On the latest episode of the 80's Glam Metalcast, host Metal Mike spoke with vocal legend Geoff Tate. He discusses his latest ventures and revisits classic albums from his days in Queensrÿche including Operation: Mindcrime, Empire, and Promised Land. 

On playing Empire in full on tour and if it feels like it’s been over 30 years since it’s release

Tate: "Yeah, it really does. A lot of time has gone by and there’s has been a lot of water under the bridge. It sure is a lot of the fun going back playing the songs though. I did quite a few shows last year before the pandemic hit and I was having a fantastic time. It was a treat for me because I never had a chance to play all the songs while the album was out. Then over the years when I was in Queensrÿche, we would only play certain songs from it. Funny enough for me, when I write a song, even if it’s a long time ago....I remember it. I have a hard time remembering other people’s songs. Like cover songs, I can never remember the words. I highly recommend everyone to check out the upcoming tour, especially if they love the Empire album."

On where his idea of Operation:Mindcrime came from and how his bandmates reacted to it 

Tate: "Quite a bit of it was inspired by people I knew and had met at the time in the mid 80’s while I was living in Montreal. It was a real interesting time. There was a lot of political unrest. There was a very powerful group that was trying to force the Canadian government to succeed from the union of Canada. It was pretty amazing to be witness to all that. When I brought my idea in to the band, there was a lot of push back. My writing partner Chris DeGarmo got it right away. He really jumped in and supported the idea. Him and I pretty much took the reigns of the project. Eventually the rest of the guys got on board once they could see what was going on."

On the Promised Land album 

Tate: "After the Empire album and tour, we didn’t make any music for about three years. We kinda all went our separate ways. Promised Land was an effort to get the band back together and making music again. It worked, we all got together again for a brief time and made the album. It didn’t happen the way I thought it would. I thought we were going to all get together on this remote island and live and breathe and write and get all creative in this remote place, like communal living. I thought we were going to get in some deep conversations about life and it was going to come out in the record. It didn’t turn out that way at all. It ended up being me and Chris on the island for like eiught months while we made the album. The other guys just came in to do their parts and would leave. It still turned out really well, I’m really happy with that album. It’s the only Queensrÿche album that we ever did that has the same kind of vibe throughout the entire record. It keeps you in this feel rather than changing moods every other song like a lot of the albums do."

On reuniting with his old bandmates in Queensrÿche
 
Tate: "I'm very happy the way things are. I spent 30-plus years making music with those guys, and I'm very proud of our legacy and what we achieved and the albums we made, songs we wrote. And I don't feel the need to go back in time and resurrect that. I'm fine with where I'm at now and what I'm doing. I love the touring that I'm doing and I have a fantastic band of musicians that are incredible to play with. So I don't really feel a need to go backwards in that respect. Usually bands do those kind of tours because the money is so good. I don't really need the money. So I'm pretty happy right now."

Sweet Oblivion, the musical project centered around revered vocalist Geoff Tate, have released a video for "Another Change", a track from the upcoming album, Relentless, produced by Aldo Lonobile and set for release on April 9 via Frontiers Music Srl. Watch the video below, and pre-order/save Relentless on CD, Limited Edition Green Vinyl, and/or Digital formats here.

Relentless is the sophomore album from Sweet Oblivion, which showcases former Queensrÿche vocalist Geoff Tate. Conceived, overseen, and A&R'ed by Serafino Perugino, President and A&R director of Frontiers Records, the project sees Tate returning to a musical style he is revered for. The self-titled debut album caused quite a stir in the international hard rock and metal scene since it brought Tate back to a musical landscape akin to the sound of the stone cold classic metal albums he released with Queensrÿche during the ‘80s. But what made the album work so well was that instead of being a simple throwback, other different musical influences were thrown into the mix, allowing fans to hear Tate in a simultaneously familiar and new musical setting.

While the production and main songwriting on the previous record were handled by Simone Mularoni of DGM, this time the production was instead handled by his fellow Italian metal maestro Aldo Lonobile (Secret Sphere, Timo Tolkki's Avalon, Archon Angel).

Not only does Aldo have producution and songwriting credits on the album, he also features on guitar. Other musicians appearing on the album include Michele Sanna on drums, Luigi Andreone on bass, and Antonio Agate on keyboards.

This time around, Tate is more involved in the songwriting and asked Aldo to draft a very special song for him, which he would ultimately sing in Italian. The song, 'Aria', also features guitars from Walter Cianciusi and Dario Parente, who are now in the Operation: Mindcrime live band with Tate.

"I have been spending more and more time in Italy over the last few years and the people and culture have captured my heart. I truly enjoyed working with my Italian counterparts to create this classic metal album," says Tate.

Musically, this album showcases the great songwriting and performing talents of Tate, Lonobile and his cast of musicians and also marks a very welcomed return for Tate to a style that he made famous along with his former band.

Fans of Tate’s work in Queensryche’s early days and of the previous Sweet Oblivion record will not want to miss this.

Tracklisting:

"Once Again One Sin"
"Strong Pressure"
"Let It Be"
"Another Change"
"Wake Up Call"
"Remember Me"
"Anybody Out There"
"Aria"
"I’ll Be The One"
"Fly Angel Fly"

"Another Change" video:

"Strong Pressure" lyric video:

Lineup:

Geoff Tate - Vocals
Aldo Lonobile - Guitars
Luigi Andreone - Bass
Antonio Agate - Keys
Michele Sanna - Drums