Queensryche has always been one of my favorite bands. Admittedly, I did not discover the band until their commercial success in the early 1990s with the mega hit Silent Lucidity. Once I listened to the amazing Empire, I went through their entire catalog. Their classic album, Operation Mindcrime will always be one of my five favorite albums. Despite the fact that their last few albums have been less than stellar, I continue to be an enormous fan of the band. As far as Progressive Metal acts, there is Queensryche and Dream Theater. That is why the following news upset me so much.
I just read that singer Geoff Tate was fired by Queensryche this summer. Apparently, this had something to do with merchandising revenue that Tate supposedly was shutting the rest of the band out of. One item was that Tate sold the rights to make an Operation Mindcrime film for $175,000 without including the band. Obviously, there was some serious turmoil between the band. What seems weird to me is that the band has since hired Todd la Torre as new lead vocalist. This happened awfully fast which tells me that there where issues long before Tate was canned.
With the band determined to continue use of the Queensryche name with a new singer, it is fair to say that there will be lawsuits and lots of badmouthing from both sides.
My take is that if Geoff Tate is not in the band, then they should not use the Queensryche name. Likewise, if Tate wants to continue the band with new member (all indications is that is exactly what he wants), then he should reconsider. In other words, they should either make up and continue Queensryche or dissolve the once might Progressive Metal giant.
Anyway, those are my thoughts.
For your listening pleasure, Here are three wonderful Queensryche clips.
As always,
Thanks for reading,
Marty Sabin
P. S. I will have the concept album post up on Monday.
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