Sacked Queensryche singer Geoff Tate has shouted down suggestions that the band endured disappointing album sales because of a lack of quality in their musical output.
And he insists the allegation that he refused to play some of their older songs is simply a lie.
Instead he says record labels are to blame for telling them what kind of songs to write then failing to support the resulting releases.
In the latest round of fighting that’s resulted in two Queensryche lineups coming into existence, the frontman refutes his replacement Todd La Torre’s suggestion that his musical direction was not the fans’ satisfaction.
He argues that while some recent material including last album Dedicated to Chaos was more pop-oriented, other albums including American Soldier and Operation: Mindcrime II were hard rock releases.
Tate tells The Metal Circus, via Blabbermouth: “Dedicated to Chase was a a very experimental record – we’ve done those before. Empire was an experimental record – a pop record, it wasn’t a heavy metal record. In fact, Operation: Mindcrime wasn’t what most people would consider a heavy metal record either.
“But the problem with Dedicated to Chaos is we signed with Roadrunner Records, who were at one time a very strong label. They said, ‘Create another Empire record, will you?’ And we said, ‘Sure’. We can write from that standpoint. We’re very accomplished musicians – we can write anything.
“So we set about writing a record with variables that had some pop tracks on it. By the time our record came out the company had financial difficulties and they were going out of business. They didn’t promote the record at all.
“We gave them what they wanted and then they dropped the ball.”
He says a similar situation had occurred when Queensryche delivered Hear in the Now Frontier to then-label EMI. “We had a very pop-oriented record and the company at the time was going out of business. They actually went out of business several weeks after they released the record. So it didn’t have a chance to sell as well.”
And Tate accused his former colleagues of indulging in a “smear campaign” by claiming he didn’t want to play older material.
“The last tour was a 30-year anniversary tour, where we played songs from all our records,” he says. “If you look at our setlists over the last 10 years you’ll see Queensryche performed old songs, not-so-old songs and new songs. You cal look on the internet and see those set lists.”
Tate will release his new solo album, Kings and Thieves, on October 29.
-Classic Rock Magazine
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