2012 Upheaval Queensryche was at a breaking point in early 2012. On the surface, the band was touring for its 30th anniversary. But beneath it all, the core of the group was rotting. On top of that, some...shady things were going on.
Editor's Note: I have to be honest here in these write-ups. I don't really want to rehash a lot of this negativity, nor my role in some of what was to come. So, I am going to keep it basic, leading up to the Brazil incident. If you don't know the story, and want to know more, just PM me if you have questions.Here are some of the things that was going on:
1) Scott Rockenfield uncovered that the Tates were preparing to sign away the movie rights to
Operation: Mindcrime, which would have netted the Tates a windfall (not a ton, but rumored to be about $1 million), and the band would not have been aware of it happening (nor would they have gotten any money from it).
2) Wilton discovered singer Todd La Torre at NAMM in January 2012 (a chance run-in when La Torre mistakenly thought Wilton was Testament guitarist Eric Peterson), and the duo began writing material for commercials (Wilton had been doing instrumentals for commercials and TV shows for years).
3) Wilton was informed of an alleged plan of the Tates to have the band do a 25th Anniversary tour of
Operation: Mindcrime in 2013, and when it concluded, Tate would walk away from Queensryche, leaving them without a singer.
4) An increasing number of Tate family members and extravagant charges began popping up in the payroll, and requests from members to look at the books were allegedly being denied.
5) The band began seriously evaluating all this and considering finding new management to curb a lot of the nepotism in their organization.
All of this came to a head in April 2012. Queensryche was headlining a show in Brazil with Fates Warning in support. Prior to the show, the band called a meeting to discuss management, and Tate declined to attend. The band voted to remove Susan Tate as manager of the group.
As the story goes, Tate found out about this, walked into the room at some point after the meeting had concluded, and asked if it was true. After hearing it was, he left. Then, prior to the show, in a fit of rage, he spit at and punched Michael Wilton in the eye, tore down Scott Rockenfield's drum kit, and went into a rage and had to be restrained by members of the crew. This delayed the show. When the band finally got cleaned up, they elected to move forward with the gig. During the show, Tate continually spit on Wilton and Rockenfield. At the end of the gig, the band and Tate were separated, and the parties flew home separately.
In May, Wilton, Eddie Jackson, and Scott Rockenfield, along with Parker Lundgren, announced a side project with Crimson Glory singer Todd La Torre, called RISING WEST. The group would perform tracks from Queensryche's first five releases (EP through Empire). The move also raised tensions in the Queensryche camp, as rumors circulated they were planning to replace Tate with La Torre.
Queensryche (with Tate) performed a scheduled date at Rocklahoma in late May. During this show, Tate told the crowd that “you guys suck.” Once the show concluded, the musicians in Queensryche prepared for the RISING WEST gigs.
RISING WEST made its debut on June 8, 2012, at the Hard Rock Cafe in Seattle, Washington. The band played on June 8 and June 9, performing identical setlists consisting of blistering metal hits from Queensryche's first four albums, and a cover of Iron Maiden's “Wrathchild.” Opening the shows with “Queen of the Reich,” where La Torre showcased his extreme high range in hitting the opening note of the song, the band played the songs in their original tuning. This differed from current Queensryche, which played many of the old songs down-tuned a half-step to assist Tate a bit so he could hit the notes a little lower.
The shows were fully sold out, and a complete success. Potential new management for the group were also there, and were blown away. Word of the performances spread like wildfire worldwide.
Editor's Note: I was there for both of those Rising West gigs, and for soundcheck and some rehearsal stuff. It was pretty amazing to watch. The band had rehearsed the set for four days straight prior to that first gig, dialing it in. You should have seen my mouth drop open at soundcheck for the first night. Todd walked out on the stage, and just effortlessly replicated the album opening note in Queen of the Reich with power. That one isn't on YouTube. And even though the shows are recorded, it really doesn't do them justice. It was an incredible vibe. It really made me believe in the band again. The whole room was buzzing all night long. It was a throwback of epic proportions in all the best ways and set the stage for what was to come.In the weeks that followed, Queensryche played one more gig they had booked with Tate, and then terminated him from the group, replacing Tate with Todd La Torre.
Tate followed with a lawsuit against the band for wrongful termination, who countered sued. You can read the court filings (in order, for the most part) here:
https://anybodylistening.net/lawsuit.html. These documents recount everything the parties were fighting over, and ultimately lead to a settlement two years later for an undisclosed sum. In a nutshell, the band got the rights to the name “Queensryche,” while Tate got money and the exclusive right to perform
Operation: Mindcrime and
Operation: Mindcrime II in their respective entirety.
In the interim, however, Queensryche booked shows, making its live debut under the name with La Torre at the Halfway Jam in Minnesota, on July 28, 2012. To-date, this is the longest set Queensryche has performed with La Torre, playing 19 songs and close to two hours. For the most part, since then, Queensryche's headline shows typically run 15-17 songs in length and 80-90-minutes.
They booked a tour throughout the remainder of 2012 and 2013 titled “Return to History,” where the band pulled out a setlist comprising various hits and deep cuts from 1982-1990. The tour received praise from both fans and critics.
During this time, however, a judge in the lawsuit ruled that both parties (Wilton, Jackson, Rockenfield and Geoff Tate) could perform AS Queensryche. So, as the “real” Queensryche was playing gigs with La Torre, Tate assembled a band of various players including Kelly Gray and Randy Gane to head out on the road as well. Their angle was performing
Operation: Mindcrime in its entirety in 2013. So for two years, there were TWO Queensryches competing against one another for publicity and money.
As you can imagine, the competition between both groups fractured the fanbase, as fans took sides in the “war” over what side would ultimately win the name of “Queensryche.” Ultimately, after a lot of back and forth in the media, each band would release an album in 2013.
The first one was from Geoff Tate's version of the band...
Queensryche (Tate): Frequency Unknown (2013)
Lead vocals: Geoff Tate
Other personnel: There are so many contributors who recorded parts to the record, I am simply going to link the Wikipedia page here. It is very thorough, and has more knowledge about the record than I have.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frequency_UnknownGeoff Tate's version of Queensryche was the first to release an album of new material. Dropping in April 23, 2013 on Cleopatra, the record was available on CD, LP, and cassette (yes, a cassette tape). Tate co-wrote the record with Jason Slater, Randy Gane and a few outside writers, most notably Lukas Rossi of the reality show Rock Star: Supernova, who contributed a couple of tunes.
It was originally recorded and mixed by Jason Slater, and then later remixed by Billy Sherwood and re-released in 2014. It was later noted that in the rush to get the record out to the public before the other Queensryche (Wilton-Jackson-Rockenfield), the quality control on the mix suffered, so Cleopatra enlisted someone else to spruce up the recording.
Upon its initial release,
Frequency Unknown was slammed by most critics and fans. Starting with the album cover and title, which most assumed was a derogatory slap at Tate's former bandmates, the division among those who had sided with the musicians of Queensryche and those who had sided with Tate was at its highest point.
In what was one of the most...odd promotional campaigns for the album, Cleopatra ran a contest enabling fans to record themselves to rip on/rant about
Frequency Unknown and submit it to Tate. Tate then responded to these in a video of his own. You can find some of this on YouTube.
The MusicThe songs on
Frequency Unknown, however, weren't as gaudy and childish as the album cover and alleged message that was being sent. Extremely riff-heavy, the set is highlighted by the single, “Cold,” and the epic “The Weight of the World.” Craig Locicero (Forbidden) played rhythm guitar on on all songs, really bring a metal vibe to the project. The solos were handled by a who's who list of guest musicians including KK Downing (Judas Priest), Chris Poland (ex-Megadeth) and Ty Tabor (King's X), among others.
In short, it appears Tate wanted a metal record to shove up his former bandmates' collective asses, and for the most part,
Frequency Unknown delivered - even if it wasn't successful. Listening to the album four years removed from the controversy, there certainly are high points to appreciate. In addition to the above-mentioned tracks, which are likely the top cuts, “Slave” is notable for just how plain heavy it is. To this point in his career, Tate likely hasn't sung over anything quite this heavy. It also has some atmosphere, which helps provide needed dynamics in the tune. Another standout is “Fallen.” Although still heavy, it has a lot of interesting progressions, musically.
Editor's Note: Unfortunately, Tate also re-recorded some Queensryche classics with different musicians which were tagged onto various versions of the album. I think it is safe to say that these are woefully inferior to the original recordings by the actual Queensryche.The problem with
Frequency Unknown, is that it is very obviously contrived. The style of music being presented is very modern metal, with tons of guitar solos and chunky riffs. But anyone paying attention to Geoff Tate's musical tastes leading up to this record knows it is exactly the opposite of what he had been gravitating to. In retrospect, even Slater admitted the entire record was a rush job to beat the “other” Queensryche to the market.
Given more time, and some reworking, the songs on
Frequency Unknown might actually have broader appeal to the hard rock/metal audience. But that ship has sailed, and the album has languished in obscurity over the last few years.
I'm not sure what else to say about
Frequency Unknown. It is a complete oddity in the catalog, and obviously not a traditional Queensryche record. It's Queensryche in name, but quite clearly a contrived project only meant to further Tate's legal position at the time he was fighting against his former bandmates.
But those former bandmates would respond about a month later with a landmark statement...
Samsara's top-tracks on
Frequency Unknown: Cold, The Weight of the World
Topic: The Queensr˙che Discography Thread (Read 107122 times)
