knife incident

REVIEW: Geoff Tate’s Queensryche – “Cold” (2013 single)

Geoff Tate’s QUEENSRYCHE – “Cold” (2013 single)

Oh, how I wanted to hate this.

I don’t hate it.  It has a catchy riff, a good vocal from Geoff Tate, a shredding guitar solo, and it’s not about spitting on people or knives. It sounds modern while still featuring a guitar riff or two.  I don’t hate it like I hated, say, Tribe.  I’m disappointed that it’s a little faceless and generic sounding.

The problem is that it doesn’t sound like Queensryche.  It sounds like a Geoff Tate solo track.  Probably the best Geoff Tate solo track that there’s been so far.  But just a Geoff Tate solo track.

The blockheaded drums do not sound like the textured complexity of Queensryche.  (Sounds like Simon Wright though.)

The piano is distracting, I kept thinking a phone was ringing somewhere in my house.  It sounds like, “Hey, we have a keyboard player in our band.”

I love the guitar solo.  It’s so tasty and good.  Who is this?  Kelly?  Robert?  Neither?  What will this sound like when performed live without guest stars?

I don’t know if the mix is worth the brew-ha-ha that’s being made of it.  It’s not to my taste personally but it sounds like they had a vision of a heavier than fuck sound and just kind of overdid it.

This track confirms that Tate is still capable of writing good music.  It does not confirm that Tate still is capable of writing good Queensryche music.  This is his Chinese Democracy.  It has a vibe of, “Let’s saturate the song with everything from the biggest sounding drums to the fastest solo to a guy playing piano.”  Let’s try anything.

Where the real Queensryche’s song, “Redemption”, sounded unmistakably like Queensryche, Tate’s reeks of contrivances.    In the Battle of the Ryches, Round One, the original band comes out on top.  Tateryche will have their supporters, but it is clear now that Queensryche is a band sound, not merely a singer.

2.5/5 stars

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

TATERYCHE

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2012’s rockin’ stats, for your amusement!

In 2012, I posted 493 articles.  I did 157 chapters in a continuing series of Record Store Tales which has been extremely satisfying.  The rest have been a series of reviews, and rants!  Very popular was my series of Kiss reviews (53 of them!), when I covered every Kiss album in sequence. Currently, I’m finishing up my series of Iron Maiden reviews (42 so far in a series of 45), covering every album and rarity that I have access to. It’s been a blast!

Some personal statistical highlights:

1. Doing an interview with Brian Vollmer, of Helix (my 4th interview so far), which was a huge blast for me as a fan and writer.

2. The many Guest Shots (10 so far!) from contributors such as Tommy Morais, Statham, T-Rev, Mrs. LeBrain and Uncle Meat.  It’s been a pleasure to read and publish your work, gentlepersons.  Keep sending me stuff!

3. Record Store Excursion 2012, and the resulting video.  I love making videos, and this was a blast. At last check, it’s had almost 200 hits (194 to be exact) including some of the people at the stores that we reported on!

Thanks to all the readers out there who’ve made 2012 so much fun here at LeBrain’s Blog.  Let’s kick 2013 into overdrive.

My top ten posts of 2012, by hits:

Editorial: Paul Stanley’s voice problems 741
REVIEW: KISS – The Box Set (Deluxe mini guitar case edition!) 273
GEOFF TATE: Solo album KINGS & THIEVES song samples available now 270
REVIEW: Black Sabbath – Master of Reality deluxe edition! 254
REVIEW: KISS – Destroyer (Resurrected) (2012) 227
REVIEW: KISS – “Hell or Hallelujah” single! (2012) 211
Ex-Queensryche’s GEOFF TATE UPDATE: Still a douche 202
REVIEW: KISS – Destroyer (and a word about that 35th anniversary Resurrected thing) 193
UPDATE: Queensryche’s Tate is a Douche 185
Part 71/ REVIEW: Pink Floyd – Shine On (9 disc box set) 185

Top five LeBrain-reading countries:

Country Views
Canada FlagCanada 13,754
United States FlagUnited States 6,242
United Kingdom FlagUnited Kingdom 2,417
Brazil FlagBrazil 739
Finland FlagFinland 629

Here’s a fun one:  Top five Google searches that led people to LeBrain’s Blog!

queensryche split 82
paul stanley voice 76
kiss revenge review 71
geoff tate is a douche 68
kiss hell or hallelujah 66

LOL…Geoff Tate is a douche!  That’s awesome!

Hope you didn’t party too hard last night.  Let’s rock 2013 like there’s no tomorrow!

Most Anticipated New Releases of 2013 (?)

I was having an offline discussion with the mighty Heavy Metal OverloRd and The CD Whisperer about the albums we’re most excited about in 2013.

It’s easy to think back just one year and remember how we couldn’t wait to see if the new Van Halen would be a triumph or disaster.  Now it’s the end of the year once again, and as long as the world doesn’t end on December 21, there are some cool releases lined up for the new year.

What are you most excited for?  Is there something in particular that you KNOW you’ll be buying before you hear a single note?

I have five must-buys in 2013.  Here’s my list.

queensryche

5. QUEENSRYCHE

This could end up being a total disaster.  Replacing a beloved (albeit knife-weilding) original frontman with a relative unknown is a huge risk.  Kudos to the band for trying, I’ll play along.  The key will be to walk a fine line between avoiding a retread of the past, and reminding fans how good they used to be.  Not an easy task.  Will Todd La Torre be up for it?  Time will tell.

crue

4. MOTLEY CRUE

Nikki has said the band is writing music to follow the lacklustre single “Sex”.  They’ve got tour dates with Kiss lined up in the new year.  I’ll admit I’m actually not that excited about a new Motley release, but I have been faithfully following this band through ups and downs through their entire career.  I even bought New Tattoo!

Voivodtarget

3. VOIVOD – Target Earth

This one has a confirmed release date of January 22.  Although some may say that the idea of a new Voivod album without the late guitarist Piggy is sacrilege, life goes on.  This is the first album in over two decades with Blackie on bass.  From what I’ve heard of the first single, “Kluskap O’Kom”, it does sound like Voivod.  I’ll be supporting the boys in 2013, count on reading my review in the new year.

Sabbath Logo

2. BLACK SABBATH

Some might say that the idea of an “original” Sabbath album without Bill Ward is sacrilege!  Hell, I might be one of them!  But I love this band, and I have to have faith that the combined might of Sabbath plus Rick Rubin will produce something worthwhile.  Will “Scary Dreams” be on there?  I sure hope so.  First album with Tommy Clufetos on drums, a much more metronomic drummer, so I wonder if Sabbath can capture that loose vibe of the precious first 8.

Purple

1. DEEP PURPLE

Confirmed for an April 26 release.  Confirmed that Bob Ezrin is producing.  Confirmed song titles:  “Out Of Hand,” “Hell To Pay,” “Weirdistan,” “Uncommon Man” and “Above and Beyond.”  “Above and Beyond” is a tribute to late organist Jon Lord, who passed away far too soon.  “Weirdistan”?  I love it.  That title can only come from Ian Gillan.  Astoundingly this is the fifth album with Steve Morse and third with Don Airey.  And some said they’d never last without Blackmore!  I will most definitely be pre-ordering whatever cool editions the band has lined up.

What are you psyched about in the new year?  I want to hear from you.

GEOFF TATE – Yup…still a douche

This is news to me.    “Queen of the Reich” isn’t a popular Queensryche song?

“Actually, it’s not very popular at all. It’s funny actually a lot of people don’t know about that song. A lot of people don’t care about that song. It’s an early song that was written and it shows. It’s funny the reaction you get because it’s a lot of blank stares. In fact it’s the same stare you get when you play a new song that nobody’s heard before. People just aren’t that familiar with it. Given there are a few hardcore fans that might know that song or like that song and know what it is but the majority of the people there don’t. So it’s not really a song that I enjoy singing strictly because lyrically its pretty adolescent.”

I wish Geoff would just shut up.

This crowd didn’t seem to mind the song (that Geoff didn’t write):

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

The “real” Queensryche — new song samples, new trailer!

Far too early for comment. But I will anyway.

The first song snippet didn’t sound like Queensryche to me (more like Racer X!).  The second and beyond did…keep in mind these must be demos because they’re not hitting the studio until next month.

I’m sure the Tate camp will be pissed off at them saying they are the “masterminds” behind Mindcrime and Empire…that was probably taking it too far.  This is turning into a PR war.

I’m encouraged.  Produced with Jimo Barton again!  You’re not gonna get that much from a few seconds’ worth, but a couple of these songs sound like possible winners, and have the “Queensryche sound”.  (Nobody sounds like Rockenfield!)  It does sound a lot better than pretty much anything from Hear In The Now to present.  But will it be memorable and live up to The Warning or Rage For Order?

We’ll see in 2013.

Discuss.

MORE Geoff Tate news: His side of the split?

OK folks, as usual I’ll let Geoff say it all.

On the “original” Queensryche with Todd La Torre:

They started a side project called Rising West, and they quickly found out that it didn’t have any value in the marketplace. They couldn’t sell any shows. They couldn’t get booked for shows. And that’s when they fired me and tried to use the name Queensryche to book shows, so they could all make a living.

So what you’re saying Geoff is that the firing had nothing to do with the spitting and the physical assaults and so on and so forth?  This argument doesn’t even make any sense.  Geoff’s claiming that Queensryche fired him, because their side project couldn’t sell any shows?  I’m sure they don’t need a side project to sell shows to make a living while they’re in Queensryche?  If business was as good as Geoff claims, anyway.

On Glen Drover, guitar player in Tate’s new “second” Queensryche:

I had known of him but never met him, but I’ve seen him play a number of times with Megadeth, and I thought he was a fantastic player; just a real fluid, effortless guitar player. And then talking with him, he’s just a really cool guy, very down-to-earth. He’s a Canadian guy who likes hockey and beer, and I’m all down with that.

Alright.  I’m down with that too.

And lastly, on his solo album:

It just happened pretty quickly, and I worked at a pace that’s pretty normal for me, really. A lot of what you hear on it are first, second or third takes. It was pretty immediate, us sitting in the same room, playing together, feeding off each other, and just kinda making stuff up as we went. So it was a fun, immediate record, without a lot of rehearsing it into the ground. Not a very polished record, not over-produced and slick. It’s pretty raw.

OK, that doesn’t sound bad.  Has anybody heard the record yet?  I’ve read good things, but Christmas is coming.

More:

http://ultimateclassicrock.com/geoff-tate-2012-interview/

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

Can Tate and Queensryche patch it up?

Blabbermouth asked that question.  Tate says he’s up for it, now it’s up to Queensryche I guess.

http://www.blabbermouth.net/news.aspx?mode=Article&newsitemID=180790

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.

But what do I know?  I’m just a guy.

What do you think?

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

 

UPDATE: Queensryche tell Tate to stop using their name!

This keeps getting uglier and uglier!

Billboard.com – Queensryche to Geoff Tate: Stop Using the Name

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?

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

 

UPDATE: Two Queensryches? F***!

(Above: Sarzo)

http://www.bravewords.com/news/189489

http://www.bravewords.com/news/189504

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!

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

QUEENSRYCHE UPDATE: Things Are Gonna Get Messy…

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:

http://www.billboard.com/features/q-a-queensryche-talks-lawsuit-plans-return-1007826952.story

Then, there’s this news!

http://www.bravewords.com/news/188719

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.

 

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