whatever Empire box set that may be released (still waiting for Capitol Records to put it out)? Before you begrudgingly cough up more than 25 bucks for the DVD (I can't believe it is going for as much as it is), I'd wait and see what's in the box set first. 

I think the timing wasn't right. They had just invested heavily in the LIVEcrime release (filming 3 entire shows etc.).
Putting out another show so soon after maybe wasn't desirable (I'm assuming they would have had to buy the full thing from MTV). Also they had taken 1992 and 1993 off. So maybe their minds just weren't on the business side of things back then.
Maybe Samsara can fill in.

Generally, that's my guess as well. The only bit of insight I can give is that around late-1999/early-2000 someone from Capitol Records got in touch with me asking if I had a first generation rip of the unplugged sessions. They asked because they ended up not being able to find some of the footage (or it could have been audio, this was 20+ years ago, so I don't remember exactly) and they needed it for the Building Empires DVD release. I had a second generation copy, so I couldn't help. I did follow up months later though, and he said they found the masters in a warehouse in Canada (I think it was Canada) and everything was fine.

So I am not sure it is MTV that is the holdup. After an additional 20 years, who knows what happened to those masters. I am assuming video, like audio, that is on tape has to be transferred to digital, right? Perhaps the footage is too far degraded at this point? Again, just speculating.

Re: Sweet Oblivion (feat. Geoff Tate) II -- Like Rodrigo, I also got the album via stream. One of my contributors to AnybodyListening.net is going to review the record and also interview Tate on the 17th. He'll then do an article that combines a review with Tate's interview. I scanned through the album briefly. It sounds okay. Certainly more...eclectic than the first. Whether that is a good or bad thing is obviously up to the listener. I'll listen to it as it gets closer to its release date.

Re: biography update -- very pleased to say that my co-writers and I are in the homestretch with the actual writing. I think we're close to 90k words at this point. I wrapped up my last bit a week or so ago, so all that is left is filling a couple of small gaps based on some interviews we're doing in the next couple of weeks. We have an eye on (I think we actually did decide on it) a great cover shot from an Empire era photo shoot that hasn't really been circulated. And some ideas for the back cover, interior photos, etc., are in the works. It's going to look great (hopefully read great too - lol).

For those wondering, yes, the book will be available in print, and also as a downloadable .pdf, and there will be an Amazon Kindle version too. A limited number of hard covers will also be produced with some bonus stuff and will be available for purchase on the NW Metal Worx website (Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc., will all just have the standard paperback and e-versions). Without making any promises, we're fairly confident that the book will be out this fall as planned, with plenty of time before the holiday season. Pre-orders will be mid-to-late summer, and we have some cool marketing stuff via social media we'll do as we get into the spring and summer.

It will be worth the wait. We've all done some great interviews with people you wouldn't expect, and tried our best to make sure its the absolute definitive book on Queensryche. We've had a lot of fun with this and it will absolutely have things in it that you never knew about the band.

Oh, and I have a question. For those interested in the book, how important do you think it is to have a discography in the appendix? A few pages that feature information on each album, etc.? In your opinion, is that necessary, or is it just a waste of pages? We haven't decided whether to include one or not, and while this is obviously not a scientific poll, I thought I'd ask you all. I've noticed some band bios have discographies, and others do not. So let me know.

Thanks!

[Setlist Scotty]

So I am not sure it is MTV that is the holdup. After an additional 20 years, who knows what happened to those masters. I am assuming video, like audio, that is on tape has to be transferred to digital, right? Perhaps the footage is too far degraded at this point? Again, just speculating.

Maybe it's just because it was about 30 minutes long (if even that). I mean the broadcast was only 5 songs, and IIRC, they did 8 songs in total with Anybody Listening being completely off the cuff and not a good enough performance for release.
 
 

Re: Sweet Oblivion (feat. Geoff Tate) II -- <snip> Certainly more...eclectic than the first. Whether that is a good or bad thing is obviously up to the listener.

Gotta wonder if Tater managed to modify the songs more to his liking akin to what he tried with the first SO album. 

Oh, and I have a question. For those interested in the book, how important do you think it is to have a discography in the appendix? A few pages that feature information on each album, etc.? In your opinion, is that necessary, or is it just a waste of pages?

Thanks for the update on the book - looking forward to checking it out! As for a discography, unless there's special items that no one knows about, I don't think it's probably necessary. I mean, isn't all that info already available online?

[devieira73]

The songs Geoff recorded  with Avantasia were the best he recorded in a long time, as compositions and performances as a singer. I think it would be totally great if Tobias Sammet makes an entire album writing and producing songs for Geoff like those.
Anyway, I liked the first Sweet Oblivion album, nothing truly remarkable, but I still like Geoff singing this style of music.
For those who listened the second album, Geoff at least put more effort in his singing than in the first one?