When asked about the now-infamous “knife incident”, Geoff said, “Definitely, I regret my actions that night,” he said. “And I’m not making any excuses for it; it was definitely the wrong way to handle things. And I’m not trying to justify it, but bands are bands and we’re a bunch of guys, and sometimes guys are physical [laughs], and it’s happened many times over the years. The Who, for example, is a band that is pretty known for getting into brawls and things like this. It’s not uncommon, definitely.”
I don’t think Tate’s a bad person, he’s an artist, so are Queensryche, artists can be emotional sometimes. Maybe they can patch it up. Who knows.
But on the other hand, I’m curious what the new Queensryche with Todd La Torre have in store. I dig the return to the metal. I want to see what they can do, because the Queensryche name has been (in my opinion) tarnished in recent years by substandard albums and cabarets and all this. I’d like to see Queensryche make a real metal album again, and I don’t know if they can do that with Geoff Tate.
Now Eddie Jackson (of the “original” Queensryche) says that Tate (now forming a “second” Queensryche with ex and present members of Ratt, Quiet Riot, and Megadeth) should stop using the Queensryche name. I think he has a valid point, but the proof will be in the new music. I wonder which Queensryche will be the first out of the gates with new tunes?
The “real”Queenryche: Eddie Jackson (bass), Scott Rockenfield (drums), Michael Wilton and Parker Lundgren (guitars), Todd La Torre (new singer)
Geoff Tate’s new “second” Queensryche: Rudy Sarzo (bass, ex-Dio, ex-Quiet Riot, ex-Ozzy, ex-Whitesnake), Bobby Blotzer (drums, Ratt), Glen Drover (guitars, ex-Megadeth), Kelly Gray (guitars, ex-Queensryche) and Randy Gane (keyboards, ex-Myth).
Getting (Canadian!) Glen Drover is a huge coup. Sarzo’s history speaks for itself. Gray is no surprise, at least to me. But “Da Blotz” Bobby Blotzer on drums? Seriously, Geoff? That’s…uhhh…an interesting choice for a new Queensryche. What, was Frankie Banali unavailable so next on the list was Da Blotz?
My initial impressions are as follows: Drover’s brilliant but this new patchwork Queensryche smells like the new Guns N’ Roses. Blotzer is a choice that just boggles my mind. I guess we’ll see how it goes, but my money’s on the old Queensryche. Still can’t believe the fans have to deal with two Queensryches, now. Hopefully the courts will put this to an end in 2013 and rule that the guys who booted Geoff out by majority vote have the rights to the name….
This is just getting stupid. Geoff, stop being a douche!
First there’s this. Queensryche make Tate sound like a total douche, but the future of their music is exciting. And that 2013 “Return to History” tour sounds totally cool. Read it:
2013 QUEENSRŸCHE 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!” [NOTE: Didn’t DeGarmo sing on “All I Want”?]
Yeah, this is definitely going to get messy. 2013 will be an interesting year as two entities seemingly calling themselves Queensryche attempt to do an anniversary tour. Can’t imagine who the hell is in Geoff’s “all star lineup” though.
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.
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.
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:
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….
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.”
Time to wrap up my four-part Eddie Jackson interview from 2001!
This has been the complete, unedited text of our 1-hour conversation. This has never been seen by anybody before. In case you missed the three previous parts:
EDDIE JACKSON INTERVIEW, OCT 30 2001 (Unedited – Part 4)
Q – [NOTE: We had just finished talking about the recording of the Promised Land album.] Now the next album, Here In The Now Frontier, was different. In the liner notes to the new live album, it’s pretty much just skipped over completely. And only one track appears. Were you disappointed in that album at all?
E – No. That’s interesting that you bring that up, because we were working on a couple of the other songs, but I don’t know why there was only one song recorded for the Live Evolution. That’s just interesting you bring that up because I kind of noticed that. I go, “God, there’s only one song from that album, I wonder how that happened?”
Q – I guess it’s the same problem you talked about before, where you can’t fit in everything you ever played.
E – Again, I think we were really focusing on a lot of the older stuff. Throughout our touring, these last few years and whatnot, we kept hearing a lot of “Hey, are you guys playing anything off The Warning or anything off Rage For Order, or anything off the EP?” So right then, that kinda sparked the idea of, “Hey, let’s go back. Let’s really give ‘em something that they’re gonna really enjoy. Who knows if we’ll ever get this opportunity again? Why not just give ‘em a variety, a potpouri of Queensryche material from the beginning to the present, you know.
Q – Listening to the live album, and trying to pick out influences, I think I hear a bit of Steve Harris and Geezer Butler. Were those guys influences on you or am I just hearing things?
E – Since the beginning?
Q – Just bits here and there.
E – I’m sure, especially from the earlier days, there were some major influences from Geezer Butler, Steve Harris, a little bit of Geddy Lee. If there’s times that it sounds like that then you’re probably right. At that given moment, I’m sure I was influenced. We were all influenced by what was out at that time. Especially with the EP, and The Warning. When you’re listening, like I was saying before, you’re relearning the songs. And then when you start hearing the instruments, you go, “Wow, doesn’t that sound like that one band back then?” I don’t you’re really aware of it up until a few years later when you listen back you know!
Q – Is there anybody out there right now who just frightens you on the bass?
E – Oh heck, there’s tons of them! I take more of a simplistic approach, but that’s just my style. I love funk, I really like a really hard driving sound. I tend to focus more on the sonic end of it than the performance end. I’m really into experimenting with sound. As you can tell, actually on the Mindcrime album, I’ve had guys come up to me, and they go, “Hey, how did you get your bass to sound like a truck?” I go, “What? Where’d that come from?” you know? So obviously there’s a little bit of fretless in Promised Land, and Real World, there’s some fretless on there. So heck, you know, some 5 string here, some whatever, here or there. I’ll experiment with anything. I think I really love approaching the sonic end of it, trying to come with a really cool sound, something that’s very distinctive.
There’s a lot of bands out there with a lot of talented bass players that I’m just listening to this thing and go, “How the hell did he get that sound? That is so cool! What is he running? Some sort of an effect? I wonder what he’s using!” You’re just reaching and guessing, it’s a lot of fun though, hearing a lot of these bass players. I tell you, you learn a lot just from listening and I was really a big, big Grand Funk and especially Alice Cooper fan. I mean, [Dennis] Dunaway [Alice Cooper] back then, that guy was an amazing bass player. And then, what’s his name? Sure? Sher? From Grand Funk? Heck, I forgot his name…Mel Schacher. Yeah, he was an amazing bass player. I kind of enjoyed a lot of their bass work back then. You don’t really hear it in my style, I just liked hearing it. The performance, you know.
Q – I know when you put on the Promised Land video game, there’s some definite funk influences there. Funky backgrounds and colours too! Do see yourself for that aforementioned solo project doing some funk, big horn sections and stuff?
E – Oh yeah yeah! That was just a little piece I wrote for that Promised Land CD-ROM game. Yeah, that was kinda fun. And if you noticed, I’m using a different coloured tie on each musician. Each instrument that I’m playing. I dunno, that’s not a big deal but it was to me. You know I go hey, I wanna put a different tie, I wonder if anybody will catch it. But yeah, that was a lot of fun. I tell ya, you’re almost kinda acting your parts out, especially when I was the secretary at the front desk there. It was kinda weird, putting all that makeup, and dressed in drag.
Q – I guess it’s a chance to lighten up because Queensryche are not the kind of band that is really known for joking around.
E – Yeah, I mean, some levity here and there, it doesn’t hurt.
Q – Running out of time here, I’d better start wrapping up! I wanted to ask you if there’s any questions out there that you’ve been waiting to get, but nobody’s asked it yet.
E – Oh geez! That is a great question! Oh geez! You got me on the spot here! This is cool!
Ummm…oh geez. That’s good. I don’t know, you got me here! I just don’t know what to think here! I mean, what question? Oh geez…how about uh…this might be little cliché, or a little simplistic, but how about “How is my son doing?”
Q – And how is he doing?
E – He’s doing wonderful.
Q – How old is he?
E – He’s eight months. Other than that, I can’t think of anything else. Do you have anything you want to ask?
Q – I don’t know…now I’m on the spot here! How about…what can I say…do you remember playing Toronto in ‘95 at Molson Amphitheater?
E – Yeah.
Q – I was there at that show, I thought it was a great show.
E – That was with AC/DC.
Q – Type O Negative.
E – Type O Negative, you’re right! The Molson Amphitheater or Labbatt’s? Yeah, that was back in, yeah with Type O Negative.
Q – Was that the last night of the tour?
E – Yep.
Q – I seem to remember you guys messing around, like a big roadie with a wig playing the part of the nurse during that one song…can’t remember the song.
E – Yeah yeah, well that was our crew, kind of putting in the finishing touches of the last show of the tour. And with the brawl, the bar brawl, yeah, normally that really didn’t happen except for that night. It was the last show of the tour and they wanted to screw with ya.
Q – One of those examples of Queensryche’s sense of humour.
E – Yeah, you know, and I’m sure it throws the audience for a loop, because they just like, “Is this part of their show?” You can just look at their incredulous looks you know. I can just imagine what’s crossing their minds, like, “Wait a sec, what’s that guy with that wig doing onstage?” Oh, get this! We had that same production through that whole tour, with the bar scene, and the lounge band. We were in Dallas, and every night there’s guests that can win seats to sit in, on stage, during the Promised Land song, and that’s when the bar comes out, and we’re the lounge band. The winners would go up onstage with us and stuff. And there were these two girls, and they had to have been peelers! During that song, they started to like, make out! It almost took away my whole emphasis of performing. I’m just looking at this, and looking at Michael, and next thing you know they’re on the floor just like, rubbing each other body to body and I go “Oh my God! Here I am and I’ve got some cousins and aunts and nieces here!” And I go “Oh my God, what the hell are they going to say after the show!” It was just nuts! That was very entertaining that night! They were just…yeah, they were going for it! I’m surprised we didn’t get arrested.
When I talked to Eddie Jackson back in 2001, for the release of Live Evolution, he gave me so much material that 80% of this has never been seen before!
I had so much material that I had to break it up into four parts! In case you missed them:
Part III is below. Stay tuned for the fourth and final part!
EDDIE JACKSON INTERVIEW, OCT 30 2001 (Unedited – Part 3)
Picking up where we left off: Discussing unused song ideas.
Q – Who remembers these ideas when it comes down to jamming for a new album? Is it something that you’d dig up on old tapes, or you just say, “Remember this old bit?” and you play it?
E – Stuff like that just happens. What we normally try to do is just create something fresh. But it’s always fun to go back and take a listen to something that you’ve worked with in the past, on the last release or the release before. Because there’s always some ideas there that you can possibly use.
Q – There’s certainly enough stuff out there to collect with the Japanese bonus tracks and stuff.
E – Yeah, I mean, Promised Land had “Chasing Blue Skies”. That was on the Promised Land CD that was released in Japan. [note: it was actually Hear In The Now Frontier that had that song] And it also had “Someone Else?” but with the full band version.
Q – And some of those made it on to the Greatest Hits.
E – I think so.
Q – What about solo projects? Have you ever pondered that?
E – Oh yeah, oh yeah. I mean, Geoff ‘s [Tate, vocals] working on a little solo project for himself. Scotty [Rockenfield, drums] and Kelly put together something. Michael’s kinda working on that. I’ve always wanted to do something like that, kind of like step away from Queensryche for the day and then do something on my own. I’m always coming up with ideas and I eventually would like to put something together like that.
Q – Do you have any ideas for a direction? Obviously it would have to be different from Queensryche.
E – Yeah, you know, my listening taste of music is so eclectic. It’s like from Abba to Zappa. I love pop rock, I love hard rock, I love jazz. I think one of the last albums that I actually bought was the Rob Zombie Hellbilly Deluxe. That was one of the last albums, I mean it grew on me like fungus! It’s just got some angst and attitude. Stylistically that would be a fun little approach. You never know, it’s always up in the air when that time comes. You could always think about, “Alright, this is a direction I’d like to approach,” but when that day comes, you could always have a different idea.
Q – One thing you notice when you listen to the new live album, is from about Empire onwards, there are a lot of strong grooves happening, especially on Q2K. A lot of the older stuff is faster, more riff-oriented. Which of the two do you prefer to play live?
E – When it comes to the era?
Q – Just which style of songs do you prefer, the faster or the groovier?
E – Oh jeez I’ll play anything! I’m serious! I mean I love a lot of the groove. Yeah, I mean, heck, I’ll play just about anything, just about any type of a groove, you know. I mean that’s what makes it interesting. You got a band like AC/DC. They are one of the few bands that can get away with writing 3 chord progression songs with the same 4/4 beat and still create something that’s very good! But they’re one of the few bands that can get away with that. I dunno what it is about them. Sure, there’s other bands that might have released one album, and then a next one and it’s kind of similar, might have a lot of the same grooves and stuff…sometimes it doesn’t work for them. I’m always into the idea of creating something different. But you can only go so far because everything’s pretty much been done, I feel. I think you have to continue to be creative with what you have to work with. You know, you’re obviously gonna hear a song that’s gonna sound like somebody else. There’s something about that song, you know, “God, that chorus sounds just like band that was out in the 80’s,” or “that intro sounds just like this band that just came out last year,” you know. What can you do? You try to be creative. It’s really difficult to be original anymore. Especially now. I dunno, there’s a lot of musicians out there that are very talented, and there’s a lot of bands that have been very successful doing what they’re doing. You just have to credit them with their talents and whatnot. It’s tough to be extremely original nowadays.
Q – You notice a lot of bands today resorting to electronic sounds to make something new. Moby, or whoever. Do you ever see Queensryche experimenting with something like that?
E – Like more instrumental?
Q – Yeah, I guess on Rage For Order you guys experimented a lot with electronic sounds.
E – Oh yeah, I mean we actually created some of those sounds ourselves! Yeah, you know at the very end of “Walk In The Shadows”? That big ambient reverberated sound? At the very end, “Walk in the shadows…walk with me! POW!” That’s a door slamming in a parking garage!
Q – It’s always something you don’t expect!
E – Exactly! Nobody else knows that unless you’ve been told about it. That’s why that album to me is the most memorable one. We ended up putting something together, like I was explaining to you in regards to coming up with our own sound. Our own little ideas. I don’t know what triggered us into doing that, but I think we were just trying to pull out all the stops when it came to producing the album. For the production side.
Q – I find that album, even though sonically they’re nothing alike, to be akin to Promised Land just for sonic experimentation.
E – Oh yeah! From banging on top of these big garbage cans… What else did we do?
Q – There’s some really neat electronic vocal effects on Geoff’s voice on “Damaged”. “The broken parts, of my machinery…” And then it sounds like an electronic overload or something.
E – And believe it or not, those were effects that I don’t think we could ever do again. Seriously, because…”Well, that was cool, did you record it?” He goes, “Yeah.” “Well let’s try it again!” And we could not recreate that! It was weird! So again it was like one of those one-offs. That’s why the tape is always rolling because you never know what you can come up with, and you can use.
Q – The band was experimenting a bit with different instruments…sax, cello, and piano, on that album. Do you play any different instruments?
E – I’ll tinker around with a little bit of keyboard, a little guitar here. I’ll tell you what I really love the most, it’s really kinda rivaling playing bass. It’s singing.
Q – Oh really? Well you’ve always sung backups live.
E – Yeah, I love singing! And I’ve noticed since Chris has left, I’ve had to cover a lot of his parts, and I’m telling you they’re up there sometimes. But still, it’s something that you don’t really think about. Through all these tours that we’ve been performing on, I’ve never realized how much he actually sang. Because you’re so busy playing your bass and singing your parts. But you’re aware that he’s singing his parts too, but since I’ve covered his vocal parts…gee whiz! I’m like, holy cow, I’ve gotta sit down and remember all this! But yeah, it’s pretty interesting you know, but I just can’t believe how much he actually sang.
Q – I notice the Q2K material…it’s funny that you say you’re singing more, but I think the live versions have stronger harmonies. Do you hear that as well?
E – I think maybe a lot of that could be for the fact that the harmonies are riding a bit hotter than on the album. The harmonies are probably still there on the album, but they might have been recorded a little hotter on the live mix.
Q – I just thought they stuck out a bit and I thought, “Hmm, well somebody’s singing more!”
E – Yeah, well, that’s Kelly and I. And for the fact that I love singing, I have no complaints with what was thrown at me with regard to all the backing vocals and whatnot. I mean heck, I’ll sing anything.
Q – Do you see yourself singing lead on a Queensryche song? I think Chris sang a lead on Hear In The Now.
E – You know, I don’t know. That’s never crossed my mind, but again you just never know! With Queensryche, heck, you just never know, we’re always branching off into some sort of new territory whether it’s sonically speaking, producing, writing or whatever. I guess at times you could say it’s a conscious effort, but there’s times where you know, you’re aware, and you just try to create something for that moment. At least for myself, I don’t normally like to look back and listen to what we’ve done in the past. Because then you start getting influenced by it, you know? And there’s gonna be ideas that might sound like something in the past. There’s nothing wrong with that, but…
Q – But when an interviewer asks you, “Hey do you remember that electronic part in Damaged” and you haven’t heard the album in 5 or 6 years…!
E – Believe it or not, you’ll be surprised, especially when you hear a lot of these songs that we had recording for this Live Evolution, it’s amazing how much more you remember. When you play “London”, or “Screaming In Digital”, or “Suite: Sister Mary”. All of a sudden you just start reminiscing, and you just start thinking back at the time when it was recorded. I mean we were in Philadelphia, Rage For Order we were up in Canada…
Q – Where were you in Canada?
E – Up in Mushroom Studios, was it? Up in Vancouver? We’ve recorded in many studios. We recorded in that one, was it in Montreal?
Q – Yeah I read about that, in the dead of winter.
E – Yeah, O:MC. Operation:Mindcrime.
Q – I think the most interesting location you’ve recorded in was the cottage for Promised Land.
E – Oh geez, talk about tranquility and isolated! It was this small little island up north up by the San Juan Islands. Yeah, you’re right. We got away from everybody. Fortunately it was only like a 3, 4 hour drive, but still, just within those 3 or 4 hours you go from a live environment to a very tranquil and quiet environment. There were times at night when we would take a break, we were recording until 12, or 3 in the morning, however long it took us to record whichever song. But we’d be taking a break outside and you can hear the whales! It was pretty wild. There was a couple of little wildcats out there. We definitely didn’t leave any food outside!
Q – I think it’s safe to say that the environment must have impacted on the sound of that album. It sounds like it was recorded in a cottage, in the woods.
E – Do you think the influence was there? Do you think there was a lot of influence?
Q – I think so.
E – Well, there was this doctor, and I can’t remember his name, but he owned this cabin. It was actually sort of a…not a bed and breakfast, but like a summer retreat sort of thing. He would hire the cabin out for people that would wanna head out to San Juans and stay there for the weekend, or for the week, or for the two weeks, or month, whatever. So what we did is we just basically told him, “Listen, we’re a band…” And that right there obviously…”Wait a sec! Before you even continue!” That kinda scared him a bit. But no no, we’re not type kind of a band. We respect our environment we don’t start thrashing things for no apparent reason. But if the shitter stopped working in the middle of the night, then you’re going to hear from us! We kind of worked out a deal, and we were there for a few months, and we ended up just hiring out…we moved in to both units. So it was a massive cabin, it was pretty cool. We were just living and breathing that album there.
I have to give Geoff Tate credit for a good answer to a tough question. Regarding “knife incident” and the rumoured Queensryche split, Geoff said, “I’m thinking, I’m not gonna really dispel too many of the rumors because it’s hardly ever that Queensrÿche gets any publicity, so this is great. All 43 people on the Internet are talking about it.”
That’s a great answer. He also says the band plan to tour in 2013.
With all this drama (hopefully) behind them, I’ll take you to Part 2 of my October 2001 chat with bassist Eddie Jackson. This is the unedited transcript, never before seen anywhere by anybody.
EDDIE JACKSON INTERVIEW, OCT 30 2001 (Unedited) Part 2
Q – Now the album packaging [Live Evolution] is pretty cool here, but what the heck does that say under your picture?
E – My credits? It’s backwards! All the letters, the words are backwards! They’re spelled backwards! The words are spelled in reverse. So let’s say you come up with the word “happy”. I start with the letter Y first, and then a P and then a P and then an A and then an H. You know, heck, gotta be a little goofy every once in a while! What I original wanted to do was to have it printed out so if you put it up to a mirror, then you would be able to read it correctly. But I didn’t think about that until after.
Q – Next album right?
E – You’re like the second or third person who asked me about that. [One guy said] “What is that, Spanish?” No, it’s not! I think you’d know if it was Spanish or not. You know, heck, just going a little goofy. Some creativity there.
Q – Are you “cyber-savvy” at all? Are you into the internet and stuff like that?
E – A little bit, you know.
Q – Do you see the internet as a way to reach new fans?
E – Oh, absolutely!
Q – Are you doing that? Are you noticing that?
E – I think so. Especially with our fan club. A lot of that is, instead of sending mailers out, we just send ‘em e-mailers. Not only is that a cost effective approach, but it’s a lot more efficient, I think you can do a lot more than just a letter or a flier. I think it’s done wonders. Obviously it’s been the wave of the future for a few years and I think it’s a great tool.
Q – You’ve got bands like Marillion who pre-sold their album online before even a note was recorded It’s just amazing how the dedicated fans will seek you out.
E – Oh absolutely, yeah yeah! Well again, we’ve been very fortunate to have this type of fan base. They’ve allowed us to evolve and grow as a band. And they’ve evolved and grown as individuals as listeners, as fans. What more can you ask for? [They’ve] given us the freedom to create and I think that’s great, and also by being able to communicate with them through our music and also through cyberspace. It’s great!
Q – Let’s go back to LIVEcrime for a minute. You’ve got more than one new release coming out, LIVEcrime is being reissued on DVD and album.
E – I don’t know if it’s on DVD though.
Q – OK, I’ll have to check. [Note: It is coming this month]
E – I was only told it was going to be the live CD, but you may be right.
Q – Now, the live CD is going to have some bonus tracks on it. Are these the same versions as on Live Evolution or are they with the original lineup?
E – Those are with the original lineup. Those two songs, “Road To Madness” and “Lady Wore Black”, those were recorded at the time LIVEcrime was recorded.
Q – From the same gig?
E – From the same gig. I mean, we recorded the whole show! But we were mainly focusing on LIVEcrime. Yeah, I mean, there were a few other songs through that whole set that we performed. Yeah, we recorded the whole show, but we just figured, OK. A lot of that was pretty much EMI’s idea. And so it was kinda interesting to hear about EMI releasing this. And here we are, just doing the groundwork on Live Evolution, and we’re just thinking, “Wait a second!” You know, are they going to conflict with one another? But I don’t think it has, I think it’s great because for the collector and for the hardcore fan out there, even though most of that LIVEcrime is the same as that released before, with the exception of those two extra tracks, that’s what makes it interesting. But yeah, that was pretty much our very first live recording. With the exception of The Warning tour. You know, that had the live video.
Q – Which is also pretty much impossible to find. If you ever talk to EMI about getting something reissued…
E – Yeah, good luck finding that one! But then again, that was only released on video, that was never released as a live audio. And then Live Evolution was our very first full length live recording from start to finish, and a lot of people ask us, “Why’d it take you so long?” But I don’t know! As you’re evolving through your career, and recording and touring and all that, I guess for me it doesn’t really cross your mind because you’re so busy and you’re so tied up at that moment doing what you’re doing. Whether it’s recording or touring that it never really crossed my mind. There are times when you release a new album, by giving it an extra [live] track or two which Japan loves…they love that type of thing, when you can add a bonus track or two. That’s always fun but I don’t know why it’s taken us so long to release something like that. Look at the Greatest Hits, [it] was released last year! A lot of people said, “Why’d it take you so long?” Well, why are you complaining? (laughs) Stop bitching about it, there you go, it’s right there! (laughs).
Q – Well here’s another release you can ponder. You guys did a video game, Promised Land a few years ago. There’s an exclusive track on that called “8 Miles High”. And it’s never been released anywhere else as far as I know on CD.
E – Have you heard it?
Q – Yeah. I couldn’t beat the game though, I had to, uhh…cheat.
E – Well I’ve got the cheat sheet for that thing.
Q – But it’s a great track and it would be nice to get it released, like you guys have collected a few B-sides and live things and remixes that you can release on a rarities album. Is that ever gonna be in the cards?
E – You know, anything is possible, but again, I don’t know if we’ve taken it that serious, to do something like that. Maybe perhaps the majority of the reason if, how satisfied are we with the results of that particular song? There was reason why it wasn’t added to the new album, or whichever album was released. Perhaps stylistically it didn’t coincide with what we were doing. Sonically, maybe it didn’t work. I dunno, that’s an interesting point, I mean, would we ever put something like that together? Anything’s possible. I think it would be fun. We have quite a few songs in the vaults. We’ve archived quite a bit of ideas, there’s even songs that we have from The Warning days. From Operation:Mindcrime days. Just a couple of songs that are floating around doing nothing. You never know, there’s actually been a couple of songs…let’s see, what was it. Which album was it? Promised Land I believe? There were two songs that we had used ideas from a song that was written back in…Rage For Order? Or Operation:Mindcrime? But we kinda took theintro or the middle piece of those songs and just kind of created a whole new song with it.
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