Unfortunately, it doesn’t surprise me that they didn’t do one. For one thing, they just lack motivation. But even beyond that, I believe they are just joining the ever-growing camp of bands that understand that the economics of doing live albums just don’t make sense in the YouTube age. They don’t sell well enough to justify the time and expense of doing them, except as an occasional P/R move to keep the fans happy. I only see this trend growing. Remember—DT didn’t do one this tour cycle either, and that is unusual for them.
Queensryche is in a weird spot right now, honestly. Scott's taking parental leave for months now seems a bit odd under the circumstances (unless there are things we don’t know). Casey Grillo seems to be doing a good job, but the feel is not the same (not his fault, he isn't a clone). They were supposed to begin recording this spring, and that didn't happen.
Then I read the link above (
https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/queensryche-hopes-to-begin-recording-new-album-in-september-todd-la-torre-solo-debut-to-arrive-next-year/), and what popped out to me was the "100 dates" thing. I mean, that's like an average of 8 and change gigs per month in a calendar year. They properly headline toured for probably four months, say six in 2016, if you include festivals and European swings. Those six months were the bulk of those dates, with fly-ins for a couple of weeks for a few months to get to 100. So you're saying the (lets say 9-month) work load is too much to write songs and no one wants to go into the studio after that?
I get it to a degree -- most of those dudes are older, and real life takes precedence. So there's that. But songwriting can happen anywhere, and there's a lot of down time on tour.
I can’t help but wonder if Queensryche is starting to slowly close things down. I could be reading too much into things, but signs are there. I mean, touring is the band's bread and butter. But their bookings are smaller and there is less demand. They need a bunch of bands in support (except for casino dates or festivals) to book a proper headline tour. It's like that for many bands these days, so Queensryche isn't alone. But, again, they are older, and given their motivation level, I’m just not sure they are into making a living from being hardcore road dogs. Maybe Parker might. And perhaps Todd, to a degree. But the real decision makers in the band don't seem that motivated.
If they do put out a third record with La Torre (and I am sure they will, for 2018), I can’t help but wonder if it will be their last studio album with this lineup. And regardless of how good it may end up being, it won't really make an impact, sales-wise--especially with the lack of promotion that has become the norm with them. Condition Human didn't, and I think the music on that one is outstanding. And the other problem they have is that we all know Tate is going to go out with his band and do Mindcrime again next year (30th anniversary) to milk that cow to its last drop. So both bands will be out there again at the same time, each cutting into the other's ability to get better paying bookings.
Mabye the economic pressures of all of that make the first domino fall to create the perfect storm of a reunion of the original lineup for a 2018 anniversary tour of Mindcrime. Seems unlikely, but stranger things have happened.
I dunno. That’s a lot of musings for a Tuesday morning. And I could be completely off base for a lot of it. I just don’t know where this band is going. And, unfortunately, I don’t see them going much farther. I just don't see anything that indicates to me that they WANT to.
Topic: Official Queensryche thread: Kickstart the next album (Read 695649 times)
