Tales of One Great Band

Musicians are fascinating. Bands are so complicated. One great rock band, Queensryche, has fascinated me for decades now. But my interest is not just because I like many of their songs, dig the players, and appreciate their talents at doing thematic rock and concept albums. Queensryche is one of those bands that has been through everything the music biz has to offer.

Michael Wilton, Geoff Tate, and Chris DeGarmo conquering the world circa 1988.

In their 40 year history, they’ve been the new, strange, outsiders. Then the next big thing. Then, briefly, the big thing. Then the successful target. Then the previous trend. Then the reinvention. Then the re-hash. Then the lawsuits. Then 2 bands with the same name. Then a new singer. Then the old singer doing a diss record. Then mostly new lineup playing mostly old material…..they have been through it all.

I recently saw a Youtube video of a fan ranking all of their albums from worst to first, and it got me thinking about how long they worked, and how I, like many others, stopped buying their new albums even though I loved their previous works.

I readily admit age/maturity plays into this discussion, since hard rock/metal is very much a teenager genre, and I was indeed a teenager when I fell for this band. But in my old (middle) age I enjoy revisiting what I used to listen to back in the day. I continually listen to new and old music, at least new to me, to keep my ears and interest fresh. I’ve listened to thousands of hours of this stuff since being a teenager.

So, onto the Queens of the Ryche. Most rock listeners didn’t hear their amazing first 3 releases (2 albums and 1 EP) but the underground metal scene was taking notice. Most people were introduced to them with their 4th release Operation:Mindcrime in 1988.

Mindcrime was lauded around the world. The concept album packed amazing jams and a decent story into a modern masterpiece. When the follow-up Empire shipped in 1990 it packed several big selling singles, including the beautiful Silent Lucidity.

At the top of the pop-metal world in 1991, it proved an impossible perch to hold. The Building Empires tour lasted until 1993 and was the last time Queensryche was a headline band.

They put out a new LP about every 3 years and each sold less than the last. No hits. No traction. The 90’s were not kind to them. By the end of the decade, Chris DeGarmo, founder, key songwriter and lead guitar player, had had enough and retired fully from the music biz to become a pilot. 25+ years later and he hasn’t looked back. He’s been a professional pilot longer than he was in Queensryche.

In the 21st century the band, now lead by Geoff Tate and managed by his wife, twisted and turned and tried new sounds and new guitarists to go with their classic art-metal theatrics but again, nothing seemed to stick.

Rumor was lead singer Geoff Tate was pushing to continue to expand their sound into more theatrics and genres, built around his unique (and aging) voice and performance style, but without sales success to back up his mission.

But with so much great material, the live setlist becomes a minefield. If a band has 4 classic albums that fans want to hear practically in their entirety, they really have trouble pushing their new album in concert, especially if no one is buying it.

Desperation for sales and relevance might have led them to try Operation:Mindcrime II in 2006. Sequal-itis. Maybe they could do it again. Maybe if it’s even half as good as the original it will return them to a band of stature?

Standing at the top of the world after touring the world in the early 90’s. Nowhere to go but down.

Maybe Mindcrime II was half as good as the original. Maybe not. But it didn’t matter – no one bought it, no one talks about it, and no one thinks it compares to the original. You can hear them trying, and often, accomplishing, that Mindcrime sound… but without the memorable hooks. It overcompensates with overly complicated arrangements and a muddled story. Plus it was 2006, not 1988, so the entire sound is dated.

After Mindcrime II failed, they kept trying – a cover album(!). A new concept album about the life of soldiers. Even some singles in the streaming singles era. But again, middling success. Nothing close to the early days.

By now Geoff Tate’s family was involved in managing the band, and no surprise, that brought new tensions. Things came to a head backstage in 2012 with Tate and the band coming to blows, the band firing Tate, and then all parties blowing the whole thing up with a barrage of lawsuits.

This resulted in an epic court case about who owns what. Tate claimed he was wrongfully terminated, along with his wife and daughter, who managed the band and the fan club respectively. Since justice is slow, there was a preliminary ruling issued before a final ruling. The preliminary ruling was that both Tate and the others had the rights to the name Queensryche.

Naturally, both sides rushed to put out releases showing the other side they were not needed. The band did the LP Queensryche with new vocalist Todd La Torre in 2013. This was the 2nd album with that name, very confusing. For his part, Geoff Tate put together a band of hard rock veterans and released Frequency Unknown, or FU, as Geoff Tate’s Queensryche, also in 2013.

The current lineup led by original members Eddie Jackson (left) and Michael Wilton (right) mainly plays old songs, as signaled by the old logo.

The final verdict came in 2014 and awarded the band name Queensryche to “the band” (Michael Wilton, Eddie Jackson, and Scott Rockenfeld), while awarding Geoff Tate the name “Operation:Mindcrime” and the right to perform the LP’s Mindcrime I and II without paying royalties to Queensryche. But he cannot advertise his shows with the word Queensryche. Crazy.

The band, with La Torre as vocalist, continues to tour and release new albums. Their shows are a mix of the first 3 albums from the 80’s and their new material. They are becoming a staple of the classic metal tours. In 2018 drummer Rockenfeld stopped touring, leaving only 2 original members. Wilton now plays DeGarmo’s parts as lead guitarist.

Geoff Tate bought a vineyard and continued to record with his band Operation:Mindcrime, putting out 3 LP’s to date and 1 solo album under the name Sweet Oblivion.

Bands are complicated.

As I was writing this article I put together an Amazon music playlist celebrating the early years of this great band.

https://music.amazon.com/user-playlists/ef43d6af68df4acfaebdddfe33c4df37sune?ref=dm_sh_0e7a-a645-bd5a-b28f-13cab