I think they made the right decision.

I expect good things to come from it.

rip

was just a matter of time. good for them. something had to give after their last...calling it an album would be generous.

being from seattle, the current drama between this band is all ive been hearing about for the past month

are they even good?

operation mindcrime is supposed to be

Everything through Promised Land is good. Operation: Mindcrime is the album that even non-Queensryche fans seem to like.

"Everything through Promised Land is good".
Definitely.

Mindcrime, Empire and Promised Land are all fantastic. The early stuff is cool too if you like 80s heavy metal.

How can you expect that the new material will good? The best I can hope for is a dated 80s-style metal album. These guys haven't proven that they can still write good music. Even back on Empire, the songs the other guitarist wrote were the worst (Resistance, One and Only). Unless the new singer is also a great songwriter, my money is on "Queensryche 2012" sucking.

I'd say that Empire was the album that non-Queensryche fans liked, due to Silent Lucidity and Jet City Woman being crossover hits. Still excited to hear their revitalized sound now that Tate is done infesting their music

So pretty much not Queensryche anymore. Never even felt like Queensryche when Chris left but Geoff still had his unique voice that helped. This band shouldn't even be called Queensryche now because I'm sure it's going to be a whole new sound. However, it was probably for the best if they wanted to continue as a band because Geoff did seem to be the main problem now.

meh wtv

The last album wasn't a whole new sound already?

This is Wot We Do, kick out Tate.

It'll be interesting to see how their sound changes now that Tate's gone.

It will actually sound like better music than before.

American Soldier wasn't bad, but I can say the same of their works since 1994.

Anyways ,Operation Mindcrime and Empire are excellent albums.

This band is dead, RIP

"American Soldier wasn't bad"

Sorry, but AS was awful.

I saw them live and they were shit

I hope this makes them a better band, they haven't done anything right since the early 90's.

I hate it when this happens. Hopefully things turn out well.

this is fucking dumb... they should just end queensryche and pull an alter bridge or velvet revolver or whatever

tate is too big a part of what queensryche is, and even tho that may include a bunch of recent suckage, thats still a 30ish year career of hard jams. he fronted the band for 30 years!

Queensryche has been a sad joke for quite some time now. Especially that last record, jeez...

I think the transition will be just fine. I think if DT could get rid of Portnoy and keep pushing through then Queensryche will do well too. Queensryche has the fact that they've sucked for over a decade to make people less resistant to the change.

gonna be crazy

They have a lot to prove. I bet there will be some obvious similarities to their oldest material (the same way DT ripped off Portnoy's stuff for their new album), but it will still be good.

The ex editor of Metal Edge Mag tweeted the following. He wrote the liner notes for the last Ryche GH Comp:

Paul Gargano @PaulGargano -
The other 4 guys didn't get the QR name. They're taking the name until they're stopped because they have far less value as RW.

i see no future whatsoever....

Well, the name thing might not be sorted out but I'll follow RW/QR for at least one album to see what they can do. People keep saying that they're done without Tate's song writing skills, but WTF has he done for the band in almost twenty years?

What have the other three guys done for the band in the last twenty years?

Anyway, good. I hope Tate keeps the rights to the name. All they need to do is record a new album as Rising West and see what happens. If it's good, they'll have success. Keeping the old name will only trick old fans who don't keep up with them anymore into thinking they'll be going to see Queensryche perform live. They won't be.

Queensryche without Tate is like Priest without Halford as far as I'm concerned. Or at least close to that level.

--What have the other three guys done for the band in the last twenty years?--

Looking through songwriting credits for their first six albums, Wilton is almost exclusively part of the fast, heavier tracks. It's very possible that they liked what Tate and Degarmo were doing as much as everyone else, and by the time Degarmo left, Tate had pretty much taken over. I wouldn't count them out yet. The drummer had a solo effort about ten years back that was really good.

--Queensryche without Tate is like Priest without Halford as far as I'm concerned. Or at least close to that level.--

Except Priest hadn't sucked for two decades with Halford.

True; but still, I'd be pissed seeing Queensryche live and watching someone else sing Eyes of a Stranger instead of Tate.

I think that the best thing any current or old Queensryche member has done through the last decade, is DeGarmo's participation in Dredg's "Catch Without Arms"

also, i think Tate is kinda unable to release anything good anymore

--True; but still, I'd be pissed seeing Queensryche live and watching someone else sing Eyes of a Stranger instead of Tate.--

Yeah, but with Tate they're a nostalgia act. Without him they just might get a bit of dignity back.

Since the release of Dedicated to Chaos and all of those ridiculous song titles, I'm not sure if regaining any dignity is possible. lol.

They used to be my favorite band. I'll probably always give them the benefit of the doubt.

They're nowhere near as awesome as they were 20 years ago, saw them about 3 years ago and they're still an awesome live band. Tate's still one of the greatest vocalists, but if this will resolve things..well so be it.

Yeah. Tate lost some of his upper range, but he's still a great vocalist. Without him, they go from being a nostalgia act to being a tribute/cover band.

And yeah, Wilton wrote good metal stuff back on the early albums. But that seems to be the only style he can play. That's why I said the best I'll hope for is a decent heavy metal album. Check out the stuff he did with their drummer earlier this year:
http://www.michaelwilton.com/demos.html

The demos aren't bad. Hopefully they would know to add some finesse and class to those riffs in order to keep the Queensryche sound.

That's the thing. I enjoyed the progression away from that kind of metal. Whether it's decent music or not, I'm not confident they can put something out that fits the Queensryche name. Not to mention the lyrics. The lyrics were a big part of why I loved their music.

The lyrics were terrible on the last few albums and barely passable for most of the last ten years. Everyone seems to be forgetting how bad things were with Tate. This may be their best shot at redemption.

Tate was running Queensryche straight into the ground. His voice is shit now anyways, and he was the mastermind for OM2, AS, and DtC, as we all recall. What I really think is funny is that his son-in-law is apparently still in the band.
RIP Queensryche 1981-1997

meh, no matter what, the late 80's-mid 90's Quensryche will always slay and I think metalheads will be listening to these albums for decades

In the end, I think it was just bad luck and a lack of motivation that killed them. You've got to admit that Queensryche's story starting with HITNF was amazingly comparable to Spinal Tap. Oh well, at least Maiden, Dream Theater, and Rush especially are still going strong.

Thank god.

@backtothe80s: the son-in-law is divorced from Tate's daughter.

Heh, my bad. I haven't really bothered with news related to Queensryche since I heard OM2. This news here is the first time I've payed attention to them in over a year.
I can't see them doing another album with their new singer. Considering that Geoff and his bitch Kelly Gray were the chief songwriters of their last several albums, everyone else will have to either step up in a big way or resort to playing clubs and theaters until retirement. All in all, it's a big shame.

I love their early work, and Another Rainy Night is such an epic song... but this is a good move, they haven't been the same band (song writing wise) in years.

Man, and Geoff was actually really good

Great voice but he hasn't written a good song in 2 decades.

I never seem to get into most of Queensryche stuff, but like a lot of others I found OMC and it made everything else I've heard by them sound weak in comparison.

Do they have any other stuff that is written in a similar vain? Tate definitely had the chops to be considered with guys like Halford and Dickinson, but only really put it out on that record.

He was even better on their EP, Warning, and Rage for Order.

Sweet, Ill check it out. Thanks for the rec.

Have you dudes read this?

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/exclusive-q-a-geoff-tate-on-queensryches-ugly-split-backstage-brawl-in-brazil-20120626

He could be hiding a few details (and he's exaggerating about how much songwriting he did for sure), but most of what he says makes sense. Pretty messed up how they did that to him.

Yeah. I read that yesterday. He definitely has a huge ego and an inflated sense of self-worth, but it sounds like both sides were doing stupid shit.

Unfortunately after a couple of years its all about the business and the tension between band members become unbearable.

That's the reason I respect bands with long stable line-ups. It's like a successful marriage I guess.

Tate spitting at Scott Rockenfield - 3:58
http://www.blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=176623

The man completely lost it...

Lol, that article.

Hahaha, yeah. Pretty messed up stuff. That spin move he did before launching the spit at Rockenfield...very slick.

Oh well. I still have more respect for him than the other guys.

Geoff Tate has been quoted saying he doesn't even like metal anymore, which essentially means he likes male genitalia in his mouth. They should've kicked him out a decade ago.

Freaking turned into a nutter. What a story.

""Geoff Tate was setting up his station and the three of us walked around his area to our stations. I walked over to the area where my equipment was. I had just put on my guitar in preparation for the show when I heard a loud bang and then an 'uh oh' by our singer, Geoff Tate. I looked over to see that he (Geoff Tate) had knocked over the whole drum kit and was now spitting at our drummer, Scott Rockenfield, and yelling obscenities at him. At this point, I went over behind the drums to help assist pushing the drums back up on the stage when I heard our singer say, 'Hey, Mike, have a nice show,' and then when I looked at him, he spit right in my face and called me a 'motherf**ker.' As I was wiping my face, feeling violated, Geoff Tate came back at me yelling obscenities, 'F**ker,' 'F**k you, you mother f**ker.' I gave him a look from my towel, he approached me and when I was not looking, he punched me on the side of my face."
Michael Wilton.

No comments.

I realize these are 40-some year old guys and all, but I still can't figure out why someone didn't level him on the spot.

They were all afraid of him.
I read the full article...creepy stuff. I though Tate was a gentleman.

Yeah who spits on people; that just goes to show how unmetal Geoff Tate is. That's like a Justin Bieber move.

I had the utmost respect for Tate, he's still an awesome vocalist and has made his mark in the prog world, but damn I can't believe this is coming from him.

Eh, it's not like he tried to use a knife on someone like the rumors speculated. People argue and fight, big deal. Dude had a right to be pissed. I mean, how would you feel if you find out your band sneakily fires your wife all of a sudden and are planning to kick you out too after 30 years?

He still went on and did that show plus a few afterward without any incident so at least he remained a professional.

@AsoTamaki
Read the full article:
http://www.blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=176587

Tate and his wife didn't play nice.

Oh, dude. Yeah. Hold on. So much to say about that.

Yeah, man. I've read all that. The three of them are a bunch of spineless men with no integrity. Pussies, to quote Geoff Tate. It was 3 on 1. Tate is one man and they went along with every single thing that happened. Wilton even mentions that the cabaret crap was agreed on by a majority vote (he was the only guy not down with it, apparently). It's ridiculous that they are trying to pass themselves off as oppressed victims now. Just move on.

How do you claim to be "the band" when not only have you written virtually no material, but actually participate so little that session musicians have to record your parts on the albums? What self-respecting musician allows that to happen? I mean, come on. Then, they claim to not like the direction of the music. Yet they still slapped their names on it and took credit for something they didn't even do and don't even like.

DeGarmo left. They could've left too. But nope. Clearly, all they cared about was getting a paycheck. If DTC hadn't bombed so badly, I doubt any of this would be happening. They'd still be content to this day.

They've just found a sound-alike to be their meal ticket now so they think they can call the shots and claim that they are Queensryche. It's a joke.

Well it's like a bad marriage, both parties have responsibilities for sure, but usually bad things happen when you bring the family into the band business and in my opinion the Tate family clearly made a lot of bad decisions over the years that destroyed the band's credibility.

The band should have ended after DeGarmo's departure.
It's sad to see such an important band like Queensryche playing this shameless soap opera.

For sure, there's no denying that some of Tate's decisions led the band into a downward spiral. All I'm saying is they had a choice and chose to go along with those decisions as a band.

"Sad" is the best word to describe the situation, agreed.