Queensryche frontman ponders band’s influence

Kirk Baird

Friday, Nov. 2, 2001 | 9:34 a.m.

It seems so obvious.

Queensryche's "Silent Lucidity" is Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb."

There's the similarity in the song titles and subject matter (states of consciousness -- altered and otherwise).

There are also parallels in both song structures: slow, acoustic guitar-driven openings, which give way to the emotionally pained wale of an electric guitar.

And while both "Silent Lucidity" and "Comfortably Numb" take separate paths to completion -- the former a gradual fade, while the latter charges on with David Gilmour's epic guitar licks -- both tracks possess a melancholy quality that resonates long after the piece is over.

In summary, how could anyone familiar with both songs not see the similarities?

So it seemed surprising when Geoff Tate, frontman for Queensryche, which performs tonight at House of Blues at Mandalay Bay, had neither heard -- nor considered -- the songs' resemblance.

"Really?" Tate asked during a recent telephone interview from his home in Seattle.

He has heard comparisons to Pink Floyd and Queensryche as bands many times before in his group's 20-year history. The band has also been compared to other progressive-rock bands such as Rush and King Crimson.

Tate acknowledges how these groups and others -- including early Genesis when Peter Gabriel was with the band -- have influenced the prog-metal sound of Queensryche. Conversely, he said, he also can hear the impact his band has had on metal acts such as Metallica and Tool.

That's not to imply he's fond of the label "prog-rock band," though. He's just grown accepting of the tag.

"I guess I recognize it's basic human nature to want to categorize things," Tate said. "Although I don't like calling my music or what I write anything other than Queensryche or Geoff Tate (songs), I recognize that other people are going to call us something else. So, I just kind of get used to it."

The singer has also had to get used to life without lead guitarist and principle songwriter Chris DeGarmo, who left the band in late '97 citing "creative differences."

"Honestly, it affected us dramatically," Tate said of DeGarmo's departure. "For him to leave, that meant the responsibility (of songwriting) had to be shifted onto the other players. I thought at the time that everybody would jump at the chance. Nobody did."

So the Seattle-based band turned to Kelly Gray, a guitarist Tate worked with in a previous band, who just happened "to be there at the right time."

"(Kelly) was a neighborhood guy that we'd known for years and years ... and there he was," Tate said. "He worked fine."

With a new songwriter for the band, Queensryche released its seventh full-length studio album, "Q2K," two years ago, followed by a yearlong tour, which wrapped up in September 2000.

The plan for the band then, Tate said, was to take a break before recording a new album. By November, however, it was obvious no one in the group was ready to begin the process of writing, recording and touring with a new Queensryche record.

"So we just decided that, well, we'll all kind of do whatever we want to do and we'll get back together when the time is right," he said, adding: "And the time hasn't been right yet."

Meanwhile Tate kept busy working on a solo project -- which should be out this spring -- until early this summer when Queensryche inked a deal with Sanctuary Records, an independent label that also represents Megadeth.

To commemorate the band's signing, Sanctuary label execs suggested to the group it release a live album.

"They said, 'We've always dreamed about putting out a live Queensryche album, and you guys haven't really done one in the way we're envisioning it. What do you think about it?' "

The five bandmembers thought it was a good idea and agreed that after the next album, when the band went on tour, they would record shows for another live disc to be released in a couple of years.

Problem was, the record label didn't want to wait that two years for a live album -- they wanted one now.

Tate's response was understandable.

"You've got to be kidding," he said.

After further discussions, however, Queensryche accepted the challenge. The band then quickly went into rehearsals for what would amount to a career-spanning, double-disc set recorded over two nights in late July in Seattle's Moore Theater. A DVD of the show was also released.

In support of both the album and DVD, Queensryche is engaged in a three-week, cross-country tour, before heading into the studio in January.

Even with the shortened concert schedule, the idea of playing live to promote a live disc is unusual, Tate acknowledged.

Then again, he said, "all live albums are just a strange thing all together."

"I think I have one live album in my record collection and that's it," Tate said. "It's a Genesis record, 'Seconds Out.' It's because I saw the tour. I saw the record in the store and went, 'Oh God, I've gotta have that.' "