Todd La Torre (Queensryche, Crimson Glory)

[Rebel]

Just saw the news that Geoff Tate had left Queensryche and is being replaced by Todd La Torre. I saw Todd perform with Crimson Glory last year and I was taken off my feet, the man is practically Midnight Reincarnated, so it absolutely baffles me why he's wasting his time in Queensryche, which has done nothing but suck for what... at least a decade?

Though, by comparison, Crimson Glory has done absolutely nothing in the studio for a decade, but I felt like they had way more revival potential than Queensryche.

anyone else familiar with La Torre or the respective fates of Crimson Glory and Queensryche?

[Mormegil]

Holy crap, I didn't even know Tate had left the band. :0

..Or that Crimson Glory was still alive, but I never was much of a fan of them anyway.

At least the only way for 'rÿche to go is up. What a shame, all of their works until Promised Land were pure gold...

[Rebel]

Looks like La Torre is staying in Crimson Glory as well, which makes me wonder if perhaps Fates Warning needs a new singer too, just to complete the trio

[brought2ubyletterC]

Geoff didn't leave...he got kicked the f*ck out.

He single-handedly ruined that band after DeGarmo left...much as he's my vocal god, you have to cut out the cancer where you find it.

Todd is f*ckin' amazing; I had a friend who went to the Rising West shows earlier this month and she said it was killer.

[Mormegil]

Geoff didn't leave...he got kicked the f*ck out.

He single-handedly ruined that band after DeGarmo left...much as he's my vocal god, you have to cut out the cancer where you find it.

I hope you're right, the band, even (or should I say especially?) without Tate has some huuuge talent and it's been such a same seeing it go to waste.
Now, I'm not sure why DeGarmo left, but if it too was for musical differences, maybe, just maybe there could be a chance of him rejoining now..?
One can only dream... *sigh*

Just my opinion of course, like sasquatch and Nessie, surely there could be people out there, who prefer American Soldier and.. whatever the name of the latest effort was, to masterpieces like Mindcrime and Warning.

/rant

[brought2ubyletterC]

DeGarmo has never stated why he left, but it's been said that he didn't like touring and wanted to be with his family. He still writes music from time to time (in more recent years for the band Dredg), so it wouldn't be an impossibility if the guys approached him to co-write new music, but he didn't necessarily tour with them. I would love if he came back to the band someday, but he's been gone for almost 15 years now so I really don't see it happening. But never say never!

I wish no ill will upon Geoff; whenever I have met him he's always been very nice to me and I don't think badly towards him as a person. But the band had a very similar situation to what Nightwish had with Tarja and her husband; Geoff's wife became their manager and he pretty much let her have full reign of everything (it has been rumored for years that she is a huge reason why DeGarmo left, although he has never publicly admitted it). While I do not think badly of Geoff as a person, his wife is another story. I have met her in person too and I will just say we are not karmically compatible.

I just think the direction of the music over the last several albums have shown clearly that there is a split in the musical vision between him and the other guys. Geoff's first solo album was not bad; pretty "lite-rock" in most respects but not bad to listen to. I am curious to hear the follow-up.

What does worry me about the new lineup is the songwriting, since DeGarmo and Tate were always the chief songwriters of the band and while Whip (Michael Wilton) has contributed some musically, I don't think his repertoire is enough to hold up the entire band. This is all the more reason I do hope they recruit DeGarmo to co-write some songs with them, to get some of that old Queensryche sound back and maybe win a few fans back that have lost interest since he left.

[adrian9]

what the fuck is going on!????????????

geoff tate is out? fuck queensyrche

[Mormegil]

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That's impressive. Had I been drunk enough, I might have not even realised I wasn't listening to the original Tate versions. An outstanding singer for sure, but it bugs me that he might sound just a little too much like Geoff. In any case at least I have interest again in this band.

[brought2ubyletterC]

There was a time I might have agreed with you Adrian, but as someone who has seen the drama with this band for many years...it had to come to this eventually. Tate's ego has pulled the band down for a long time; go check out his performance at Rocklahoma if you want proof. He pretty much stands there for over 2 minutes and tells the crowd they suck. You're a musician; you know that even if the crowd does suck, you always remain professional and perform as if this is the greatest crowd you've ever played in front of. I think this is probably the best example of how his attitude has gotten out of control and something had to be done.

I wish they could have worked things out too, but maybe right now everyone's better off going their separate ways.

I guess if you want to compare, a lot of Queensryche fans feel about him the way many Strato fans do about Tolkki these days.

LOL, I would say that Todd sounds too much like Geoff...if Geoff still sounded like this.

What really amazed me was hearing the interview he did on KISW, and said that he's had NO formal vocal training whatsoever!

[Mormegil]

I watched parts of the Rocklahoma show since I heard it was his last show with the band and wow, what a douche... I know his voice hasn't been what it used to for quite a while, but man, did someone put tranquilizers in Geoff's drink or something?
The rest of the original bunch, Wilton, Jackson and Rockenfield sound as great as ever though.

[Rebel]

It's funny that you complain he sounds too much like Tate, because I thought he was creepily similar to Midnight

[AAAAAAAAAA]

Funny? Creepily?
Damn you and your unnecessary embellishments..

[J.S. Bach]

May I come in AID of embellishments?? They are rather unavoidable and they refine what is, in one moment, coarse. I wouldn't dare to call any well-thought embellishment "unnecessary" as your brute-mind would think. Not a single Lute player would dare to be mindless about their embellishments. Not in my time! They wouldn't poLUTE the environment of a nice chapel with an unembellished gut-revolting aria.

[brought2ubyletterC]

So let me ask you Bach, do you think Todd would sound killer singing your tunes too?

[Rebel]

Funny? Creepily?
Damn you and your unnecessary embellishments..

Get back to me after you hear La Torre singing "Burning Bridges", and tell me that it's not a bit unsettling. It's like how Age of Aquarius found a dead ringer for Edu Falaschi, or Lothloryen finding the long lost son of Hansi Kursch's voice.

[icecab21]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvMGUiju3Jg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5nHYlPTEOw
maybe hansi had some fun in brazil

[scorpions]

Q&A: Geoff Tate on Queensryche's Ugly Split, Backstage Brawl in Brazil
'These are my ideas, my concepts. Are they gonna hand it to some kid to sing?'

http://www.rollingstone.com/music/news/ ... z1ywC8I2AO

[brought2ubyletterC]

"Some kid"...Todd's 40 years old!

[icecab21]

the rest of the guys sound like assholes in the interview, what are they saying about tate?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHICUMjG4oI
listaning to todd, tates recorded voice is better but if todd can perform the songs and tate can't then it will be better for them.

[brought2ubyletterC]

^I've met all of the Queensryche guys on several occasions over the years, and they are anything but assh*les. Just because they have had a parting of the ways with Tate (or vice-versa) does not make any of them assh*les. I wish both parties luck in their respective endeavors and look forward to hearing the music they each do separately.

[icecab21]

Scott [Rockenfield] looks at me and he smirks and says, "We just fired your whole family, and you're next."

well i think that part is a asshole thing to do.

the way the people were fired seems bad

its easy to meet people and have them not be assholes when you meet them. plenty of people have met tolkki without him being a asshole, yet we have a forum dedicated to people calling him a asshole. its a different dynamic from fan interaction to behind the scenes and business interaction.

i don't mean to say they do asshole things all the time, but smirking and saying that someone is fired is provoking.

[brought2ubyletterC]

That's just one person's side of the story, that's all I'm saying. I'm sure that things have been done on BOTH sides that could be considered uncool or not very nice.

[icecab21]

that likly is the case

[brought2ubyletterC]

Speaking of which, all parties involved made their statements, which can be accessed publicly through the King County court in Washington State. Apparently the testimony from witnesses is that the incident happened in Brazil, but there was *no* knife involved.

Well, if you want to read the sworn statements made by everyone involved, you can find the files here:
http://www.anybodylistening.net/breakdo ... pic=2906.0