It is unheard of for any music release to create such a vitriolic response that a contest would be held to honor the contestant with the most animosity towards it, and awarded with a very cool prize to boot. But that is exactly what has happened with Queensryche’s “Frequency Unknown.” To be fair, this isn’t an ordinary record release from a band with legendary status in the hard rock genre. This is the first record to market from a band that has been fractured by inner turmoil and is now embroiled in court proceedings to determine which version of Queensryche will end up with the right to use the name.
Geoff Tate is the only original Queensryche member in the version of the band that released “Frequency Unknown.” That doesn’t sit well with fans who believe that this release should have been a Tate solo record, which may be why this album is being judged by impossibly unfair standards.
In a recent interview with Tate, we discussed the conclusions that many have jumped to about “Frequency Unknown.” The full interview will be featured in the near future, but the main thing that stuck with me after a lengthy conversation is that Tate considers himself an artist who will not be musically limited by the parameters that others have set for him. To him, art is about expression, not about catering to the wishes of the masses. With this perspective in mind, I’d like to offer my thoughts about “Frequency Unknown” to those who have not pre-judged the record based on what others are saying.
First, let me start by saying that I am a lifelong Queensryche fan who would like nothing more than to have all of the original members (including Chris DeGarmo) playing together in the band. But since the chances of that happening are almost non-existent, my only choice is to listen to, and fairly evaluate, the music that is released.
One of the things that I have always loved about Queensryche is that they never settled upon a sound that defined them. Every album was unique in its own way. I’ll be the first to admit that the changes have always taken getting used to with each new release. Queensryche has never been about ear candy that quickly grabs your attention, but lacks staying power. Quite the contrary! Every Queensryche album grew on me the more that I listened to it, and “Frequency Unknown” is no exception. The more I listen to it, the more I like it.
If this was released as a Geoff Tate solo album, I think that the reaction would have been vastly different because there are some great songs and outstanding musicianship on the record. It is a very unique sounding album, but with all different musicians playing on it, that is to be expected. In fact, if it didn’t sound different, you can be sure that people would be panning Tate for putting together a bunch of knock-offs of the original band.
“Frequency Unknown” is a diverse hard rock album that will be appreciated by those who listen to it with an open mind. Instead of comparing it to the albums that have been released throughout the Queensryche’s illustrious history, imagine “FU” as a debut album from a new band, because that is essentially what it is. Instead of complaining that Tate isn’t singing in a register that is well beyond the range of most singers, appreciate his distinct singing style that has evolved over time. Instead of mocking the lyrical content as sour grapes towards his former bandmates, put yourself in Tate’s place and appreciate that his writing comes from the heart and captures a very real moment in time.
To highlight individual songs on “Frequency Unknown” would not do the album justice. The fact of the matter is that my favorite songs change with each listen, just as they always have with every album that Queensryche has put out over the past three decades. If you are a Queensryche fan, you owe it to yourself to listen to the album several times in its entirety before jumping to any conclusions based on the opinions of those who are prone to knee-jerk reactions in a short attention span world.
VERY well put, AW! You couldn’t have said it any better. Great review! We need more people to give things a chance before placing judgement.
Overall F.U. is a pretty good effort. However the initial release had many technical issues and felt like it was rushed. Cleopatra Records is offering a improved version with proof of purchase and if you have not gotten it yet I highly recommend it as the difference is huge especially on the last 4 tracks.
This article describes me to a T. I love this CD, and Geoff Tate hopefully keeps up the great work!
Great review! Bought the album (w/Geoff as singer) before reading your review. Now I can’t wait to listen to it!
I think Tate is a DBag… but… Honestly, I do think his Queensryche album and the one by the real Queensryche are both better Queensryche albums than the combined Queensryche put out since The Promised Land. I set into FU expecting to hate it… but its really not bad… even the production and mix are not as bad as has been reported. The album by the Real Queensryche has a heavier old school style,but what keeps it merely good and not great is that the songs sound like they are fashioned out of a bunch of verses and bridges to me… I dont think any song has a chorus that I think is a suitable chorus. Tate’s album at least has some real choruses on the songs. Tate’s has more of the laid back vibe in spots that reminds me of some of the Rage for Order, Promised Land and Empire songs… whereas Real Queensryche remindes me of pre-Rage for Order Queensryche with a little Mindcrime in there as well. So in a way, you can see some of the styles of past Queensryche split via the split. I would rate both albums a B or B-… both are good… neither are great.
I agreed with a few things and disagreed with a few things that you have written here,but I wanted to take a moment to thank you for giving your opinion, fairly and reasonably. I wish there was more of that during this split.
I DO NOT AGREE AT ALL, IT’S A HYBRID DISC AS THE ULTIMATE OF QUEENSRYCHE. NOTHING NEW, IT’S VERY SIMPLE AND COMMON, THE ELECTRICITY ONE MORE TIME IT’S GONE. THE EMPIRE WAS THE ULTIMATE GREAT DISC
I’ll agree that there are some decent songs on the album. Not great, just decent. But this is by no means a Queensryche album. Not even close. This should be a Geoff Tate solo album. And when compared to the new Queensryche, it doesn’t hold a candle. Scott, Eddie, Michael and the new guys show that they know how to make a true Queensryche album!
This is what a true QR fan sounds like. Even those who disparage Tate know full well that all QR albums take time to digest and that there has never been a QR “sound”. Like it or don’t like, but give it the just due that the earlier releases were given. Great review.
OH God, The “real queensryche”? Dbag? I think some people need to exit high school.
I listened to it last night and to be honest,I put the entire cd on my I-pod,what’s that tell you! It kicks ass,long over-due
really not impressed with the F.U. album I was really looking forward to a great Album with the line-up Tate has put together. And Tate himself being an incredible voice (despite being such a complete dick) I expected so much more. After listening to both the new QR albums I think its fairly obvious who should be allowed to keep the name. Tate has come out with an O.K. album but it is not QueensRyche. I hope he continues to produce new music but His Former band is definitely better without Tate and far more Ryche than Tate.
very cool art-work cover. 5 kudos
Same bad album since Promised Land!!! I don’t give a chance of that terrible album, He had enough from my part…
I’d like to say that F.U. is a strong record with its own unique merits from start to finish, but at the end of the day it has the same problem that every Queensryche release since Promised Land has: two or three decent tracks and a whole lot of meh to fill up the rest of the running time. Just goes to show you how much Tate relied on Chris DeGarmo to fix up and flesh out whatever ideas he happened to have back in the old days, because Geoff’s chemistry with Jason Slater is downright awful in comparison and is singlehandedly responsible for the degeneration of QR’s musical viability as the years have gone on.
We have two interesting, atmospheric cuts in the form of In The Hands Of God and The Weight Of The World, but when the other QR just released a self-titled full of real vitality, urgency, energy and dare I say it, heart….I dunno, I just find it hard to think that Geoff has his own mind and heart in the right place. Hate to say it, but it teems to me that he’s yet another self-proclaimed artist who is content treading water, not unlike guys like Peter Gabriel and Rod Stewart.
That being said, I call tell that you wrote this review genuinely and without bias, so good job. Knowing what I know about Geoff over the years and how he works, its hard to really see F.U. as anything other than an incredibly rushed and unfocused album that even a re-mixing couldn’t fix up, but to each his own.
Weight of the World, Slave, Give it to you, Fallen etc. Strong new release!
Out of the two “Queensryche” releases I have to go with FU as being the strongest. None of the songs on the other Queensryche album grabbed me at all. They’re ok…good even..but sound a little too generic to me for the most part. Spore is ok, but makes me think a little of Justified which is what Queensryche with Geoff still on vocals could achieve with Chris still in the mix.
Queensryche is dead, but there is no denying Frequency Unknown is a solid album.
Gonna meet this one halfway John Ryan….F.U. has some good tracks on it….and yet it also has stuff on it that’s so bad I can’t imagine Geoff really thought it was a good idea to record them (Slave, Give It To You, Fallen, Running Backwards). The other QR album may be a more straightforward metal album, but the quality control is far better than what we get on F.U., and that’s why it’s a better record — even AllMusic and Billboard agree. Better luck next time Geoff….
P.S. Please stop smoking Mr. Tate. You’ve already lost your upper register! 🙁
I think that Geoff Tate has that extra certain something that makes his music always special, soulfull, inspired and personaĺ. To me the Queensryche album with the new singer is awfully average and lacking personnality and playing a style of music that is honestly Very Very dated and could had been played almost by any local “traditional metal” band in the USA. Geoff Tate is a bit to subtle and complicated to get a massive audience and long-term popularity but his ex fellow musicians seem to have only a small club circuit potential. When I Hear Geoff Tate on the F.U. album I feel there is still something classic there, a unique talent at work… Musicians, like Rockenfield, Jackson and Wilton are without a doubt Very talented too, but with such a singer as La Torre, their whole music is relegated in the second or third league. The voice of great singers defines the sound of great bands, how many singers in the Last 30 years of rock Music are so vital as Geoff Tate? La Torre is no Brian Jones nor Sammy Hagar who joined bands in which the lead guitarists were essentiaĺ, sorry Wilton, without DeGarmo you are Very far Form Angus Young and Van Halen who could challenge the “change of lead singers” contest…
At last, I have an impression that Tate has a great lot of fans who are not necessary fans of old-school 80’s metal who won’t buy an average album of ex-Queensryche musicians who use the name of a band defined by their sacred singer…Geoff Tate and Queensryche just needed a big mainstream radio hit to keep calm and cool, but it never happened, not only that no song was written that could have made it but the band just didn’t get enough support from the industrie and media. If Geoff Tate finds a way in the future to sing a hit single, the others will come back on their knees to play again with him, since I havé an impression that money and success is the main motor for these aging men, exception that Tate didn’t Bertray his artistic vision only for money, since he still havé some focus…
Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong! I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but your entire perspective on Tate and Todd alike has a few problems. You aren’t really seeing the big picture for either band, so let me bring up a few things for you to think about-
1. Geoff Tate is definitely a talented singer, and was at one point one of the best ever. However, he had a lot of vocal training (opera included) as a teen/young adult plus a great deal of live singing experience before he was invited as a guest vocalist for the E.P. Todd though? Todd is 40 years old, has had no classical training whatsoever, and only discovered he could really sing in the last four years. Therefore, it isn’t fair to condemn Todd’s singing abilities or his writing abilities because, in all honesty…he really hasn’t had too many opportunities to demonstrate just how good he could be in a band setting, since he hasn’t had the years of experience nor training Tate has benefited from. Hell, the REAL QR lineup’s self-titled is his recorded debut as both lead singer and as a co-writer.
It really begs the question: if Todd and Geoff’s positions had been reversed, would Geoff have been able to do an album as good as the new S/T had he taken 20 years or so to discover his own singing abilities? Probably not, especially since Geoff’s a heavy smoker/drinker. Give Todd a chance to come into his own before condemning him. Hell, the fact he can blast through all the classic material competently (even excellently) live despite NO VOCAL TRAINING actually goes a long way in proving he has far more natural singing talent than Geoff ever had. 🙂
2. If you are a fan of Geoff Tate’s music, then good for you if that’s what floats your boat. I personally thought Kings & Thieves was generic, and F.U. wasn’t much better either. Ask yourself though: has Geoff demonstrated any songwriting capability whatsoever in his entire musical career with QR? He didn’t write a single note on any of the classic albums and even brought in outside songwriters like Randy Gane and Jason Slater since the 2000’s to compensate for his unwillingness to work with his bandmates following DeGarmo’s departure. Specifically, Geoff’s contributions to QR have been strictly lyrical and conceptual ones (beyond his once-exceptional abilities as a frontman). That’s not to say Geoff wasn’t at one point vital to the sound of Queensryche, but he’s also not the progenitor of the band’s sound nor was he ever as big a factor as people believe in the songwriting and arrangements. You can thank Chris DeGarmo and Michael Wilton (who grew up together and played together long before ever meeting Tate) for most of that, plus Scott for all the orchestrations and Eddie for his vocal melody contributions.
Unfortunately, like most people, you have put up Geoff on a pedestal and have given him credit for things he doesn’t deserve. Praise him for his frontman abilities. Praise him for his once astute and intelligent observations on society and his ability to pen it into lyrical form. Songwriting though? “The heart of QR”? Give me a break!
This is the reality: Geoff is NOT a songwriter and he has never been a songwriter. If he ever wants to BE a good songwriter, he needs to ditch the generic post-grunge brigade (Kelly Gray, Gane, Slater) and either become a jack-of-all-trades like Todd Rundgren or Peter Gabriel…or go find someone who can bring out the best in him like DeGarmo used to do, because F.U. is definitely not his best. If it is, then someone might as well put him out of his misery now before lung cancer takes him out.
My gut instinct tells me that Geoff is probably finished after the 25th anniversary tour of O:MC wraps up and he loses the right to the QR name in November. His voice has already deteriorated to the point where he can’t even hold pitch on ‘Silent Lucidity’. Unless he goes through some rehabilitation, shifts direction into music that benefits from his voice (more atmospheric/ambient songs) and pairs up with a crack team of writers who can bring out his best….then you might as well say goodbye to him now, because he’s already done a bang-up job at making me never want to listen to another record he’s involved with ever again.
Todd and the founding QR members are already at work on a new album, and they’ll be taking their time with this one. Who knows, maybe it’ll be a work on par with O:MC or Rage For Order compositionally, especially since the chemistry is so good between everyone now. Love or hate the new S/T (which is a fine metal album on its own merits), you and rest of the diehards are going to have to evolve and accept this new chapter in the QR brand’s development, cause that’s the side that’s proven their worth in this debacle. It’s already written in stone.