Classic Rock Revisited have issued an interview with QUEENSRŸCHE's Geoff Tate, conducted by A. Lee Graham, in which he discusses the band's new Operation: Mindcrime II album. The following is an excerpt from the interview:

Q: Why release Mindcrime II now? What makes 2006 the right year to finally get it out?

A: "That’s just kind of the way we do things. We’re not too good at calculating (laughs). We go with our gut feeling. It just feels right now."

Q: So it wasn’t thinking that the heavy metal community would be more receptive nowadays than in the past few years.

A: "Honestly, I don’t have much involvement in metal or the hard rock community."

Q: Yeah, but you’re one of the most identifiable voices in heavy rock, yet you’re known by some as not exactly being metal’s biggest fan. If that’s the case, it must be strange being such a key figure in a genre you’ve not exactly known for being enamored with.

A: I’m not interested in any genre. Genre is a term that was coined after, way after, my involvement with the music industry and music in general. When I was growing up and started getting interested in music, we didn’t have subgenres and categories because the industry wasn’t as categorized as it is today. It was all called rock music.

From RARE EARTH to HUMBLE PIE to CROSBY, STILLS, NASH & YOUNG to CARLY SIMON to CAROLE KING, it was all rock music. We weren’t limited to what by genre.

Today, the world is so much different because we psychologically attack each other if the other doesn’t fit into our accepted area of what sort of music they listen to. It’s really ridiculous. When you break it down, we’re all victims of the marketing mentality that’s all over our country and puts everybody into little corporate niches. I like all kinds of music."

Check out the complete interview at this location.