First there’s this.ย Queensryche make Tate sound like a total douche, but the future of their music is exciting.ย And that 2013 “Return to History” tour sounds totally cool.ย Read it:
2013 QUEENSRลธCHE 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:ย Didn’t DeGarmo sing on “All I Want”?]
Yeah, this is definitely going to get messy.ย 2013 will be an interesting year as two entities seemingly calling themselves Queensryche attempt to do an anniversary tour.ย 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. Queensrรฟche has always been my idea, starting from the first record. Queensrรฟche 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 Queensrรฟche 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.ย It is undeniable that Geoff Tate has written some great songs.ย It also seems apparent from recent developments that the band just wanted to get back to playing progressive metal again.ย And what is wrong with that?ย And the video footage of Tate spitting on Rockenfield live in concert?ย Disgusting.ย 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, itโs 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.ย Somewhat a companion piece to the album, it is also a game on its own.ย There are two discs:ย 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:ย Explore five different fantasy lands (one “world” for each member) that “reflect the thoughts, dreams, nightmares, humor and values of the members of Queensryche.”ย 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 ofย original music.ย ย The goal of the gameย is to find all five pieces of the Queensryche totem.ย They’re hidden, one per world, and if you get them all you unlock a Queensryche song called “Two Mile High”.ย This song, a brief acoustic number with an electric DeGarmo solo, was recorded specifically and exclusively for this game.ย 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.ย On the disc labelled Big Log, you can explore the cabin studio where Queensryche recorded the album.ย 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.ย 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 splitย is official:
Geoff Tate is OUT of Queensryche.
He has been replaced by Crimson Glory/Rising West singer Todd La Torre.ย
After the now-infamous “knife incident” news,ย this really comes as no surprise.ย 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.ย 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!ย He also states:ย “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.ย This has never been seen by anybody before.ย In case you missed the three previous parts:
EDDIE JACKSON INTERVIEW, OCT 30 2001ย (Unedited – Part 4)
Q โ [NOTE:ย We had just finished talking about the recording of the Promised Land album.]ย Now the next album, Here In The Now Frontier, was different.ย In the liner notes to the new live album, itโs pretty much just skipped over completely.ย And only one track appears.ย Were you disappointed in that album at all?
E โ No.ย Thatโs interesting that you bring that up, because we were working on a couple of the other songs, but I donโt know why there was only one song recorded for the Live Evolution.ย Thatโs just interesting you bring that up because I kind of noticed that.ย I go, โGod, thereโs only one song from that album, I wonder how that happened?โ
Q โ I guess itโs the same problem you talked about before, where you canโt fit in everything you ever played.
E โ Again, I think we were really focusing on a lot of the older stuff.ย Throughout our touring, these last few years and whatnot, we kept hearing a lot ofย โHey, are you guys playing anything off The Warning or anything off Rage For Order, or anything off the EP?โย So right then, that kinda sparked the idea of, โHey, letโs go back.ย Letโs really give โem something that theyโre gonna really enjoy.ย Who knows if weโll ever get this opportunity again?ย Why not just give โem a variety, a potpouri of Queensryche material from the beginning to the present, you know.
Q โ Listening to the live album, and trying to pick out influences, I think I hear a bit of Steve Harris and Geezer Butler.ย Were those guys influences on you or am I just hearing things?
E โ Since the beginning?
Q โ Just bits here and there.
E โ Iโm sure, especially from the earlier days, there were some major influences from Geezer Butler, Steve Harris, a little bit of Geddy Lee.ย If thereโs times that it sounds like that then youโre probably right.ย At that given moment, Iโm sure I was influenced.ย We were all influenced by what was out at that time.ย Especially with the EP, and The Warning.ย When youโre listening, like I was saying before, youโre relearning the songs.ย And then when you start hearing the instruments, you go, โWow, doesnโt that sound like that one band back then?โย I donโt youโre really aware of it up until a few years later when you listen back you know!
Q โ Is there anybody out there right now who just frightens you on the bass?
E โ Oh heck, thereโs tons of them!ย I take more of a simplistic approach, but thatโs just my style.ย I love funk, I really like a really hard driving sound.ย I tend to focus more on the sonic end of it than the performance end.ย Iโm really into experimenting with sound.ย As you can tell, actually on the Mindcrime album, Iโve had guys come up to me,ย and they go, โHey, how did you get your bass to sound like a truck?โย I go, โWhat?ย Whereโd that come from?โ you know?ย So obviously thereโs a little bit of fretless in Promised Land, and Real World, thereโs some fretless on there.ย So heck, you know, some 5 string here, some whatever, here or there.ย Iโll experiment with anything.ย I think I really love approaching the sonic end of it, trying to come with a really cool sound, something thatโs very distinctive.ย
ย ย ย ย Thereโs a lot of bands out there with a lot of talented bass players that Iโm just listening to this thing and go, โHow the hell did he get that sound?ย That is so cool!ย What is he running?ย Some sort of an effect?ย I wonder what heโs using!โย Youโre just reaching and guessing, itโs a lot of fun though, hearing a lot of these bass players.ย I tell you, you learn a lot just from listening and I was really a big, big Grand Funk and especially Alice Cooper fan.ย I mean, [Dennis] Dunaway [Alice Cooper] back then, that guy was an amazing bass player.ย And then, whatโs his name?ย Sure?ย Sher?ย From Grand Funk?ย Heck, I forgot his nameโฆMel Schacher.ย Yeah, he was an amazing bass player.ย I kind of enjoyed a lot of their bass work back then.ย You donโt really hear it in my style, I just liked hearing it.ย The performance, you know.
Q โ I know when you put on the Promised Land video game, thereโs some definite funk influences there.ย Funky backgrounds and colours too!ย Do see yourself for that aforementioned solo project doing some funk, big horn sections and stuff?
E โ Oh yeah yeah!ย That was just a little piece I wrote for that Promised Land CD-ROM game.ย Yeah, that was kinda fun.ย And if you noticed, Iโm using a different coloured tie on each musician.ย Each instrument that Iโm playing.ย I dunno, thatโs not a big deal but it was to me.ย You know I go hey, I wanna put a different tie, I wonder if anybody will catch it.ย But yeah, that was a lot of fun.ย I tell ya, youโre almost kinda acting your parts out, especially when I was the secretary at the front desk there.ย It was kinda weird, putting all that makeup, and dressed in drag.
Q – I guess itโs a chance to lighten up because Queensryche are not the kind of band that is really known for joking around.
E โ Yeah, I mean, some levity here and there, it doesnโt hurt.ย
Q โ Running out of time here, Iโd better start wrapping up!ย I wanted to ask you if thereโs any questions out there that youโve been waiting to get, but nobodyโs asked it yet.
E โ Oh geez!ย That is a great question!ย Oh geez!ย You got me on the spot here!ย This is cool!
Ummmโฆoh geez.ย Thatโs good.ย I donโt know, you got me here!ย I just donโt know what to think here!ย I mean, what question?ย Oh geezโฆhow about uhโฆthis might be little clichรฉ, or a little simplistic, but how about โHow is my son doing?โ
Q โ And how is he doing?
E โ Heโs doing wonderful.
Q โ How old is he?
E – Heโs eight months.ย Other than that, I canโt think of anything else.ย Do you have anything you want to ask?
Q โ I donโt knowโฆnow I’m on the spot here!ย How aboutโฆwhat can I sayโฆdo you remember playing Toronto in โ95 at Molson Amphitheater?
E โ Yeah.
Q โ I was there at that show, I thought it was a great show.
E โ That was with AC/DC.
Q โ Type O Negative.
E โ Type O Negative, youโre right!ย The Molson Amphitheater or Labbattโs?ย Yeah, that was back in, yeah with Type O Negative.ย
Q โ Was that the last night of the tour?
E โ Yep.
Q โ I seem to remember you guys messing around, like a big roadie with a wig playing the part of the nurse during that one songโฆcanโt remember the song.
E โ Yeah yeah, well that was our crew, kind of putting in the finishing touches of the last show of the tour.ย And with the brawl, the bar brawl, yeah, normally that really didnโt happen except for that night.ย It was the last show of the tour and they wanted to screw with ya.
Q โ One of those examples of Queensrycheโs sense of humour.
E โ Yeah, you know, and Iโm sure it throws the audience for a loop, because they just like, โIs this part of their show?โย You can just look at their incredulous looks you know.ย I can just imagine whatโs crossing their minds, like, โWait a sec, whatโs that guy with that wig doing onstage?โย Oh, get this!ย We had that same production through that whole tour, with the bar scene, and the lounge band.ย We were in Dallas, and every night thereโs guests that can win seats to sit in, on stage, during the Promised Land song, and thatโs when the bar comes out, and weโre the lounge band.ย The winners would go up onstage with us and stuff.ย And there were these two girls, and they had to have been peelers!ย During that song, they started to like, make out! It almost took away my whole emphasis of performing.ย Iโm just looking at this, and looking at Michael, and next thing you know theyโre on the floor just like, rubbing each other body to body and I go โOh my God!ย Here I am and Iโve got some cousins and aunts and nieces here!โย And I go โOh my God, what the hell are they going to say after the show!โย It was just nuts!ย That was very entertaining that night!ย They were justโฆyeah, they were going for it!ย Iโm surprised we didnโt 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!ย In case you missed them:
Part III is below.ย Stay tuned for the fourth and final part!ย
EDDIE JACKSON INTERVIEW, OCT 30 2001ย (Unedited –ย Part 3)
Picking up where we left off:ย Discussing unused song ideas.
Q โ Who remembers these ideas when it comes down to jamming for a new album?ย Is it something that youโd dig up on old tapes, or you just say, โRemember this old bit?โ and you play it?
E โ Stuff like that just happens.ย What we normally try to do is just create something fresh.ย But itโs always fun to go back and take a listen to something that youโve worked with in the past, on the last release or the release before.ย Because thereโs always some ideas there that you can possibly use.
Q โ Thereโs certainly enough stuff out there to collect with the Japanese bonus tracks and stuff.
E โ Yeah, I mean, Promised Land had โChasing Blue Skiesโ.ย That was on the Promised Land CD that was released in Japan.ย [note: it was actually Hear In The Now Frontier that had that song]ย And it also had โSomeone Else?โ but with the full band version.
Q โ And some of those made it on to the Greatest Hits.
E โ I think so.
Q โ What about solo projects?ย Have you ever pondered that?
E โ Oh yeah, oh yeah.ย I mean, Geoff โs [Tate, vocals] working on a little solo project for himself.ย Scotty [Rockenfield, drums] and Kelly put together something.ย Michaelโs kinda working on that.ย Iโve always wanted to do something like that, kind of like step away from Queensryche for the day and then do something on my own.ย Iโm always coming up with ideas and I eventually would like to put something together like that.
Q โ Do you have any ideas for a direction?ย Obviously it would have to be different from Queensryche.
E โ Yeah, you know, my listening taste of music is so eclectic.ย Itโs like from Abba to Zappa.ย I love pop rock, I love hard rock, I love jazz.ย I think one of the last albums that I actually bought was the Rob Zombie Hellbilly Deluxe.ย That was one of the last albums, I mean it grew on me like fungus!ย Itโs just got some angst and attitude.ย Stylistically that would be a fun little approach.ย You never know, itโs always up in the air when that time comes.ย You could always think about, โAlright, this is a direction Iโd like to approach,โ but when that day comes,ย you could always have a different idea.
Q โ 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.ย A lot of the older stuff is faster, more riff-oriented.ย Which of the two do you prefer to play live?
E โ When it comes to the era?
Q โ Just which style of songs do you prefer, the faster or the groovier?
E โ Oh jeez Iโll play anything!ย Iโm serious!ย I mean I love a lot of the groove.ย Yeah, I mean, heck, Iโll play just about anything, just about any type of a groove, you know.ย I mean thatโs what makes it interesting.ย You got a band like AC/DC.ย 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 thatโs very good!ย But theyโre one of the few bands that can get away with that.ย I dunno what it is about them. Sure, thereโs other bands that might have released one album, and then a next one and itโs kind of similar, might have a lot of the same grooves and stuffโฆsometimes it doesnโt work for them.ย Iโm always into the idea of creating something different.ย But you can only go so far because everythingโs pretty much been done, I feel.ย I think you have to continue to be creative with what you have to work with.ย You know, youโre obviously gonna hear a song thatโs gonna sound like somebody else.ย Thereโs something about that song, you know, โGod, that chorus sounds just like band that was out in the 80โs,โ or โthat intro sounds just like this band that just came out last year,โ you know.ย What can you do?ย You try to be creative. Itโs really difficult to be original anymore.ย Especially now.ย I dunno, thereโs a lot of musicians out there that are very talented, and thereโs a lot of bands that have been very successful doing what theyโre doing. ย You just have to credit them with their talents and whatnot.ย Itโs tough to be extremely original nowadays.
Q โ You notice a lot of bands today resorting to electronic sounds to make something new.ย Moby, or whoever.ย Do you ever see Queensryche experimenting with something like that?
E โ Like more instrumental?ย
Q โ Yeah, I guess on Rage For Order you guys experimented a lot with electronic sounds.
E โ Oh yeah, I mean we actually created some of those sounds ourselves!ย Yeah, you know at the very end of โWalk In The Shadowsโ?ย That big ambient reverberated sound?ย At the very end, โWalk in the shadowsโฆwalk with me!ย POW!โย Thatโs a door slamming in a parking garage!ย
Q โ Itโs always something you donโt expect!
E โ Exactly!ย Nobody else knows that unless youโve been told about it.ย Thatโs why that album to me is the most memorable one.ย We ended up putting something together, like I was explaining to you in regards to coming up with our own sound.ย Our own little ideas.ย I donโt 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.ย For the production side.
Q โ I find that album, even though sonically theyโre nothing alike, to be akin to Promised Land just for sonic experimentation.
E โ Oh yeah!ย From banging on top of these big garbage cansโฆย What else did we do?
Q โ Thereโs some really neat electronic vocal effects on Geoffโs voice on โDamagedโ.ย “The broken parts, of my machinery…”ย And then it sounds like an electronic overload or something.
E โ And believe it or not, those were effects that I donโt think we could ever do again.ย Seriously, becauseโฆโWell, that was cool, did you record it?โย He goes, โYeah.โย โWell letโs try it again!โย And we could not recreate that!ย It was weird!ย So again it was like one of those one-offs.ย Thatโs why the tape is always rolling because you never know what you can come up with, and you can use.
Q โ The band was experimenting a bit with different instrumentsโฆsax, cello, and piano, on that album.ย Do you play any different instruments?
E โ Iโll tinker around with a little bit of keyboard, a little guitar here.ย Iโll tell you what I really love the most, itโs really kinda rivaling playing bass.ย Itโs singing.ย
Q โ Oh really?ย Well youโve always sung backups live.
E โ Yeah, I love singing!ย And Iโve noticed since Chris has left, Iโve had to cover a lot of his parts, and Iโm telling you theyโre up there sometimes.ย But still, itโs something that you donโt really think about.ย Through all these tours that weโve been performing on, Iโve never realized how much he actually sang.ย Because youโre so busy playing your bass and singing your parts.ย But youโre aware that heโs singing his parts too, but since Iโve covered his vocal partsโฆgee whiz!ย Iโm like, holy cow, Iโve gotta sit down and remember all this!ย But yeah, itโs pretty interesting you know, but I just canโt believe how much he actually sang.ย
Q โ I notice the Q2K materialโฆitโs funny that you say youโre singing more, but I think the live versions have stronger harmonies.ย Do you hear that as well?
E โ I think maybe a lot of that could be for the fact that the harmonies are riding a bit hotter than on the album.ย The harmonies are probably still there on the album, but they might have been recorded a little hotter on the live mix.ย
Q โ I just thought they stuck out a bit and I thought, โHmm, well somebodyโs singing more!โ
E โ Yeah, well, thatโs Kelly and I.ย 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.ย I mean heck, Iโll sing anything.ย
Q โ Do you see yourself singing lead on a Queensryche song?ย I think Chris sang a lead on Hear In The Now.
E โ You know, I donโt know.ย Thatโs never crossed my mind, but again you just never know!ย With Queensryche, heck, you just never know, weโre always branching off into some sort of new territory whether itโs sonically speaking, producing, writing or whatever.ย I guess at times you could say itโs a conscious effort, but thereโs times where you know, youโre aware, and you just try to create something for that moment.ย At least for myself, I donโt normally like to look back and listen to what weโve done in the past.ย Because then you start getting influenced by it, you know?ย And thereโs gonna be ideas that might sound like something in the past.ย Thereโs nothing wrong with that, butโฆ
Q โ But when an interviewer asks you, โHey do you remember that electronic part in Damagedโ and you havenโt heard the album in 5 or 6 yearsโฆ!
E โ Believe it or not, youโll be surprised, especially when you hear a lot of these songs that we had recording for this Live Evolution, itโs amazing how much more you remember.ย When you play โLondonโ, or โScreaming In Digitalโ, or โSuite: Sister Maryโ.ย All of a sudden you just start reminiscing, and you just start thinking back at the time when it was recorded.ย I mean we were in Philadelphia, Rage For Order we were up in Canadaโฆ
Q โ Where were you in Canada?
E โ Up in Mushroom Studios, was it?ย Up in Vancouver?ย Weโve recorded in many studios.ย We recorded in that one, was it in Montreal?
Q โ Yeah I read about that, in the dead of winter.
E โ Yeah, O:MC.ย Operation:Mindcrime.
Q โ I think the most interesting location youโve recorded in was the cottage for Promised Land.
E โ Oh geez, talk about tranquility and isolated!ย It was this small little island up north up by the San Juan Islands.ย Yeah, youโre right.ย We got away from everybody.ย 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.ย 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.ย But weโd be taking a break outside and you can hear the whales!ย It was pretty wild.ย There was a couple of little wildcats out there.ย We definitely didnโt leave any food outside!
Q โ I think itโs safe to say that the environment must have impacted on the sound of that album.ย It sounds like it was recorded in a cottage, in the woods.
E โ Do you think the influence was there?ย Do you think there was a lot of influence?
Q โ I think so.
E โ Well, there was this doctor, and I canโt remember his name, but he owned this cabin.ย It was actually sort of aโฆnot a bed and breakfast, but like a summer retreat sort of thing.ย 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, orย month, whatever.ย So what we did is we just basically told him, โListen, weโre a bandโฆโ And that right there obviouslyโฆโWait a sec!ย Before you even continue!โย That kinda scared him a bit.ย But no no, weโre not type kind of a band.ย We respect our environment we donโt start thrashing things for no apparent reason.ย But if the shitter stopped working in the middle of the night, then youโre going to hear from us!ย We kind of worked out a deal, and we were there for a few months, and we ended up just hiring outโฆwe moved in to both units.ย So it was a massive cabin, it was pretty cool.ย We were just living and breathing that album there.
I have to give Geoff Tate credit for a good answer to a tough question.ย Regarding “knife incident” and the rumoured Queensryche split, Geoff said,ย “I’m thinking, I’m not gonna really dispel too many of the rumors because it’s hardly ever that Queensrรฟche gets any publicity, so this is great. All 43 people on the Internet are talking about it.”
That’s a great answer.ย 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 bassistย Eddie Jackson.ย This is the unedited transcript, never before seen anywhere by anybody.
EDDIE JACKSON INTERVIEW, OCT 30 2001ย (Unedited) Part 2
Q โ Now the album packaging [Live Evolution] is pretty cool here, but what the heck does that say under your picture?
E โ My credits?ย Itโs backwards!ย All the letters, the words are backwards!ย Theyโre spelled backwards!ย The words are spelled in reverse.ย So letโs say you come up with the word โhappyโ.ย I start with the letter Y first, and then a P and then a P and then an A and then an H.ย You know, heck, gotta be a little goofy every once in a while!ย 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.ย But I didnโt think about that until after.
Q โ Next album right?
E โ Youโre like the second or third person who asked me about that.ย [One guy said] โWhat is that, Spanish?โย No, itโs not!ย I think youโd know if it was Spanish or not.ย You know, heck, just going a little goofy.ย Some creativity there.
Q โ Are you โcyber-savvyโ at all?ย Are you into the internet and stuff like that?
E โ A little bit, you know.
Q โ Do you see the internet as a way to reach new fans?
E โ Oh, absolutely!
Q โ Are you doing that?ย Are you noticing that?
E โ I think so.ย Especially with our fan club.ย A lot of that is, instead of sending mailers out, we just send โem e-mailers.ย Not only is that a cost effective approach, but itโs a lot more efficient, I think you can do a lot more than just a letter or a flier.ย I think itโs done wonders.ย Obviously itโs been the wave of the future for a few years and I think itโs a great tool.
Q โ Youโve got bands like Marillion who pre-sold their album online before even a note was recordedย Itโs just amazing how the dedicated fans will seek you out.
E โ Oh absolutely, yeah yeah!ย Well again, weโve been very fortunate to have this type of fan base.ย Theyโve allowed us to evolve and grow as a band.ย And theyโve evolved and grown as individuals as listeners, as fans.ย What more can you ask for?ย [Theyโve] given us the freedom to create and I think thatโs great, and also by being able to communicate with them through our music and also through cyberspace.ย Itโs great!
Q โ Letโs go back to LIVEcrime for a minute.ย Youโve got more than one new release coming out, LIVEcrime is being reissued on DVD and album.
E โ I donโt know if itโs on DVD though.
Q โ OK, Iโll have to check.ย [Note:ย It is coming this month]
E โ I was only told it was going to be the live CD, but you may be right.
Q โ Now, the live CD is going to have some bonus tracks on it.ย Are these the same versions as on Live Evolution or are they with the original lineup?
E โ Those are with the original lineup.ย Those two songs, โRoad To Madnessโ and โLady Wore Blackโ, those were recorded at the time LIVEcrime was recorded.ย
Q โ From the same gig?
Eย – From the same gig.ย I mean, we recorded the whole show!ย But we were mainly focusing on LIVEcrime.ย Yeah, I mean, there were a few other songs through that whole set that we performed.ย Yeah, we recorded the whole show, but we just figured, OK.ย A lot of that was pretty much EMIโs idea.ย And so it was kinda interesting to hear about EMI releasing this.ย And here we are, just doing the groundwork on Live Evolution, and weโre just thinking, โWait a second!โย You know, are they going to conflict with one another?ย But I donโt think it has, I think itโs 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, thatโs what makes it interesting.ย But yeah, that was pretty much our very first live recording.ย With the exception of The Warning tour.ย You know, that had the live video.ย
Q โ Which is also pretty much impossible to find.ย If you ever talk to EMI about getting something reissuedโฆ
E โ Yeah, good luck finding that one!ย But then again, that was only released on video, that was never released as a live audio.ย And then Live Evolution was our very first full length live recording from start to finish, and a lot of people ask us, โWhyโd it take you so long?โย But I donโt know!ย As youโre evolving through your career, and recording and touring and all that, I guess for me it doesnโt really cross your mind because youโre so busy and youโre so tied up at that moment doing what youโre doing.ย Whether itโs recording or touring that it never really crossed my mind.ย There are times when you release a new album, by giving it an extra [live] track or two which Japan lovesโฆthey love that type of thing, when you can add a bonus track or two.ย Thatโs always fun but I donโt know why itโs taken us so long to release something like that.ย Look at the Greatest Hits, [it] was released last year!ย A lot of people said, โWhyโd it take you so long?โย Well, why are you complaining?ย (laughs)ย Stop bitching about it, there you go, itโs right there! (laughs).ย
Q โ Well hereโs another release you can ponder.ย You guys did a video game, Promised Land a few years ago.ย Thereโs an exclusive track on that called โ8 Miles Highโ.ย And itโs never been released anywhere else as far as I know on CD.
E โ Have you heard it?
Q โ Yeah.ย I couldnโt beat the game though, I had to, uhhโฆcheat.
E โ Well Iโve got the cheat sheet for that thing.
Q โ But itโs 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.ย Is that ever gonna be in the cards?
E โ You know, anything is possible, but again, I donโt know if weโve taken it that serious, to do something like that.ย Maybe perhaps the majority of the reason if, how satisfied are we with the results of that particular song?ย There was reason why it wasnโt added to the new album, or whichever album was released.ย Perhaps stylistically it didnโt coincide with what we were doing.ย Sonically, maybe it didnโt work.ย I dunno, thatโs an interesting point, I mean, would we ever put something like that together?ย Anythingโs possible.ย I think it would be fun.ย We have quite a few songs in the vaults.ย Weโve archived quite a bit of ideas, thereโs even songs that we have from The Warning days.ย From Operation:Mindcrime days.ย Just a couple of songs that are floating around doing nothing.ย You never know, thereโs actually been a couple of songsโฆletโs see, what was it.ย Which album was it?ย Promised Land I believe?ย There were two songs that we had used ideas from a song that was written back inโฆRage For Order?ย Or Operation:Mindcrime?ย But we kinda took theintro or the middle piece of those songs and just kind of created a whole new song with it.ย
With the Geoff Tate “knife incident” having fans wondering what the hell is going on with the band, I thought I would bring us back to happier times. Back to 2001.ย Back to times before the knife incident and break up rumours. Times before Tribe. 11 years ago, I had the chance to speak to bassist Eddie Jackson for Global Bass Magazine. He gave me over an hour of his time.
Today I’m bringing you Part Iย of the complete unedited transcript. It’s long, but enjoy, there is so much great insight here! Eddie was a fantastic interview, and I hope all is well with him and the band.
This is so massive that I have to break it up into sections. So, here is Part I!
EDDIE JACKSON INTERVIEW, OCT 30 2001 (Unedited)
Q โ Live Evolution is your first really definitive live album. Before you had Operation:LIVEcrime which was basically just one albumโs worth of material. So this is a big deal, how much input did you personally have on the set list and the mix of the album?
E โ The set list was pretty just a group effort there. Individually we all came up with certain songs that we thought we would like to perform that night. But you know, at the end of the day it was putting something that was gonna be something different from what we usually do, and that [something different] is go back several albums and perform some of these songs from The Warning, from Rage For Order, because a lot of the time these past few tours weโve been focusing on from Operation:Mindcrime forward. With the exception of maybe โThe Lady Wore Blackโ or โTake Hold Of The Flameโ from the earlier albums. But this time around we just wanted to give them somethingโฆyou know, you figure itโs a live album, a live DVD, letโs give โem something refreshing like some of the older stuff.
But with the mixโฆ?
Q โ Well you always hear horror stories about bass players in the mix. The legendary John Entwistle story of him turning up the bass sound on Live At Leeds, all these stories. Is that a struggle for you?
E โ Not necessarily. The thing is, are you talking the mix in the front of the house, or on stage?
Q โ On the actually released album.
E โ Basically no different than the way weโve been mixing our albums. You certainly want at least to be somewhat audible so you can at hear some of those lows, kinda compliment the rest of the mix. Iโm not really a flashy type of a bass player, I kinda like ride with the groove, you know. And play along with the groove there, but as long as itโs somewhat audible enough, to where you can hear it. Granted, thereโs gonna be some times where when you perform a song a little bit more up-tempo, youโre gonna lose some of that. Thatโs to be expected, thatโs just the nature of the song and the instrument. As long you can hear everything, itโs really tough to isolate everything and make it sound studio-like, especially when itโs a live recording. Kelly [Gray, guitar]โs the one who actually mixed the live CD, and we thought he did a really good job with it.
Q โ I agree. Obviously the first thing you notice when you buy the album is that youโve got it organized into โsuitesโ and itโs basically almost laid out chronologically. So that kind of presents interesting problems, you donโt have the traditional โSilent Lucidityโ during the encore. So what made you guys decide to lay it out almost chronologically that night?
E โ Well, again thatโs where the Live Evolution title came from. We just figured, OK, weโre going to put together a set list and then we came up with the idea, hey, why donโt we put this together in suites? And kind of, starting from the beginning to the present. The first suite was the songs from the first couple of albums, the second suite from the next following set of albums, and so on. It was just an idea that we put together, and we thought it would be kinda fun to do. It definitely makes sense when you look and it and then when you hear it. Actually, it kinda came up, I canโt remember who brought up the idea, but spontaneously it just came about. We wanted, like I said before, Live Evolution, from the beginning to now. That was a given there, because we obviously had start with the songs from the past, from the first few albums and so on, but with the suites it just kinda made it more interesting.
Q โ Where there any songs in the early stages that were eliminated, that you were sorry didnโt get on to the album?
E โ There were a couple of songs that didnโt make the album. Letโs see, one of them was “Enforcerโ, [sic, โEn Forceโ] and โNo Sanctuaryโ. And I canโt remember the other songs, there was just a handful, not many. The thing is, itโs really tough to sit down and try to perform everything that we have on paper. Because first of, weโre limited for time, and second of all, weโre limited on disc. Thereโs only so much time you can record, thereโs only information that those things can record. Iโm losing my train of thought here.
Q โ (laughs) Thatโs OK, we can come back to it if you want.
E โ Letโs actually go ahead and finish this. I was just thinking about something else about the show. Oh, about the songs. Yeah, itโs a long set, it was just trying to put together a good variety of songs that will not only please ourselves but also the fans. And again, if we were to play all the songs that we had written down on paper, heck, weโd be up there like 3 or 4 hours! So we had to kind of shave a few of the songs. I think selectively speaking we kinda chose songs that pretty much covered at least something from each album. Thatโs basically pretty much it.
Q โ Were there any tunes that you knew, โIโm never playing this tune again, I never want to play this tune again!โ
E โ Well, not really. The funny thing was as we were writing these songs down on paper to choose from, and as we were learning these, it took me just a couple of days to remember these songs from The Warning! We hadnโt played some of these songs in 15 years, 16 years! And weโre just listening to them thinking, โGod, what key is this in?โ โOh my God, thatโs right I remember this part!โ And then you start reminiscing about the times when you recorded โem. So it was more fun than we actually anticipated because youโre just sittinโ there listening to these songs, remembering the time when you recorded it, and the place where we recorded it, so it kinda brought back a lot of memories. It was a lot of fun! But again, I guess the fun part was relearning a lot of these songs.
Q โ On the DVD you also say that playing the old songs brought back memories. Is relearning them the pleasure itself?
E โ Absolutely. Yeah, because weโre proud of everything that weโve done you know? And to go back and learn these songs that you havenโt played in 15, 16, 17 years, not only did it bring back memory butโฆit might sound kinda odd saying this, itโs refreshing even though theyโre old songs. It was a refreshing approach if you know what I mean.
Q โ It sounds like you rearranged some of the tunes slightly, like I think โRevolution Callingโ has a new intro.
E โ Yeah, well, we figured we did release LIVEcrime [a boxed set from 1991] as you know, a few years back. So some of those songs weโve played them [in the past] verbatim to the original recording. We just figured, if weโre gonna play some of these songs, especially the songs that we normally play on tour, letโs kinda spice them up a bit, and we kinda did that with โLady Wore Blackโ. We did that with โRevolution Callingโ, just to name a couple. Itโs nice to rework a couple of the songs so to make it sound a little different and interesting, but still obviously in context. You know, again, thatโs another side of the joy of not only working on songs from the past, but also working on songs that are more current, than [to] rehash them.
Q โ Now you mentioned Kelly mixing the album. Heโs got quite a few production credits under his belt. Youโve got a producer in the band now. Is that a huge relief to you?
E โ Yeah I think so! Heโs a very talented individual you know? Like you said, heโs done producing work with a few bands, Candlebox, Dokken, Sven Gelis [sic] I think thatโs the name of the band [Sven Gali from Toronto] just to name a couple of them you know. Whatโs the other one, Second Coming. Heโs a very talented individual. Not only is he very talented when it comes to playing a producer role, but also as a musician, you know. Heโs a good songwriter, a good guitar player. That guy, he wears many hats. Itโs kinda a blessing in a way to work with someone like that because youโre killing two birds with one stone. Being a guitar player, a writer, but also coming in and helping us produce as well as mix. The last album, it was pretty much the band that had produced it. But he pretty much took the credit of engineering. I think itโs a major plus, when it comes to writing and then recording.
Q โ Do you think youโll ever go back to, say, Peter Collins or any other outside producer?
E โ Perhaps. Doors are always open. You know, weโll see! This last album, the Q2K release, was pretty much โoursโ as a whole. With the exception of some of Kellyโs insight as a producer, the majority of that was pretty much the bandโs production and ideas and whatnot. So, you never know. Working with Peter Collins, or Jimbo–James Barton, the doors are always open should we ever cross paths and if the idea ever comes up thereโs always that possibility.
Q โ One thing about Kelly is that heโs replacing someone who was in the band for a long time. On the live album I was really surprised by how seamless the new guitar parts are. It sounds like they should be there, it sounds like the old Queensryche. Now, making the transition, did you guys feel you had to shape him in any way to play like Chris [DeGarmo] used to?
E โ Well, not really because Kelly has a little more of a bluesier background as opposed to Chrisโ style. But I think you can tell, Q2K without Chris, stylistically itโs a little different than the songs Chris has worked on. He [Kelly] had some tough shoes to fill, but I donโt think it was that difficult for him to fit in. If you think about it, heโs playing pretty much Chrisโ parts so itโs still gonna represent, especially speaking of the older songs, youโre still gonna hear the older style. You know, when heโs playing the songs that Chris had worked on. Yeah, but thatโs almost inevitable. There are times when he would change maybe a solo here and a solo there so heโs not playing exactly what Chris wrote. I think he compliments Michael [Wilton, guitar] quite well stylistically and again heโs a very talented guy.
Q โ As far as you being a bass player and getting a new guitar player in the band, did you have to make any adjustments? Did he come to you with harmonic ideas or anything like that?
E โ I donโt know so much about that sort of an approach, but really, honestly, we just kinda let it happen. We really didnโt sit down and try to educate him into, โThis is what Queensryche sounds like. This is what we want you to play like.โ We just let him have free reign over it and not reallyโฆif you think about it, heโs not coming in to replace Chris. Heโs coming in to replace a guitar player. By coming in to replace Chris, that can be a little tough on someone. Of course, you know, people are going to see that and theyโre gonna question that. And obviously theyโre gonna โA and Bโ the two guitar players stylistically or just as musicians in general. But thatโs inevitable, thatโs gonna happen. It happened on its own, we didnโt sit and dictate it, or educated him into sounding like someone that was no longer with us. We just let it happen, he let it happen, and we think heโs done a pretty good job so far.
Q โ I just wanted to bring something up here thatโs totally irrelevant. But I found a Bob Rivers Twisted Christmas album the other day, and Kelly Grayโs name is listed as a producer.
E โ He has produced and mixed many of those.
Q โ I just think you need to tease him a little about that (laughs).
E โ Kelly, youโve made it big! Someone just recognized your credits on a Twisted Radio CD! Iโll bring that up to him.
Maybe I’m reading too much into this. But why would the other four guys form a new band without Tate? While not unprecedented (see: Talk Show/Stone Temple Pilots) it’s certainly rare, and raises eyebrows.
DOUBLE UPDATE WITH GRAVY:ย The Queensryche camp are denying any trouble saying that the band are just staying busy with side projects.ย Sure.ย A side project with everybody except the singer?ย Playing all Queensryche tunes from the EP to Empire?ย Bullshit!
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