Geoff Tate says Queensryche were never a close group of friends – but he’s denied the title of his album is a dig at his former colleagues.
He released his record Frequency Unknown in April, while the other Queensryche, fronted by Todd La Torre, launch their self-titled work in June. A court hearing in November will decide which of the two bands get to keep the name.
The artwork on Frequency Unknown features a fist bearing the initials FU, which La Torre recently slammed as a “cheap shot” – but Tate says that’s not the case.
He tells Jam Magazine “It’s an abbreviation of the album title. It’s a metal thing. I’ve seen tens of thousands of fists punching the air at Queensryche shows. There is nothing out of the ordinary about it. I get criticized because I’m not metal enough – now I do an obvious metal album cover and I get criticized for that!”
Soon after the acrimonious split last year, Tate said he’d always imagined the band still together as a group of old men, sharing stories about a long and successful career. Since then his attitude has changed – he now says, “It never was a brotherhood. It was a bunch of kids that got together and achieved success at an early age. We got used to that success and continued doing the things we did to get that success. We found comfort in our way of working. It’s just that simple. We were never close. We never hung out doing stuff and sharing life. It was always just, ‘Hey, we have another record to make. Anyone have any ideas? Let’s try to make a record. Here we go.’”
But he still regrets the way the split came about, saying, “I wish it would have been handled with a lot more privacy and decorum. I wish we could have settled it like gentlemen and moved on with our lives without stretching it out for a year and playing it out on the Internet like some sick drama.”
Frequency Unknown – which was remixed and offered to fans for free after complaints about the original version – features new recordings of four classic Queensryche songs. But Tate says it wasn’t an attempt to claim them for himself. “The record company asked us to do it,” he explains. “They said, ‘We really want to give you a lot of money to make this record, but we don’t want to give it to you unless you include the re-recordings.’
“I tried to wriggle out of it; I said, ‘I’ve already recorded these songs. How about I do those with a different arrangement and make them really special?’ The record company said, ‘No. We want them to be as close to the originals as possible.’
“These days economics plays a big role in decision making when people offer you a large sum of money for something you like to do.”
additional source: classicrockmagazine.com
19 Responses
one word…DICK!!!!
In all honesty, I don’t know why any site, yours or otherwise, devote any time to this washed up bullshit artist anymore. ” It was never a brotherhood” Geoff???? REALLY?!?!?!? Last June you were saying it was a total shock and all of you guys were a fucking family. PLEASE hire someone to go back and research all of your interviews. Since you obviously have trouble with the truth ( i.e. your a habitual liar anymore) at least have someone TRY to keep you from tripping all over your forked tongue. Also have to call bullshit on this whole explanation on the album title and cover. One of the 1st interviews after you released this dreck you admitted flat out that you ” would have to think a bit to come up with a story as to how the name came about. And you walk around confused as to why 99.81% of the metal and hard rock community can’t stand you ( aside from having denigrated said community for years). Please go away already
Well said! Thank you!
I guess the only ‘metal’ thing about this record is the album cover.
I purchased the album thinking it was going to be good , but honestly from after Hear and The Now Frontier Queensryche lost it big time….mmmmmmmmmmmm DeGarmo would you say had a huge part in Queensryche? that is until i heard the new tune with La Torre one word WOW! if this upcoming album is anything like that tune then I will say Queensryche will be back , not that BS Frequency Unknown which by the way is terrible!
I don’t think any version of Queensryche can match the version with Chris Degarmo in it. Clearly he was ‘the’ driving creative force in this once great band. But I hear ya Mike. Lets hope the real version of Ryche give us a record we’ve all been waiting for.
I just parted ways with my old band a month ago, as they seemed more driven to play for the money, ( doing cover music ) as opposed to doing originals, ( of which I wrote most of them ), so – clearly – I know the nature of band-breakups. Geoff wanted to get out, that was his choice – and good luck to him, as long as they are all happy and healthy. But one thing is certain; Geoff Tate has one of the best voices ever !
It wasn’t Geoff’s choice. He was fired by the band.
Lol… No, they FIRED him. Geoff didn’t have a say so. And nor should he after the stuff he has done to them. Not to mention he is the one responsible for watering them down. They had finally has enough of his BS and canned his ass. GOOD CALL! And the REAL QUEENSRYCHE WITH TODD AND THE BOYS SOUNDS KILLER!!! Can’t wait for the new CD!!!