RANT- The Queensryche vs Geoff Tate Feud

Join host Pete Pardo as he rants on the controversial feud between Queensryche and their former lead singer Geoff Tate.

[birderybirdery]

My thoughts exactly. I was a huge fan in the '80s and early '90s. (I thought Rage for Order was one of their best) I suspect the departure of guitarist Chris DeGarmo foretold the downward spiral

DeGarmo leaving the band was a deep wound that never really healed. The subsequent guitarists have been good players but lacked Chris's writing skills and concepts.

There were even violent altercations between Geoff and the other lads that made things very tense. I doubt the classic lineup will ever exist again.

[popculture]

Chris DeGarmo was the creative genius behind Queensryche. When he decided to pack it in then the band no longer had any focus or vision for the band. It would be like Rainbow trying to carry on without Richie Blackmore or Iron Maiden without Steve Harris.

[markporter]

Regardless of what happened later, “Mindcrime” is one of the best rock albums I have ever heard.

[Momonoski]

DeGarmo was the most important piece of Queensrÿche! Chris’s writing & orchestrating skills along with his vocals could not be replaced by anyone!

[jamesbedford]

DeGarmo leaving had a much bigger impact than Tate getting the boot. Neither version of the band currently is particularly satisfying.

[jonp]

Just saw Geoff do O:M. Great gig, and Geoff still has it goin' on

[jimwells]

Here's something different for you. Geoff and I went to HS together (Wilson '77' in Tacoma). We were friends and after HS Geoff and Bob talked me into moving in and rented house. I was in my own apt, and they knew I made decent $ for the time. I painted houses and he and Bob worked at a sandwich shop. I covered his rent a time or two (for both of them) and within 6 months Geoff moved back home. Shortly after that I meet a girl and moved into my own place. Jump forward to mid 1979 I was moving to Houston (dad was there) and Geoff was then in an apt with a girl (we all knew from HS) Sandy. I stopped by and gave them a crappy couch on my way out of town. Geoff wasn't home. I have heard Geoff sing a time or two during that time and thought to myself that he should do that. When he opened his mouth, you stopped to listen. The last time I saw him I was 20.
Here's the crazy part. In 83 I joined the Marine's. I never knew he was in a band until I went to visit family in 87. Thou I heard the songs, I just didn't know it was him! I wonder if he'll pay me back for the rent now? Also my dog that he let out of the basement, never to be seen again...

[GS-xtfu]

Geoff and Chris. That was Queensryche for me

[danl]

Well done Pete...I have to agree with ya man

[mglenn]

Chris DeGarmo. When he quit, the magic was gone. I've given every line-up and variation a chance-- and they just don't have it without him. So, Tate's in the band, Tate's not in the band... I don't care. I still listen to the old stuff from the original line-up, but every time I've listened to anything claiming to be 'Queensryche' since... I've regretted wasting the minutes listening to it. I find what Chris is doing now with his daughter far more interesting than anything Tate or Wilton/Rockenfield/Jackson LaTorre are doing. One can also note, that most of the great classic Queensryche tunes... were written or cowritten by Chris DeGarmo, certainly all of my favorite classic QR tunes were, and the very few really good tunes that were credited 'Wilton/Tate'-- DeGarmo was there to help arrange and record them, and IMO his influence on them can still be felt.
But, that's my opinion and reflects the music I enjoy-- if any of these post-DeGarmo line-ups make music you enjoy, then continue to enjoy it... there's room for different tastes in music in the world. BTW-- I am an American Soldier (US Army retired now), and I really wanted to like the 'American Soldier' album-- great concept, appreciate the respect shown to our military, but unfortunately IMO all the actual songs on the album were boring as f***.

[jaysonx]

I used to think Tate was God as a kid (this story gets better keep reading). As a kid the second I heard Queen of the Rÿche I knew what I wanted to do with my life. Practiced my ass off, took lessons, got good. I was the dude in high school people would ask to do metal screams “you gotta hear this guy sing.” My buddy was the dude who’d go into Guitar Center and shred arpeggio sweeps with a crowd around him. By this point we were 16. A year later we met Queensrÿche and asked them how they wrote such amazing music. Geoff said “practice” Chris said “smoke lots of weed.” We felt like we were meeting GODS. Fast forward a year and my other buddy tells me his older brother’s friend’s band is looking for a singer. Says their name is Dream Theater and he has John’s number. I call John, his mom answers. I chat with John and he asks if I have a demo. I didn’t so I offered to sing over the phone (lol totally green move). He declines and asks me to simply send a demo. Which I did. They already hired the new guy, but he was nice. Fast forward a few decades. My other buddy tells me he has a gig working on a new album for... Queensrÿche. I’m blown back. He did creative work on MC II. Tells me it was his worst experience as musician, a total disaster and a let down hanging with Geoff who was a dick. When I heard the album I hated it.

Queensrÿche died when Chris left. He was the brain behind the music, Geoff was the brain behind the melodies. No interest in the new Queensrÿche. But the old stuff, up until Empire (too commercial for me), will always be classic albums for me and my bros.

Side note: I can no longer hit those high notes and don’t care to. I stopped singing like that in the early 90s and moved on to an AIC sound. So much training makes it so that I can still sing fairly well today, but nowadays I sound more like Chris Cornell before he passed. RIP. 🤘🏽

[rezolution]

Chris left and Geoff lost his voice. Geoff's direction in music was horrid in my opinion. BUT the previous Queensryche "Legacy" was the most incredible band I ever experienced. I really liked the way they didn't sound like the other bands that were in the system at the time. I also love the melody and harmony that the "Tate/Degarmo collaboration left behind for us. Rage for order was the first one I heard and still the best to me. I did love Operation mindcrime as well and Empire was pretty good but not exceptional. After that there were a few songs here and there but a few years later there was nothing left. The new Queensryche is not queensryche and doesn't hold my attention although Todd Latore is a fantastic singer. You just had to be there you can't remake history \m/ \m/

[Finatic]

If you ever served in the military, you will relate and love American Soldier. If I Were King puts me in tears every time.

[matthewadams]

there is a reason for them packing the house it's called Geoff Tate and Chris

[benedictdonald]

"Empire" is fantastic; the perfect sucessor to "OP MC". great record -- and underrated.

[tarasbulba]

I thought Halford was great in the day, then I heard Ripper Owens. Even my 83 year old mother was impressed with his voice and she was not a rocker. This Qyeensryche story answered a lot of questions for me as to what happened to them. Thanks again Pete.

[Danimal]

MASSIVE Queensryche fan. I've seen them live and I've also seen Geoff solo live. I agree with a lot of what you said, but I do believe that Promised Land (1994) was an unbelievable album. It was deep, dark and introspective and was the last time Geoff Tate had full control over his vocals. A part of their OLD sound had a lot to do with Chris Degarmo, even though he was on Hear in the Now Frontier, which was a subpar and boring grunge album. I felt that Tribe had some of the old Queensryche feel to it, due in part to Degarmo writing a few of the songs. American Soldier was a good album (saw them on that tour). You forgot to mention Queensryche's last album (Dedicated to Chaos) before Geoff was kicked out, as as Frequency Unknown.
As for Geoff's vocals, well, the truth of the matter is, they started to first show signs of decay way back in 1988 at the start of the Operation Mindcrime tour, whereby he could no longer hit the highs he had in songs like Take Hold of the Flame and Queen of the Reich, compared to how he had last sung them in early 1987 at the end of the Rage For Order tour. The reason his range had diminished and would continually do so until he had very little range left was due to his chainsmoking. He picked up the bad habit while they were recording Operation Mindcrime and he would continue to smoke until the Hear in the Now Frontier tour, of which they had to cancel because of Geoff's throat issues, when in reality it was because he couldn't sing anymore due to chainsmoking. He briefly quit smoking and the result was improved vocals on Q2K and the following tour. Unfortunately he would start smoking again, but briefly quit in 2005, resulting in a crazy 2005 summer tour where he sounded amazing again. He started smoking again following the released of OMII and his vocals sounded bad as a result. Imo, 2009 was the LAST year Geoff sounded decent live. Since 2010 it's been painful to listen to. I saw him live last year in a small club and his singing voice (power, range, control) is a pale shadow of what it was only a decade ago, let alone how it sounded up until the mid 90's or the late the 80's. He could have and should have taken care of his voice and not destroyed it like Ian Gillan and Rob Halford did, by picking up smoking, which is the worst thing a singer who has a high octave range can do. I'm also not a fan of Todd. His vocals are too harsh and screechy when he tries to use his falsetto. Geoff had an insane natural ability to shatter glass at the drop of a dime, where as Scott has to force it and it doesn't sound clean like Geoff's vocals once did. Also Queensryche's last 2 albums with Scott sound a little too generic for me. I also have not been impressed by Geoff's solo albums either, although his first solo album from 2002 was incredible with rich, textured and gorgeous vocals.

[DM-ilhf]

Hey Pete, good video! You really are spot on with this assessment.

I, like you grew up up loving the early albums & they were my favorite band for many years.

Fast forward to me leaving the military near Seattle & I decided to stay up there.

Soon after (1988) I became friends with some musicians up there and quickly landed right in the middle of what would become “the Seattle scene.”

I dug all of it, went to thousands of shows, hung with those cats at parties and shows, but I was still a metal head. I gravitated to bands like Sactuary (and later Nevermore) Metal Church, Forced Entry, Bitter End, etc…

But the entire time I was only one step removed from the guys in Queensryche.

So all along, I was hearing each aspect of the whole story as it was playing out.

Obviously nobody in the band was 100% innocent, but Geoff was definitely the big problem in the band.

There’s a lot that’s gone unsaid about why Chris originally left & it had more to do with Geoff trying to dominate artistic control & Chris was not having that.

People who defend Tate often dismiss DeGarmo leaving as “he was done playing music” but if they’d do some homework, he never stopped being involved in music.

At one point he was recording and touring with Jerry Cantrell from Alice In Chains.

Chris just wasn’t trying to join any more big bands with tight schedules, big pressure & big headaches.

I know one of the gals that the band hired to do “the burlesque tour” and even she said “this is all Geoff’s idea and nobody but Geoff thinks it’s a good idea.”

And day after day various people on the tour would be griping to people in Seattle that “it’s a complete disaster” & “Geoff has lost his damn mind.”

That tour was pretty much the last straw.

2 other things that were going on. One was that Geoff was drinking a lot of booze during that time and not only did it make him more obnoxious & controlling, but it also limited his vocal range significantly, which is why they had to start dropping classic songs from the set.

And 2, Geoff was extremely insecure & jealous of the bands in the “Seattle scene.”

Everyone knew everyone & 99% of it was a love fest, so it wasn’t like anyone was dissing him or shunning QR.

Everyone from the scene loved QR and owed them a huge debt of gratitude for paving the path forward for them, and everyone was open about that love & respect for them, whether it was random guys drinking at a bar or well known musicians talking to MTV.

But Geoff really, really resented guys like Chris Cornell & Layne Staley being more relevant than he was.

The rest of the band wasn’t reclusive, they were out supporting local bands & earning an even higher level of respect from “the scene.”

The band was laser focused on maintaining their artistic vision and delivering music from where their hearts are at (metal) but Geoff didn’t want that at all. He wanted 1987 back again, where all eyes were on him & he & the band were selling out arenas.

He became way too intoxicated by the fame he had previously achieved and it caused him to shift gears & chase something that wasn’t obtainable for an 80’s metal band.

When the spitting incident happened, that was just the final straw in the final straw.

In Geoff’s defense. He’s found humility at this point & has focused on getting his range back, so I’d never rule out a reunion amongst all parties (including Chris)

Anyway, just wanted to let you know that you’re spot on on this & I wanted to add a few details.

[Pwrcritter]

Saw them 3x as an opening act in the 80's. Mind u they opened for the likes of Metallica, Def Leppard. They def held their own!

[traceyrychewhite]

For me, once Chris left the song writing went to shit. He was Queensryche. He did the majority of the compositions. He and Geoff together were great. DeGarmo's backing vocals really helped Geoff vocally. I had got into Queensryche in 83. My little brother had the Queensryche cassette and I loved it. The Warning was awesome. Really I love everything until Hear in the now Frontier. That's when I dropped off as a fan. The original band members needed the Queensryche name. Todd actually is sounding better and better. I bought Condition Human and showed support by seeing tbem live in December 2016. Honestly, I feel really bad for Geoff, I've tried to listen to him and I cringe. I have all the respect in the world for Geoff. For all of the great music that Queensryche played with Geoff and Chris. I can't wait for the new Queensryche album to come out. It won't be until 2018. The new Queensryche is very good. I love the harder edge the band is bringing. I will definitely get Queensryches next album and go see them when they come back to Pittsburgh. RYCHE N ROLL FOREVER!