GEOFF TATE’s QUEENSRYCHE – Frequency Unknown +4 (2013)
“Frequency Unknown”, the new album from the Geoff Tate-fronted version of QUEENSRŸCHE, will be released next April 23.
Tate was booted from Queensryche last summer after an aggressive fallout, but went on to form his own version of the band with the same name.
“Frequency Unknown” cover art features a (not so) subtle message to his former bandmates; a fist (presumably Geoff’s) wearing gold rings and the title, for short, resumes “F.U.”. We’ll leave the letters open to your interpretation…
The disc contains 10 new tracks and four newly recorded Queensryche classics: “I Don’t Believe in Love”, “Empire”, “Jet City Woman” and “Silent Lucidity”.
Tate’s studio lineup for “Frequency Unknown” included ex- Whitesnake & Quiet Riot bassist Rudy Sarzo, guitarists Robert Sarzo and Kelly Gray, drummer Simon Wright (ex- AC/DC) and keyboardist Randy Gane, joined by bassist/producer Jason Slater and an array of guests that included former Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland, Y&T’s Dave Meniketti, Brad Gillis of Night Ranger, Ty Tabor from King’s X, ex- Judas Priest K.K. Downing, Lita Ford and Craig Locicero of Forbidden.
If you’ve followed along with the whole Queensryche saga over the last few months and you are a fan, you are almost ashamed to claim that fandom in public at this point.
For an act that was once so proud of the fact that they were above the fray of their contemporaries, it’s just flat out embarrassing to see the sad division of a band that was once so creatively excellent.
Now, we have two Queensryches out there. The first one, made up of the ‘rest of the guys’ and new vocalist Todd LaTorre, have proclaimed a return to the classic sound of the first five releases. They have been somewhat classier than Geoff Tate during the whole split, but at the same time haven’t been shy to point fingers and make their private legal battle with Tate immensely public.
As for Geoff… well, he’s kind of gone insane the last few months publicly. Over the last few months, we’ve heard everything from why it was alright to spit in the face of his former drummer, rants from the stage where he told fans of the band that they suck, and yes, even stereotyping talk about the man’s dick size. Certainly, the legacy has taken a lot of tarnish during this time.
However, none of that really matters in the biggest picture for fans. As a Queensryche fan, all they care about are the tunes.
To date, the release of “Frequency Unknown” has been a total trainwreck. The fan backlash to the samples was so bad that they planned an immediate remix by Billy Sherwood, but after few days announced, he declined…
The lineup of this Tate’s Queensryche has changed several times already, so any thoughts of cohesiveness are hard to imagine for this recording.
But after listening the entire disc, I think “Frequency Unknown” is not that bad. Indeed, it’s a good, quite average hard rock album, with some flaws, some fillers, but also some good songs and musicianship.
I’m not sure if Tate is trying to prove some kind of point that he can still record heavy material, but there are some hard hitting moments on this record. Tracks like “Slave” or the stomping “Running Backwards” are heavier than anything he’s done in his recorded past.
As for Tate, he’s not sounding very strong vocally these days. I get it that you can’t keep up being a high ranging member of metal’s elite forever, but in parts he comes off strained to the point where it’s noticeable.
Talking about the production, it’s better than expected. There’s moments where the wall of sound fits really well the harder tracks, and overall is quite solid.
Though, some mixing and mastering presents few flaws. The transition from “Cold” to “Dare” almost sounds like you are changing between two separate CDs recorded at different points.
In short, “Frequency Unknown” is not a disaster as many expected. It’s a good hard rock album, average at moments, but not bad at all.
The big problem is the moniker under this disc is released: there’s very few places where “Frequency Unknown” really sounds like ‘classic’ Queensryche. As example, hardcore fans are going to hate the re-recording of “Empire”, completely hollow on guitar and with Tate on obvious auto-tuning. These new versions were not necessary…
If you take “Frequency Unknown” with your mind out of the Queensryche brand, you will be able to enjoy several songs on this album, just good and listenable Hard Rock tunes.
01. Cold
02. Dare
03. Give It To You
04. Slave
05. In The Hands Of God
06. Running Backwards
07. Life Without You
08. Everything
09. Fallen
10. The Weight Of The World
Bonus Tracks:
11. I Don’t Believe In Love (2013 re-recorded)
12. Empire (2013 re-recorded)
13. Jet City Woman (2013 re-recorded)
14. Silent Lucidity (2013 re-recorded)
Geoff Tate – vocals
Rudy Sarzo – bass
Robert Sarzo, Kelly Gray – guitar
Simon Wright – drums
Randy Gane – keyboards
Chris Poland – guest guitar
Dave Meniketti – guest guitar
Brad Gillis – guest guitar
Ty Tabor – guest guitar
K.K. Downing – guest guitar
Craig Locicero – guest guitar
Lita Ford – guest guitar
Pre-Order:
www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00BKBCGDW
