Former long-time Queensryche frontman/songwriter Geoff Tate’s latest musical projects seem to come in threes. First, he has just released the second part of a three-album trilogy from his Operation: Mindcrime project – the band he created when he parted ways with Queensryche in 2012. And he is also going to be embarking on a short tour in November with two other vocalists of some acclaim in a project called Trinity – but more about that later.
Operation: Mindcrime was the name of a critically-acclaimed hit concept album by Queensryche released in 1988, and became the name of his new project, as the music he is creating is very much of a similar vein – melodic hard rock with an evocative, powerful lyrical narrative coursing through its entirety.
The first album of the trilogy, The Key, was released last year to widespread excellent reviews and welcomed by fans a true artistic return to form for Tate. Resurrection is the second album, and was released earlier this month through Frontiers Records. When completed, the trilogy will be considered to be an epic work of storytelling – operatic in scope and imagery, with a theme that is deep, intelligent, and truly thought-provoking.
“Essentially, it’s about a guy that invents a very revolutionary thing, a product if you will. It’s a computer program that allows the user to see reality in a whole new way. And his partners in this endeavour blackmail him and take the product from him and have him murdered. But he lives on, in a sense. And the second album is the beginning of his resurrection: it’s about rediscovering himself and putting the situation behind him and moving on to regain control of his life again,” Tate explained, adding that the inventor saw his creation as a gift to the world to bring it together in peace and harmony, while his partners saw only massive corporate profits – a theme seemingly pulled from current news headlines.
“The thing I really liked about it was the alternative look at reality. It’s something that fascinates me and that scientists are working on now. Mathematicians and quantum physicists are really focusing on this way of looking at how we quantify and qualify what is life and what is real. And in the story, this guy manages to do it in a computer program and he wants to give it to the world because he thinks a new vision of reality would be a good thing right now.”
The idea for the story came while Tate participated in the arduous, but ultimately spiritually uplifting Camino de Santiago, an ancient pilgrimage through remote parts of Spain, leading to the Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in Galicia in northwestern Spain, where it is believed that the remains of the Apostle James lie.
“It was basically a 500-mile walk that really helped clear my head and simplify things in my life. I found it to be very cleansing. And while I was on the journey I wrote a broad story concept and some characterization outlines and then began tapping out some preliminary rough sketches of some of the musical ideas. I brought it home and worked for a few months on the music and then enlisted the help of my long-time collaborator Kelly Gray who really helped me shape the tracks,” said Tate, who said once the songs began coming together, he brought in more musical pals to help record the songs.
These included lifelong friends Scott Moughton (guitar) and Randy Gane (keyboards), as well as Megadeth bassist Dave Ellefson, former Dio and AC DC drummer Simon Wright, former Whitesnake and Foreigner drummer Brian Tichey, Candlebox drummer Scott Mercado, and Disturbed bassist John Moyer.
“We did most of the work at the London Bridge studio here in Seattle and we recorded all three albums at the same time. And then I spent the year just kind of putting the finishing touches on the first album and then when it was released, I did the tweaks on the second album. So the same musicians will appear on all three albums,” he said, adding that the as-yet-untitled final piece of the musical puzzle will come out in the fall of 2017.
“I liked the idea of a trilogy for many years and had been toying around with it, but never had the story. It wasn’t until I was on the Santiago de Compostela trip that it came together. And if I think about it, if I hadn’t have done the hike, it might not have come to me. I think the trip is meant to mean different things to different people: each person has their own individual experience. For me I did feel that things were clarified for me that I developed a greater perspective and simplification of the priorities in my life.”
For the song Taking on the World on Resurrection, Tate also enlisted the help of a couple of powerhouse vocal pals, former Judas Priest and Iced Earth frontman Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens, and former Iron Maiden and Wolfsbane singer Blaze Bayley. The experience in the studio working on the track proved to be so much fun that the trio decided to put together a show and they will hit the road later this fall for a short run of dates under the banner Trinity throughout the northeastern United States.
“We sang together and had a great time doing it and we thought it would be kind of fun to continue the good time out on the road. We then actively started looking for some dates that we could do, but found that it was really difficult to get all three of us in the same country at the same time due to our schedules. We managed to find some time towards the end of the year, and we’re looking forward to going out there and playing for fans,” said Tate.
“Honestly, before I started working with them I didn’t know them really well, but well enough that I wanted to have them on the album, obviously. I had met them both over the years and actually knew Tim a bit better because I just happened to run into him more times. But Tim and Blaze had known each other quite well for a while, so it seemed kind of cool and it’s all worked out pretty well so far.
“It wasn’t any major thought process involved, it actually was just a simple thing of seeing them live, knowing how good they were and just talking about the concept of playing together. It seems with most of my experiences in life, it’s like I just randomly run into somebody, or you go and see their show and something happens where you are in the same place for a period of time and just through conversation you find that you have something in common.”
Tate said that besides their talent, experience and professionalism, he respected how Owens and Bayley conducted themselves during what were sometimes difficult times when each one headed up legendary metal bands, filling in for true icons of the business. Owens was the frontman for Judas Priest from 1996 replacing Rob Halford, and stayed with the band for two studio albums and two live albums until Halford came back in 2003.
Bayley took over centre stage for Iron Maiden from Bruce Dickinson in 1994, lasting five years until the so-called ‘human air raid siren’ returned to the fold in 1999. He, too, recorded two studio albums but, like Owens, dealt with heavy criticism from some fans and critics for having stepped into the shoes of the seemingly irreplaceable Halford and Dickinson. They handled their situations and eventual departures with grace and moved on to continue to have fulfilling careers in the music business.
“Now that you have brought it up, I think those are qualities in them that I do find that they have in abundance and that I do respect. Honestly, though, I just like them as people. We had a lot of laughs; we had a good time in the studio. They’re really open, giving people. They’re not caught up in their own myths. They are down-to-earth guys that you could sit down at a little roadhouse bar down the road and drink a beer with and they will tell you funny stories and be good company,” said Tate, who explained that the Trinity shows will basically feature songs made famous by each one of their former bands.
“Basically, we’re the three ex-singers of famous bands so we’re going to each do a set of our music that we did with those famous bands and then we will kind of harmonize with each other on some songs and trade off vocals on some songs. And we’re sharing one band, so it’s going to be very tight and solid. The band members are also going to be people of note, although we’re still putting the lineup together, so there will be an announcement as we get closer to the tour dates.”
The first Trinity show is Nov. 18 at The Montage Music Hall in Rochester, NY, followed by a date at Mulcahy’s Pub and Concert Hall in Wantagh on Nov. 19, before moving on to Sellersville Pennsylvania the next night. Dates in Syracuse and Poughkeepsie, Londonderry, New Hampshire and Annapolis, Maryland take the band up to the final date of the mini-tour, a show at B.B. King’s in New York City on Nov. 27.
“All three of us are just kind of taking it easy and slow and seeing where it goes. We do have a lot of promoters calling us now wanting us to perform together in their city or even abroad. And that’s nice – it’s nice to be wanted. The biggest conflict for the three of us is that we all have prior commitments, so we have to work around our existing schedules, which is quite challenging. But I really do hope we can do more shows together after this run. I kind of anticipate that it’s going to be very enjoyable not just for us but for the fans and that we will all want to do more,” Tate said.
Tate will also be performing throughout Europe and North America in support of Resurrection for the remainder of 2016 and into 2017. For more information visit http://operationmindcrime.com.
* Jim Barber is a veteran award-winning journalist and author based in Napanee, ON, who has been writing about music and musicians for a quarter of a century. Besides his journalistic endeavours, he now works as a communications and marketing specialist. Contact him at jimbarberwritingservices@gmail.com
SHARE THIS POST:
