I want to make it completely clear that I still can't stand Taint....with everything I've got.
BUT. I'm starting to be swayed by his claims that he took over the band because no one else cared or got involved. ....and not necessarily because they were being "locked out". I think maybe TLT is showing signs of discovering the same problem.
I don't think that the cabaret show or Dedicated to Chaos was the answer....but at least he seemed to be trying to shake things up.
Tate wasn't lying when he said he was the one who wanted to work. Michael wrote all the time, and had a ton of riffs. Slater wasn't lying about that either. But Michael's writing style isn't quite like say a guy such as DeGarmo, or even Slater. Those guys came in with complete songs. Michael came in with riffs and sections (most of the time) that were pieced together (from what I'm told). That frustrated Tate, who couldn't really write over a piece of a song. He needed a full song that he felt moved by. Michael's writing is more collaborative. Thus the problem between him and Tate, artistically.
Yeah, but.... there was that interview with Jason Slater where he said that Michael Wilton at least was writing a lot of stuff and he basically was locked out. I'm sure a little apathy on their part contributed to the situation they found themselves in, but that's probably just one piece of it.
It's not mutually exclusive - maybe Wilton wrote great songs but didn't care about the setlists, or coming up with new things to keep the fans interested, or the business side of things... there's plenty of bands that work like that, with one person doing the heavy lifting and at the same time trying to incorporate everyone's ideas into something cohesive. It's just that in their case, that person was also uniquely greedy, uninterested in the genre their fans were interested in, and wasn't trying to incorporate anyone's ideas.
Mora hit the nail on the head with the bolded part of what she said. Tate is not, and has never been a guy that likes pure metal. Wilton is. That's why the combination of DeGarmo-Tate-Wilton worked so well together. Wilton could come up with a riff, then Chris would add to it and construct the song in a way that would appeal to Tate, who would then write the lyrics and work with DeGarmo on getting the right melody. It was a perfect writing trio for what Queensryche was -- a rock band with both metal and progressive/moody elements.
When the Kelly Gray era failed, and the reunion with DeGarmo crashed and burned (from what was said, that was largely Tate pushing back against him, but who knows what the truth is), Tate just took control, and that led to...working with Slater and other writers to get music created. Was it the "RIGHT" way to proceed? Not to me, not by a long shot. But that was what Tate chose. And predictably, because Tate was not really a metal guy, Slater encountered the same issues Wilton did, but in a less stonewalled way because Slater wrote and arranged full songs on his own -- Slater would come up with something heavy, and it morphed into something a little less heavy. Or, Tate picked songs from Slater's drives of demos he'd made, and they'd be softer stuff. Tate can't help that -- he likes what he likes. But what I think Tate didn't quite understand was that you can't take over a band and drive it in the way you'd drive a solo record...particularly a band like Queensryche. You HAVE to compromise and work with what you have, otherwise that's not a band.
I think Tate gets that now, and why he refers to Operation: Mindcrime as not a band, but a project. Its essentially his solo project, not a static band with established writers.
But back to jammindude's point, I'm not sure if the situation is the same now. They write collaboratively, so its not about the music creation. I think the financial landscape of their situation has changed dramatically, which makes real life an issue. You have to remember, Wilton and Jackson have known nothing but Queensryche, and earning a living from Queensryche, since they were 18, 19 years old. They know nothing else. So, if life has made it so that they've had to make changes in how they live, work, etc., that could impact not only when and how they write/record music, but also in how they support it.
I think most people know I'm not fond of La Torre's singing these days, but I will give him this -- he worked for years as an every day guy just like us, so I find it really doubtful that he'd be impatient with the guys, if indeed real life has impacted how they had to do things. Him of all people in that band would get it.
But I think Queensryche is in for a surprise, and not in a good way, with The Verdict. With Scott not a part of it, that takes away another feel element of the band, and I think after the predictable hard core fans buying the album and the pre-sales in the first week or two, the album will crash. Not because it won't be good (It'll probably be very good), but because it'll probably sound less like old QR, and interest is waning in the band overall, particularly since it now only has two original members.
I want to make it completely clear that I still can't stand Taint....with everything I've got.
BUT. I'm starting to be swayed by his claims that he took over the band because no one else cared or got involved. ....and not necessarily because they were being "locked out". I think maybe TLT is showing signs of discovering the same problem.
I don't think that the cabaret show or Dedicated to Chaos was the answer....but at least he seemed to be trying to shake things up.
Aside from the immature, petty namecalling, I agree with every word of this.
They should have called it a day after DeGarmo left.
In retrospect, amen, romdrums. Although on a personal note, my life would have been very different (likely wouldn't have met my wife) had that happened. So I am happy they continued.