Official Queensryche thread: Kickstart the next album

[jammindude]

I agree that lyrics and concepts can be important, but put O:M's lyrics on Dedicated to Chaos and you'd still have an album no one would listen to.

I never said they were *bigger* than the music.   But some concepts deserve the 50/50 argument more than others.

[The Dark Master]

Really glad this is finally over.  Congrats to Todd and the guys! 

About the whole Mindcrime thing, I have a few thoughts about what exactly that may entail.

Original Queensryche lead singer Geoff Tate (who had formed a second version of the band) will perform, record and pursue "other creative endeavors," but as part of the agreement will have the exclusive right to perform the concept albums "Operation: Mindcrime" and "Operation: Mindcrime II" in unique performances.

"Unique performances" is a very vague and elastic phrase.  It could mean only Tate can perform the entire album as a "set", where as the rest of the band can perform anything from the album, just not as a full "set", but depending on how the exact settlement is worded, it's also possible that the band can perform the full album "raw", i.e.  play all the songs in sequential order without the theatrics, like costume changes, story related video, etc.  If that's the case, then the settlement  may also mean that the band can perform the album in it's entirety, but they simply cannot advertise their intent to do so, unlike Tate, who can pimp his "Mindcrime" shows from now 'till Ragnarok.

Regardless, I don't think Tate is really going to get as much out of this stipulation as he thinks.  Mindcrime has been done to death, and he has proven over the past couple years that he cannot even perform it properly anymore.  If I really want to hear Geoff singing O:M in it's entirety, I have Operation: LIVEcrime for that, I don't need to waste money seeing it in concert, especially today.  And even if Todd and the guys cannot perform it in full as a set, I'm sure over the years they will perform every song off the album eventually, and I will most likely be there to hear them all. 

Besides, this is the age of Youtube.  When the band has performed all those songs live, someone will do a video of all of them with Todd in sequential order, and that will be good enough for me.   

[Dr. DTVT]

In Tate's delusional mind, he got to save a little face by being allowed to call himself "The voice of Queensryche" and getting theatrical Mindcrime, and the real band get to wash their hands clean of Tate without losing anything of real value.  Tate will be happy for a little bit until he realizes he got the short end and will find some way to weasel some headlines again.

[ozzy554]

And just so he can squeeze a bit more money out of the name while he can: https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/geoff-tate-announces-queensryche-starring-geoff-tate-the-farewell-tour/

[jammindude]

And just so he can squeeze a bit more money out of the name while he can: https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/geoff-tate-announces-queensryche-starring-geoff-tate-the-farewell-tour/

For the past several months, Geoff and his version of QUEENSRŸCHE (comprised of bassist Rudy Sarzo, guitarist Robert Sarzo, guitarist Kelly Gray, drummer Simon Wright and keyboardist Randy Gane) have been performing the fan favorite on their 25th-Anniversary Mindcrime Tour (with special guest Sass Jordan as "Sister Mary") in front of sold-out audiences everywhere.

Everything else I've been reading is saying that he's been playing to half-empty venues, and even the occasional "boo-fest".     I did hear at least one insider say that Geoff himself bought out the unsold tickets of one show just so he could advertise that it was "sold out"....

This man very well could be the biggest douche in rock history.    Although I know Yngwie Malmsteen makes a good case as well.

[Anguyen92]

And just so he can squeeze a bit more money out of the name while he can: https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/geoff-tate-announces-queensryche-starring-geoff-tate-the-farewell-tour/

Arghhhh.  What a mouthful of a title.  This commenter stretched it to make it even more hilarious.

How bout "Queensrÿche The Farewell Tour-Starring Geoff Tate. The Voice Of Queensrÿche. The visionary who brought you Operation: Mindcrime and Operation: Mindcrime II. The look, sound, taste and smell of Queensrÿche. The absolute dead last time Queensrÿche starring Geoff Tate "The voice of Queensrÿche" will ever perform on this the final farewell tour."

.

[jammindude]

[wolfking]

And just so he can squeeze a bit more money out of the name while he can: https://www.blabbermouth.net/news/geoff-tate-announces-queensryche-starring-geoff-tate-the-farewell-tour/

This would be all fine if he was actually pissing off from the music industry for good.  Bullshit attempt at money making.

[Cruithne]

One thing that's really important for fans to know is that this never went to court

And why would that be, Geoff? 

Also, if the settlement agreement allows for him to use this kind of poster...



...then they've fucked up. It's clearly intended to make it seem like Queensryche are splitting up (oh, and they happen to star Geoff Tate in case you'd forgotten).

[ozzy554]

One thing that's really important for fans to know is that this never went to court

And why would that be, Geoff? 

Also, if the settlement agreement allows for him to use this kind of poster...



...then they've fucked up. It's clearly intended to make it seem like Queensryche are splitting up (oh, and they happen to star Geoff Tate in case you'd forgotten).

I'm sure they approved the retirement tour of his lineup, Not entirely sure about the poster.

[Ben_Jamin]

It clearly states that Geoff can do a last tour of his version of Queensryche. I'm sad we always get his shows but not the official Queensryche.

[El JoNNo]

I hope we can finally get our long awaited Portnoy/Tate side project, "Rejected: A marriage gone wrong" with special guest Dave Mustaine.

[Mindflux]

I hope we can finally get our long awaited Portnoy/Tate side project, "Rejected: A marriage gone wrong" with special guest Dave Mustaine.

[KevShmev]

This man very well could be the biggest douche in rock history.    Although I know Yngwie Malmsteen makes a good case as well.

Those two can fight it out for 2nd place, since I still say Axl Rose has number 1 locked down.

[King Postwhore]

This man very well could be the biggest douche in rock history.    Although I know Yngwie Malmsteen makes a good case as well.

Those two can fight it out for 2nd place, since I still say Axl Rose has number 1 locked down.

Steve Perry as well.  LOL

[Mister Gold]

This man very well could be the biggest douche in rock history.    Although I know Yngwie Malmsteen makes a good case as well.

Those two can fight it out for 2nd place, since I still say Axl Rose has number 1 locked down.

Steve Perry as well.  LOL

Steve is either 3rd or 4th, in my book. I'd rank Axl just slightly under Tate though.

[Mindflux]

Steve is either 3rd or 4th, in my book. I'd rank Axl just slightly under Tate though.

Tate might like Axl being under him.

[ErHaO]

Damn, I was only familiar with old Queenschryche studio and live stuff. I had no idea Tate was such a douche and that his modern performances totally suck ass    (just watched a bit of the Brasil 2013 performance  ). I read that story of that forum, damn  I will check out Tate-less and real Queensryche soon.

[bosk1]

ErHaO, check these out:

Queen of the Reiche

Take Hold

A World Without (new song with Pamela Moore guest vocals)

[Phoenix87x]

Broke out the new album tonight.

In this light 

[Nel_Annette]

You know, ignoring the whole Tate thing, if you took away the context and got a better artist to make this image (i.e. get rid of the horrible photoshop of the glass breaking), that would make a pretty cool album cover on its own.

[slycordinator]

A lawsuit resulted in a King County Superior Court ruling that each side could use the same name until the case went to trial or was settled.

"One thing that's really important for people to understand is that this never went to court," he said by phone after returning from a show in Louisiana.

Yeah, minus that time it went to court from opening to closing arguments with a ruling. 

[Mladen]

I hope we can finally get our long awaited Portnoy/Tate side project, "Rejected: A marriage gone wrong" with special guest Dave Mustaine.

I'm going to hell for laughing so hard at this. 

[bosk1]

Press release regarding the settlement and the state of the band moving forward (from the Queensryche Face Book page):

FULL PRESS RELEASE: A Reinvigorated Queensrÿche Starts the Writing Process for Their New Album, Tentatively Due Early Summer 2015 via Century Media Records:

With the Queensrÿche canvas wiped completely clean and the band's easel the strongest and most stable it's been in years, Eddie Jackson, Todd LaTorre, Parker Lundgren, Scott Rockenfield and Michael Wilton forge ahead to create yet another QR masterpiece. The band has already begun writing new material for the follow up to their critically acclaimed self-titled 2013 Century Media Records release, Queensrÿche. The new album is tentatively scheduled for release in early summer 2015.

"The Queensrÿche internal dynamic has certainly changed in terms of musicianship. It's more of a cohesive team and the chemistry we have now is making what we can do creatively limitless. For Queensrÿche, it was always about being able to write together as a band. We didn't have that for a long time but now that it's back, we feel extremely liberated," states founding guitarist Michael Wilton. "We've already begun the writing process for the next album and have a few songs demoed that we feel really good about. We're taking the songs in the classic Queensrÿche direction but maybe a little more progressive and heavier at times. The thing is, you never know what you really have until it's complete. We can't wait for the final outcome. Writing with such a dynamic group of individuals has been nothing short of amazing."

Queensrÿche recently reached a settlement in their dispute over the ownership of the Queensrÿche name and brand. Century Media is pleased to announce that Eddie Jackson, Scott Rockenfield and Michael Wilton have successfully agreed to purchase Geoff Tate's portion of the Queensrÿche name. The band will buy out their former lead singer's share of the Queensrÿche corporation while allowing him the ability to be the only one to perform Operation: Mindcrime and Operation: Mindcrime II in their entirety. He will no longer have use of the TriRyche logo or any other album images aside from the Mindcrime releases. He can only refer to himself as the "Original Lead Singer of Queensrÿche or "Formerly of Queensrÿche" for a period of two years and that text must be at least 50% smaller than his name in all materials. After this two year period passes, he can only refer to himself as Geoff Tate with no mention of Queensrÿche at all. Geoff Tate will be able to finish any confirmed dates billed for his Queensrÿche lineup scheduled to terminate on August 31st, 2014. As of September 1st, there will be only one Queensrÿche entity and that will consist of Eddie Jackson, Todd LaTorre, Parker Lundgren, Scott Rockenfield and Michael Wilton. This lineup will continue to perform selections from their entire musical catalog including songs from Operation: Mindcrime. The band will be able to use all TriRyche logos and previous album artwork for any purposes as needed by the corporation.

Queensrÿche is:

Todd La Torre - Vocals
Michael Wilton - Guitars
Parker Lundgren - Guitars
Eddie Jackson - Bass
Scott Rockenfield - Drums

[Hayden]

"[Tate] can only refer to himself as the "Original Lead Singer of Queensrÿche or "Formerly of Queensrÿche" for a period of two years and that text must be at least 50% smaller than his name in all materials."

Well.

[Nick]

That sounds about 81% fair.

[El JoNNo]

"[Tate] can only refer to himself as the "Original Lead Singer of Queensrÿche or "Formerly of Queensrÿche" for a period of two years and that text must be at least 50% smaller than his name in all materials."

Well.

It may be referring to how he was advertising before. Which was indicating that he was part of queensryche still and it was the original band. Anyone can do a fair well tour and star in it.

[jingle.boy]

In Tate's delusional mind, he got to save a little face by being allowed to call himself "The voice of Queensryche" and getting theatrical Mindcrime, and the real band get to wash their hands clean of Tate without losing anything of real value.  Tate will be happy for a little bit until he realizes he got the short end and will find some way to weasel some headlines again.

This was my thought.  Queensryche essentially gave up nothing.  They're never going to play ANYTHING from OM2, and I don't know why they'd ever want to do OM in it's entirety.  Why take up over 50% of a show with one album?  Let Tate have that.  The only thing I wish they hadn't conceded was allowing him to use Queensryche at all.  If anything, it should've been the 'Original' voice of Queensryche (or 'Founding' or something like that).  He's not the voice of Queensryche.

I agree that lyrics and concepts can be important, but put O:M's lyrics on Dedicated to Chaos and you'd still have an album no one would listen to.

Well said.

Excited to hear a new album.  I spun QR last night, and damn it's good.

[TAC]

I wish we had some definitive statement like that regarding DT & MP.

[KevShmev]

I wish we had some definitive statement like that regarding DT & MP.

Even though the DT/MP split was not on the friendliest of scales, it probably paled in comparison to the acrimony that exists between Queensryche and Tate, so there was no need for a statement from DT.  Had Portnoy gone through with the lawsuit he briefly considered, it likely would have gotten ugly and more public, and a statement probably would have eventually come out about a settlement, but since they settled it (relatively) amicably and privately, there was no need.

In Tate's delusional mind, he got to save a little face by being allowed to call himself "The voice of Queensryche" and getting theatrical Mindcrime, and the real band get to wash their hands clean of Tate without losing anything of real value.  Tate will be happy for a little bit until he realizes he got the short end and will find some way to weasel some headlines again.

This was my thought.  Queensryche essentially gave up nothing.  They're never going to play ANYTHING from OM2, and I don't know why they'd ever want to do OM in it's entirety.  Why take up over 50% of a show with one album?  Let Tate have that.  The only thing I wish they hadn't conceded was allowing him to use Queensryche at all.  If anything, it should've been the 'Original' voice of Queensryche (or 'Founding' or something like that).  He's not the voice of Queensryche.

That was a concession they probably had to make.  You can't get everything you want in a split like this, and the band still won this in a big way.

[bosk1]

I wish we had some definitive statement like that regarding DT & MP.

Even though the DT/MP split was not on the friendliest of scales, it probably paled in comparison to the acrimony that exists between Queensryche and Tate, so there was no need for a statement from DT.  Had Portnoy gone through with the lawsuit he briefly considered, it likely would have gotten ugly and more public, and a statement probably would have eventually come out about a settlement, but since they settled it (relatively) amicably and privately, there was no need.

Well that is all accurate, but more importantly, Mike Portnoy did not go out and form a band claiming to be Dream Theater.  Whatever people may not have liked about the split, this was NOT a case where Mike had tarnished the band's legacy and was actively trying to create confusion about which of two bands is the real Dream Theater.  It has been crystal clear from day 1 that Dream Theater is continuing as a viable entity and that Mike is pursuing various other interests that are NOT Dream Theater.  There really is no comparison between Queensryche's situation and Dream Theater's. 

[El JoNNo]

Imagine if MP did try to form a DT knockoff band! lol

They would have to play all of the easy stuff because I doubt any good musician would step into that pile.

[KevShmev]

I wish we had some definitive statement like that regarding DT & MP.

Even though the DT/MP split was not on the friendliest of scales, it probably paled in comparison to the acrimony that exists between Queensryche and Tate, so there was no need for a statement from DT.  Had Portnoy gone through with the lawsuit he briefly considered, it likely would have gotten ugly and more public, and a statement probably would have eventually come out about a settlement, but since they settled it (relatively) amicably and privately, there was no need.

Well that is all accurate, but more importantly, Mike Portnoy did not go out and form a band claiming to be Dream Theater.  Whatever people may not have liked about the split, this was NOT a case where Mike had tarnished the band's legacy and was actively trying to create confusion about which of two bands is the real Dream Theater.  It has been crystal clear from day 1 that Dream Theater is continuing as a viable entity and that Mike is pursuing various other interests that are NOT Dream Theater.  There really is no comparison between Queensryche's situation and Dream Theater's.

Very true.

[TAC]

I wish we had some definitive statement like that regarding DT & MP.

Even though the DT/MP split was not on the friendliest of scales, it probably paled in comparison to the acrimony that exists between Queensryche and Tate, so there was no need for a statement from DT.  Had Portnoy gone through with the lawsuit he briefly considered, it likely would have gotten ugly and more public, and a statement probably would have eventually come out about a settlement, but since they settled it (relatively) amicably and privately, there was no need.

Well that is all accurate, but more importantly, Mike Portnoy did not go out and form a band claiming to be Dream Theater.  Whatever people may not have liked about the split, this was NOT a case where Mike had tarnished the band's legacy and was actively trying to create confusion about which of two bands is the real Dream Theater.  It has been crystal clear from day 1 that Dream Theater is continuing as a viable entity and that Mike is pursuing various other interests that are NOT Dream Theater.  There really is no comparison between Queensryche's situation and Dream Theater's.

Obviously. It's just me being nosey.

Queensryche's purpose for the statement was all about drawing a distinction on the name of the band.

[Zook]

I'm pretty sure all the DT Clone Prog Metal bands out there can play DT's stuff. In fact, they should all just be tribute bands cause most of the ones I've heard can't write for shit, but they can play like no one else.