Ex-Queensryche’s GEOFF TATE UPDATE: Still a douche

I’ll let Geoff say it all.

Q: How about musically? Were you guys seeing eye-to-eye on the sound of the band at this point?

A: “Well, this is kind of a weird situation too. In the press release they said there were “creative differences.” But to have creative differences, you have to have two entities or more offering up creative ideas. And that just wasn’t the case. Queensrÿche has always been my idea, starting from the first record. Queensrÿche is about albums. It’s about concepts and themes, and those concepts were mine. [Laughs] I started out with The Warning, bringing those ideas in for Rage For Order, Operation: Mindcrime… all the albums. I write 81% of the music and the lyrics. Of the 144 songs that Queensrÿche has released, I’ve written 116 of those. I am the creative energy in the band, especially since Chris left. When he was in the band it was more of a shared thing between him and I. But once he left, the burden was on me. I don’t consider it necessarily a burden. That’s what I do. I’m a creative person. I write everyday and I’m constantly coming up with creative ideas. I present them to the other guys and they go, “Yeah, sure, that sounds good to us.”

This guy is so full of himself, it’s not even funny.  It is undeniable that Geoff Tate has written some great songs.  It also seems apparent from recent developments that the band just wanted to get back to playing progressive metal again.  And what is wrong with that?  And the video footage of Tate spitting on Rockenfield live in concert?  Disgusting.  Geoff will one day have to apologize to his old bandmates, mark my words.

Also, Geoff says:

For it to end in such a hostile way, it’s just mind-boggling.

DUDE!  Mind boggling?  You were the one holding the friggin’ knife, man!

More Queensryche:

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part I

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part II

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part III

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part IV

Part 67: Klassic Kwotes VIII!

1.  “Can I return this CD?” said the man who handed me an empty CD case.

2.  One Boxing Day, I helped a lovely family of four (dad, mom, two boys) pick out roughly $100 worth of music.  They got gift certificates for Christmas.  It took about an hour to help them, as (of course) they wanted to listen to everything first.  I collected all the discs from the players, rang in the order, and they handed me a gift certificate for a different fucking CD chain.  When I explained to them, “Sorry, no, we’re not that store.  We’re [insert name].”  A perfectly reasonable response would have been, “Oh man, sorry…sorry to have taken your time.”  But no.  No, the response this time was, “Well how the hell was I supposed to know that?”  Well, maybe by looking at the fucking sign out front before you walk in!

3. Once, we caught a little thief trying to sell us discs that he had just stolen from HMV an hour before.  Tom was on the phone with a cop at the HMV when Tom asked, “Hey, uhh, while I’m talking to you, do you have any Willie Nelson over there?” 

4.It was always kind of funny when people pronounced names wrong, in certain cases.  So when a guy asked me if I had any Bruce Cockburn, I can tell you that it rhymed with clock-burn.  Figuring that I should probably tell him how to pronounce it so he doesn’t go around all over asking for the CD that way, I politely corrected him.  His response was, “Yeah, great, thanks that’ll come in handy next time I talk to him.”

5. “How do I get in there??”  This desperate question was asked by a woman, banging on our windows, not 10 feet away from our actual entrance.

6. “Can I get each of these in a separate bag?”  A guy bought 10 empty CD cases.  He wanted each one bagged on its own so it didn’t get scratched.

7. “Can I ask you a question?  Are you a believer?”  We were also frequently handed pamphlets from Jehova’s Witnesses.

8. “Got bad news for you buddy.  Somebody ripped you off.”  The customer then opened a CD case and showed me there was no disc inside.  Apparently he didn’t notice the signs that said, “All cases are empty”, nor all the discs in storage behind me.

9. That “All cases are empty” sign was more trouble than it was worth.  Multiple times, people would say to me, “So, I have to pay $12 and I just get the case?  Where am I supposed to get the CD?”

10. “Can I use your phone for a sec?”  A common question, in the pre-cell-phone days.  But this guy used the phone for 10 minutes!  And then when the call waiting went off, instead of handing it to me, he answered it!

VIDEO GAME REVIEW: Queensryche’s Promised Land (CD-ROM)

QUEENSRYCHE’S Promised Land (CD-ROM for Windows, Windows 95, or Mac) (1996)

Promised Land is my favourite ‘Ryche album, so when this came out I had to have it.  Somewhat a companion piece to the album, it is also a game on its own.  There are two discs:  One, a virtual tour of the cottage where the band recorded the album, and Two, the Promised Land video game.

The object of the game:  Explore five different fantasy lands (one “world” for each member) that “reflect the thoughts, dreams, nightmares, humor and values of the members of Queensryche.”  There are puzzles in these areas and a lot of places where you just get lost, but there’s also cameos by the band members and snippets of original music.  The goal of the game is to find all five pieces of the Queensryche totem.  They’re hidden, one per world, and if you get them all you unlock a Queensryche song called “Two Mile High”.  This song, a brief acoustic number with an electric DeGarmo solo, was recorded specifically and exclusively for this game.  Unfortunately you won’t unlock it in any worthwhile format, you’ll sit and watch a Quicktime video instead.

screen shot 2

The other part of the Promised Land package is a lot cooler.  On the disc labelled Big Log, you can explore the cabin studio where Queensryche recorded the album.  You can move from room to room and click objects to unlock videos.

Unfortunately, with Geoff Tate out of the picture, it seems unlikely that a DVD release of these video segments would be high on the priority list for the band.

Anyway, it seems kind of pointless to give a rating to a game like this since it’s unlikely you’re currently rushing out to buy a 1996 PC video game.  If I had to put myself back in the day and how I felt when I got it, I’d rate it like this:

  • Game – 1/5
  • Big Log disc – 4/5
  • “Two Mile High” song – 3/5 

Screenshots from AdventureGamers.com.

Check out the unintentionally funny game trailer below:

More Queensryche:

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part I

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part II

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part III

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part IV

Part 66: The First Time I Heard Marillion

 

RECORD STORE TALES PART 66:   The First Time I Heard Marillion

Winter – spring, 1999.  The last couple of years had been a messy string of bad dates, break-ups, and bad music.  Heavy metal, at least in this town, spent most of the 90’s in a coma.  I had been stretching out and selectively buying different kinds of music, just due to the sheer lack of quality and selection in new metal music.  I don’t think that really changed until Iron Maiden roared back with Brave New World.  I noticed a seismic shift, a growing pulse, in metal at that time.

Working in the store, I got to try anything I wanted.  I had explored Brit-pop, Australian indi bands, a little electronica, and a lot of mainstream stuff, as long as it had some guitars or aggression to it.

One day, the same guy who sold me that rare Oasis live album  walked in.  He had a whole bunch of remastered albums for sale, among them three Marillion discs:  Script For A Jester’s Tear, Fugazi, and Misplaced Childhood.  These were the remastered versions with the bonus discs.  Absolutely impossible to find in town.  Even hard to get on the leading websites, such as HMV.com and CDnow.

Now, I had definitely heard of Marillion, but never heard Marillion.  I had read about them in M.E.A.T Magazine, and my buddy Tom had a dozen Marillion posters on the wall.  I thought they would be my kind of band, just I had never stumbled upon them before.

I called Tom.

“Tom!  I just got three Marillion remasters in.  Misplaced, Fugazi, and Script.  Do you want?”

“Oooh…he didn’t have Clutching at Straws, did he?” Tom asked.  I replied in the negative.

“Listen,” Tom said.  “You have three great albums there, but if you want to try some Marillion, go for Misplaced, before you try the other two.  You’ll like Misplaced.  The other two can be kind of dense at first.”

I took Tom’s advice, and bought Misplaced.  I brought it to the cottage with me that weekend, and listened to the whole thing on my boombox.

What an experience, immersed in the music at the lake, nobody around, hearing Fish’s smooth voice and sometimes jagged enunciation.  This Fish guy, I didn’t know what he was on about yet, but I was intrigued by three things:

  1. He looked cool.
  2. His lyrics were very poetic, unlike any I’d heard before.
  3. He was Scottish, just when I was starting to get interested in my own Scottish half-background.

“Kayleigh” jumped right out at me on the first listen, but soon “Heart of Lothian” followed.  Then “Lavender”, “White Feather”…the album really spoke to me!  I get it!  It’s about girls, right?

In the same Oasis article mentioned above, I talked about being an obsessive compulsive collector.  Well, after buying Fugazi and Seasons End in short order, I was off to the races.  I went to their website and bought everything.  Every friggin’ thing.

Everybody at work hated Marillion.  Everybody!  I remember being at a record store party once.  This guy named “German Mike” was there, he was somebody’s friend that had flown in.  From Germany.  Anyway, they were on the topic of whatever new bands were happening at the time.  I broke in, saying, “I’ve actually been going back to discover old bands.  I’m really into Marillion right now.”

“Fuck Marillion,” said German Mike.  He later puked potato chips all over his shirt.

Nah, sorry German Mike.  I’ll stick to Marillion, but maybe you should cut the chicken chips!

Pre-Marillion:  douche. 

Marillion is good for you!  

Girlfriend!  Thanks, Marillion! 

REVIEW: Ozzy Osbourne – Mr. Crowley / Live E.P. (1982)

OZZY OSBOURNE – Mr. Crowley / Live E.P. (1982 CBS)

Ahoy, Ozzy fans!  I am finally in the process of getting all my vinyl into mp3 format.  I chose this E.P. first.  This was never released on CD, never on iTunes, never as a bonus track nor on a box set.  There’s even one tune here that is not available anywhere else, in any form, whatsoever.  It is called “You Said It All”.  Most extrordinarily, this E.P. has Randy Rhoads.  Rare Rhoads, folks!

Mr. Crowley (or just Live E.P., since that’s what’s on the cover of my copy) is a nice little package featuring two Blizzard of Ozz classics:  the title track, and a clipped version of “Suicide Solution” that fades out during the guitar solo.  The third track is the afformentioned “You Said It All”, and I don’t know the story behind this song or why it’s such a rarity.  All I can say is that it is credited to the writing quartet of Osbourne/Rhoads/Daisley/Kerslake.  Which may actually explain everything right there.  Sharon is notoriously at war with both Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake over writing credits and royalties.

According to the back cover, this was recorded in October of 1980 during the band’s first UK tour.  While the recording is not as electrifying as Randy Rhoads Tribute for example, it’s fine for a low-key release such as an E.P.  Most importantly, “You Said It All” is such a great track.  The riff is catchy, the melody is excellent, the song memorable.  Maybe it’s not as great as the 9 now-classic tracks on Blizzard, but it certainly would have made a great 10th track, if it was even ever recorded in a studio.

I’ve always loved this one. Gotta give this:

5/5 stars

Oh incidentally this was also released on cassette, I used to have that too.

Part 65: Vinyl

RECORD STORE TALES Part 65: Vinyl

We’d always dabbled in vinyl.  We didn’t do a lot of vinyl, it was the 90’s after all, and vinyl was dead.  We didn’t buy it used, but sometimes something big came out on vinyl that we had to carry.  For example:

In 1994, Pearl Jam released Vitalogy on LP a week earlier than the CD.  We stocked five and they sold out on day one.

In 1996, Soundgarden came out with Down On The Upside LP a week earlier than the CD, so we stocked that.  I can’t remember how many we stocked, but I do remember it took years to sell them!

My copy, still sealed...that's my handwriting too.

My copy, still sealed…that’s my handwriting too.

A bit later on, my buddy Tom opened his own branch and decided to stock used vinyl.  He was the only one to try it, he had a vinyl room in the back.  They phased the vinyl out rapidly after Tom moved on, as he was the chief expert buyer.  However during the period that Tom carried vinyl, I filled so many gaps in my collection.

Here’s some examples.  You have to remember that at the time, these might not have been out on any digital format at all, and downloading hadn’t hit us yet.

  • Ozzy’s Live EP, still unreleased on any digital format today.
  • Helix’s first two, Breaking Loose and White Lace & Black Leather albums, autographed by the late Paul Hackman.  I think these were in Tom’s 25 cent bin.
  • Hear N’ Aid, Ronnie James Dio’s 1986 charity LP featuring exclusive tracks from Kiss and others.
  • Guns N’ Roses 12″ single for “Patience” with an exclusive interview with Axl on the B-side
  • Kim Mitchell, the legendary Max Webster frontman’s first solo foray from 1982.  Easily my favourite record of his entire storied career, and impossible to find on CD under $100.
  • Max Webster’s Live Magnetic Air from 1979, a hard find on CD for sure.

That’s just a sampling, there were many more.  And that’s just that stuff that I bought.  I’m sure Tom saw many a rare disc float his way.

There was one record I’ll never forget.  This sucker was worth $100 right there.  It was by a band from Oshawa Ontario, called Christmas.  It had a tank on the cover.  I guess they had this cult following and only a small quantity of records were made, let alone survived.  And musically, it wasn’t bad.

I’m glad that vinyl is back in a fairly significant way again.  I enjoy buying it, and I enjoy playing it.

I want a USB turntable for my birthday.  I accept gifts.

MOVIE REVIEW: God Bless Ozzy Osbourne

God Bless Ozzy Osbourne(blu-ray, 2011, 135 minutes)

The best metal documentaries are the ones with genuine emotion in them (Anvil, for example), and God Bless Ozzy Osbourne is loaded with all sorts of emotion.  Produced by the man’s son, Jack*, this blu-ray runs the gamut of emotions.  From hilarious stories with Tommy Lee to some genuine anger and pain from Oz’s family, this movie goes deeper into the man himself, than the music.

The movie starts with Birmingham, and Black Sabbath.  Some of the classic footage from 1970  is incredible.  Ozzy was one of the most loved frontmen of the decade for a reason, and these clips show why.  They also reveal a young fiery Black Sabbath, playing tight fast versions of classic songs, Bill Ward hammering away on his kit like he is trying to destroy it.

After Sabbath, things become less about the music and more about the family man and the wild man.  You know those stories — the Alamo, the bat, the dove, the gross-out contests.  What’s new here is the raw emotion.  Rudy Sarzo recounts a particularly powerful moment the day that Randy Rhoads is killed.  New and old interview footage with Ozzy reveals deep wounds.

The Jake E. Lee years are pretty much completely skipped except for Ozz critiquing a few old videos from the 1980’s.  Zakk is barely mentioned at all.  In fact, another late Ozzy member, Randy Castillo, appears in many clips and is never even named.  And I’m sure it comes as no surprise that Bob Daisley and Lee Kerslake do not appear at all.

From there we go to more downs, booze, pills, assault, pain, The Osbournes, more pain, and Ozzy’s eventual sobriety, 5 years straight when filmed.  Through it all, Ozzy remains one thing consistently: the clown.

Ozzy is constantly saying and doing things to keep people in stitches.  There’s a certain innocence in it.  Ozzy never seems to really mean to hurt anyone.  He’s just trying to entertain, whether to distract from his own insecurities or just because he was born to entertain, I can’t say.  Probably both.

Athough the movie isn’t overblown with big name cameos, you will hear from artists such as Henry Rollins, Tommy Lee, and Black Sabbath.

Bonus features:

  • Q & A with Ozzy and Jack
  • Deleted scenes
  • Tribeca film festival

4/5 stars.  More about the solo music would have been great.

*I want to briefly mention Jack’s struggle with multiple sclerosis, revealed this past Monday.  Being friends with a person who has MS, I sympathize with the Osbourne family and Jack, but I also know that this is an illness that can be fought!  There are many ways to be a part of the fight, but here’s a pretty cool one that might win you a bike.

http://www.freedomridetoendms.com/

QUEENSRYCHE: Tate No More!!

I called it weeks ago and now the split is official:

Geoff Tate is OUT of Queensryche.

He has been replaced by Crimson Glory/Rising West singer Todd La Torre. 

After the now-infamous “knife incident” news, this really comes as no surprise.  The only consolation to fans is that Rising West (which is now actually Queensryche considering the membership is now identical) played exclusively material from the first 5 QR records.  Hopefully this means a return to the metal, and an end to stuff like Tribe….

Stay tuned!

If you like Queensryche, check these out:

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part I

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part II

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part III

Mike Ladano: Exclusive EDDIE JACKSON interview, part IV

DOUBLE UPDATE WITH GRAVY:

Todd LaTorre reports that he is in both Queensryche AND Crimson Glory, as both prepare material for new albums!  He also states:  “Queensryche enters a new chapter; buckle up.”

http://www.bravewords.com/news/185681

 

Part 64: Niagara Falls

RECORD STORE TALES Part 64:  Niagara Falls

I never was the traveling kind, so when I had to spend a weekend working Niagara Falls, I wasn’t too thrilled at the prospect.  I warmed up to the idea after I met Mike and Greg, the new owners of our latest franchise.

I packed the Deep Purple box set in the car, a box of pepperettes, and hit the highway.  I arrived at the store on a bitter cold Saturday morning, and we worked the day away.  It was a tiring day, as we bought and shelved a lot of merchandise that day.  We were constantly pricing discs.

The best thing about Niagara was the co-owner Mike.  He was a funny guy.  Great stories.  Massive Kiss fan.  Great stories about meeting Gene and being promised all sorts of things on the forthcoming Kiss box set.  Mike also played bass.  He was a long, long time Record Store Guy.

Mike was in this insane punk band called The Legendary Klopeks.  He wore a blonde pigtail wig and went by the name of Lemon Kurri Klopek.  The lead singer, Josh, was Sweet Pepper Klopek.  He is quite legendary today as an extreme…well I dunno what you call it but he bleeds a lot and he wrestles and he is a Guiness’ Book record holder for something that nobody should really do.

Their lyrics were hilarious.  Take, for example, “Ric Flair”:

I wanna (something something?)

I wanna do a “woo” (“WOOO!”)

I wanna be like Ric

’cause he’s so fucking cool

I want a son

who doesn’t suck

That’s the only thing that’s wrong with Ric

So who gives a fuck?

He’s the king, the king of the ring,

He’ll fuck you up just like it ain’t no thing.

Every song on the sophomore album Straight To Hell ends with the words, “Fuck you!”  Even the short ones, like “Where’s My Soup?”  The lyrics to “Where’s My Soup?” are as follows:

Where’s my soup?

Fuck you!

The other owner, Greg, did merch for Blue Rodeo and in fact when he said this, I realized I’d seen him at the last Blue Rodeo gig that I attended.  I bought a shirt from him!

Because of the Legendary Klopeks, Niagara had a bit of, I don’t know how to put this…an entourage, maybe?  All interesting characters.  The most interesting was Gary James Dean. Otherwise known as The Deaner.

The less said about the Deaner, the better.  But I will say this.   He liked to tell people that he masturbated with his Justin Timberlake doll.  And he phoned about 25 times a day.  Not even exaggerating about that.

Anyway, Niagara was a fun store to work in.  They always played good music, and they had great stories.  Today Mike tours with Steve Earle, doing his merch, and I am insanely happy for him and jealous at the same time.  He’ll post a picture on Facebook like, “Me and Steve eating sushi.”  Stuff like that.

The best score that I got from that store was actually a gift from Mike.  It was the Bruce Dickinson CD single for “All The Young Dudes”, the Mott the Hoople cover.  (B-sides:  the acoustic “Darkness Be My Friend”, and the AC/DC cover “Sin City”.)

I’ll always remember good times in the Falls:  Rock n’ Roll, the Klopeks, sushi, and the Deaner!

Part 69: Porn Don’t Go Platinum

RECORD STORE TALES PART 69:  Porn Don’t Go Platinum

Yeah, it happened.  Every once in a while, someone would try to sell porn to us.  Us, a mainstream, family-oriented used CD store.

On one occasion which, sadly, I was not there to witness, I was told that the video in question was anime “robot porn”.  I don’t know what that really means, in terms of, what you will see on the video screen.  However that description alone was enough to politely turn down the video in question.

Another time, some porn came into Trevor’s store.  Trevor declined it, but the customer left it behind anyway.  At the time, Trev and I were roomates.  We were renting this shitty basement apartment.  Good times for sure, but the hallways of the building always smelled like fish.

I went to the cottage one weekend, and Trev surprised me upon my return.  Upon my bed was that porn tape.  He wasn’t home, so I decided, “What the hell?”  I removed the tape from its cardboard shell, placed in the VCR, and washed my hands.  I thought, “I wonder what kind of porn our clientele are into?”  The store was in Cambridge so I expected the quality to be less than stellar.

Well, what I saw horrified me.  This chick with missing teeth, going at it with four dudes, with the cheesiest piano music in the background, like John Tesh cheesey.  I couldn’t handle the missing teeth though, they were so friggin’ gross…

So:  Apparently, according to a survey of one, people in Cambridge watch toothless cheesey porn with John Tesh sounding music in the background.  Way to go Cambridge!