In a recent interview on The SDR Show, Geoff Tate discussed why Queensrÿche never aimed to create hit songs.
“We never tried to write hits,” the singer said when asked whether the band felt pressured to produce hits or follow a specific direction after the success of ‘Empire’ and ‘Operation: Mindcrime.’
Tate elaborated, “No, who knows what that is. A hit is something that’s not just you as a person making the music. It’s the whole team of people putting the song together, to pushing the song out there on it every day, selling records and stores and nowadays it’s streaming.”
He continued, “A whole different thing. It’s not just one person. It’s not just the band.” One host then asked whether Tate felt their music was in sync with the culture at the time, while another wondered if he felt creatively aligned during that period with songs like ‘Last Time in Paris’ and ‘Real World.’
Tate explained, “It was always a feeling. We always had this philosophy of no limits. There was nothing that was going to keep us from pursuing our musical idea.”
He added, “We weren’t going to give into, ‘Oh, it’s not fashionable, or oh, it’s not heavy or oh, it’s too light or it’s not light enough or doesn’t have any similarity to Kim Carnes’ ‘Bette Davis Eyes.’ We’re not going to think about that. We’re just going to do what we feel is right and that was always our goal.”
Last month, during a conversation with Metalhead Marv from This Day In Metal, Tate addressed the possibility of reuniting with his former band. “I don’t think it’s likely, really, at this point. I mean, there’s been several offers on the table, getting the band back together. And nothing has inspired anybody to get in the same room or even pick up the phone and talk.”
He added, “So, I think it’s pretty unlikely. In fact, there’s not really a band anymore [Laughs]. With [drummer Scott] Rockenfield gone, it’s just Eddie [Jackson, bass] and Michael [Wilton, guitar] playing, using the name Queensrÿche, of course, which is very valuable. And it’s not really a ‘band band’ as we know it. So, yeah, I don’t really think it’s likely.”
Geoff Tate is set to begin his final ‘Operation: Mindcrime’ US tour in 2025. The tour kicks off on March 18 in Tucson and runs until April 25 in Boise, Idaho. It resumes on September 25 in Greenville and concludes on October 18 in North Tonawanda.
