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A Tale of Two Queensryches

Two Bands, One Name

By Nick FalknerPublished 6 years ago 2 min read
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Classic Queensryche

Queensrÿche was a great band, and in many ways, still is. In fact, the first CD I ever owned was Queensrÿche’s 'Empire.' I loved the music video, and fully enjoyed the harmonies, the vocals, the overall feel of the song. It was a great song, a great album, and it made me a fan.

But the honeymoon wouldn’t last. I was slightly disappointed with 'Promised Land,' as the heaviness of Empire was gone. I went back through Queensrÿche’s catalogue and found the earlier albums better than what they were producing in the 90's, with 'Operation: Mindcrime' being their best 80's offering. When 'Hear In The Now Frontier' was released, it only got a total of one play in my player. Queensrÿche had lost me at this point. I didn’t even bother with Q2K, or anything beyond. I even heard about 'Operation: Mindcrime II,' but I didn’t have a good feeling about it. I was done at this point.

So when I read several years ago that Queensrÿche had fired Geoff Tate, lead singer and founding member, I had to dig deeper on this.

Geoff Tate’s behavior was becoming more and more erratic, to the point where Tate wanted more control. Tate made his wife the band’s manager in 2005, which didn’t sit well at all with the rest of the band. Tate even started mocking the fans, telling people that if they didn’t think that 'Dedicated To Chaos' was the best thing they ever heard, then they are completely stupid in so many words.

On a personal note, I never bothered with that album either.

In São Paulo, Brazil, there was a highly publicized blow up between the band members. Geoff Tate had basically treated the band as his own personal play-toy, and the other members were getting sick of it. Geoff and his wife, Susan, were pretty much running things. Through the next three shows, Tate would spit on Scott Rockenfield. It was becoming clear that the band could not work with Geoff and Susan any longer, and fired them both.

So, what does Geoff Tate do? He took his former band to court.

They reached a settlement where both bands could use the Queensrÿche name, and Tri-Ryche symbol, for two years until a decision was made.

Queensrÿche continued on with new lead singer, Todd La Torre, while Geoff Tate formed his band, The Real Queensrÿche Starring Geoff Tate, which was shortened to just Queensrÿche. Both bands had released albums within months of each other, and toured for the next couple of years.

2014, Queensrÿche, the band, bought the rights of the catalogue, the name, and other stuff from Tate, while Tate retained the rights to Operation: Mindcrime 1 and 2. So when Geoff Tate had to drop the Queensrÿche name, he renamed his band Operation: Mindcrime.

You know, Geoff Tate had a fairly successful solo career, as he did that alongside his work with Queensrÿche. He wasn’t the first to do this, as Rob Halford did that with Judas Priest, King Diamond did that with Mercyful Fate, etc., so Tate didn’t need to start a whole new band, as in his own words, he had to call his solo band to come be Queensrÿche in Salt Lake when the band itself didn’t show. He just chose to. While we’re at it, the rest of Queensrÿche could have left it all to Tate and continued as Rising West, but really, which name has more recognition? So all’s well that ends well.

Unless you’re Geoff Tate.

Queensryche 2012

bands
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About the Creator

Nick Falkner

I like to write about music, video games, and anything else that pops up. Based out of Utah.

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