Tate launches his own Queensryche

Queensryche fans have been left bemused as sacked singer Geoff Tate delivered on his threat to launch his own version of the band.

He’s announced that next year he’ll front an “all-star lineup” for an anniversary tour under the title Queensryche Starring Geoff Tate, The Original Voice.

Last month he went to court in an attempt to stop his former bandmates using their name, arguing that they couldn’t do so without support of 80% of their company directors, which they couldn’t achieve since he was 25% of the board.

When that failed, he argued that the ruling meant they were free to call themselves Queensryche – but that he could do the same.

A brief statement via on band’s official Facebook page, which his ex-colleages are trying to regain from him, says: “This fall, Geoff Tate Electric Band will be releasing his new solo metal album on Inside Out Music, which features such label mates as King’s X, Fates Warning, Pain of Salvation and Dream Theater’s frontman James LaBrie, and many others! Geoff Tate solo tour dates with Alice Cooper beginning in November.

“Watch for the announcement of the upcoming 2013 Queensryche Anniversary Tour featuring an All-Star lineup, starring Geoff Tate, the longtime creative and driving force behind the band, whose vocals can be heard on every Queensryche song ever released!”

Fans were quick to point out that the track All I Want from 1997 album Here in the Now Frontier featured ex-guitarist Chris DeGarmo on lead vocals, although Tate provided backing.

At time of publishing, 850 people had liked the post and 325 had commented. While some of those showed support, many more expressed anger and bewilderment. Some referred to recent revelations that the singer assaulted and spat on his bandmates ahead of a concert in Brazil in April. Others discussed his argument that he’d written all of the band’s recent music, and a 2011 interview in which he suggested rock and metal fans could be “boneheads”.

Comments included:

Will he spit on us if we sit close? Or is that reserved for friends and business associates?

So now that you’re a solo artist you decided to make metal again? What about those 20 years of boring alterna-prog music?

So now, Geoff decides “metal” is OK. Prior to the split he was constantly bashing it and those who listen to it. Nice try to spin the fans back, but you failed!

Why is the guy who hates metal and hates being labeled metal making a metal album?

Tate should fire whoever was giving him career advice. Going out as “Queensryche starring Geoff Tate the Original Voice” is just going to tick off more fans and alienate him even more. He should feel confident enough in his abilities to simply be “Geoff Tate” or “Geoff Tate, former singer of Queensryche”. What a mess.

Todd La Torre is the voice of Queensryche now. Mr. Tate blew it when he assaulted his former bandmates. Stop degrading the Queensryche name with your easy-listening crap and just change this to Geoff Tate’s solo page.

I wonder if I can put together my own band and call it Queensryche? Seems like it’s the thing to do these days. And I guarantee my band will sound more like QR than his version. Let it go, Geoff. Keep whatever dignity you have left and move on. I loved your voice, but now you’re just embarrassing yourself.

Geoff can want to do whatever he likes musically, but on his own, he is not QR. He will never be QR. Robert Plant is not Led Zeppelin. Steven Tyler is not Aerosmith. DLR is not Van Halen. The same holds true here. I’m sorry that Geoff’s ego can’t handle the fact that he got fired by the rest of Queensryche, but life goes on. This entire press release reeks of desperation, and frankly it looks classless.

Time to retire the name. Queensryche was the collective creation of all these forces together. It will never sound the same with parts of that missing no matter who is at fault. In the old days when bands split they joined forces with others and came up with a new name. It’s simply lame that Tate or the musical portion of the band were to continue using the name. Queensryche no longer exists. Move on.

-Classic Rock Magazine