Geoff Tate recently sat down with Metal-Rules.com to talk about his upcoming album, which will be the third and final part of the ‘Operation: Mindcrime’ series. He also discussed the nature of making sequels to well-known albums like this one.
When asked about the Queensrÿche fans’ expectations, Tate made it clear that he isn’t concerned. He said, “Am I worried about people’s expectations? No, I’ve never been worried about that. [Laughs] Never. I didn’t worry about it with the first or second one. Why would I start worrying about the third? … Honestly, I don’t care. [Laughs] I don’t write records to make people happy or to impress them. I make them simply to make records. Whether people like them or not doesn’t matter to me.”
“You can’t try to please everyone’s musical tastes because we’re all affected by music differently. And if it’s a matter of sales, well, that’s a whole different can of worms, as they say. That depends entirely on the company’s expertise in trying to sell it and who they’ve hired for promotion — it’s all up in the air, you know? I mean, Jesus, look at Guns N’ Roses. They built a massive 30-year career out of just three albums. [Laughs] It’s crazy. They must’ve had a great promo team, I guess.”
‘Operation: Mindcrime’ came out in 1988 as Queensrÿche’s third album and was a major breakthrough for the band. Many consider it one of the best concept metal albums ever. It went platinum in the U.S. in 1991 and appeared on Kerrang! and Billboard’s ‘Top 100 Metal Albums Of All Time’ lists.
The original record covered topics like religion, drug addiction, and underground political movements. That’s why the 2006 sequel, ‘Operation: Mindcrime II,’ failed to meet the expectations. While some thought it was a decent album, many felt it took away from the impact of the first.
Third one might be able to live up to the legacy, though. When asked if the new album would touch on political themes again in a chat with ‘Rock Of Nations With Dave Kinchen And Shane McEachern,’ Tate shared, “Oh, I think so. Yeah, I think that people will be able to detect little bits of what’s happening around them. And it’s an interesting time right now — very interesting. Especially next week [after the 2024 U.S. presidential election], it’s gonna be really interesting [laughs] what happens. So, we’ll see.”
Back in April 2014, Tate and Queensrÿche reached a settlement after nearly two years of legal disputes, which started when the singer sued over the rights to the band’s name after being fired in 2012.
Band members Michael Wilton, Scott Rockenfield, and Eddie Jackson responded with a countersuit. The final agreement allowed them to keep using the Queensrÿche name, while Tate secured the exclusive rights to perform ‘Operation: Mindcrime’ and ‘Operation: Mindcrime II’ during live shows.
