GEOFF TATE On QUEENSRŸCHE: We Had '30 Good Years, And I'm Very Pleased And Proud Of The Music We've Made'

In a new interview with Jimmy Kay of Canada's The Metal Voice, former QUEENSRŸCHE frontman Geoff Tate spoke about performing the entire landmark 1988 concept album "Operation: Mindcrime" from start to finish live "for the last time" on his "Operation: Mindcrime - The Final Chapter" tour. Asked if this is also his farewell tour, the 67-year-old singer said (as transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET): "It's not goodbye as far as performing goes. It's just goodbye on playing this album in its entirety.

"This tour ['Operation: Mindcrime - The Final Chapter'] has been a year and a half already," he explained. "And it looks like it's gonna be finished up in May. So I've got a few months left of it."

Regarding how performing "Operation: Mindcrime" with his current solo band compares to how it was when he played it with QUEENSRŸCHE, Tate said: "[It's a] whole different feel, whole different band, different personalities. We actually look at each other during the show, which is nice [laughs], engage with each other. It's night and day."

Asked if there was a loss of that connection with QUEENSRŸCHE back in the day on stage, Geoff said: "Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, bands, they all work differently, of course. I don't know how bands even barely function, 'cause it's really difficult to get four or five people thinking on the same page and operating on the same page. Luckily, we had contracts and things like that to kind of keep us focused. Otherwise it would've blown apart, I think, years earlier. But, yeah, [we had] 30 good years, and I'm very pleased and proud of the music we've made, and I think we made some really great albums and really good songs and had some great times."

Elaborating on the challenges in keeping bands together and getting along with his bandmates while on tour, Geoff said: "At first you're attracted to their abilities, musicianship and that kind of thing, and if they show up on time. That's very important. And then as time goes on and you're tested by the different environments you find yourself in, then, of course, you find out what kind of people you've surrounded yourself with, and you go, 'Oh my God. Ooh, okay, well, can't count on that and I can count on this.' So you start doing an assessment, and trying to make it work."

After Kay pointed out that making albums in the old days happened over the span of only a few months, unlike today, when bands can sometimes take years between tours to finetune their LPs before releasing them, Tate said: "Well, that was kind of our economic game plan. You can't imagine the pressure, trying to produce music with this contract and these deadlines in front of you, tours set up ahead of you, and you have to get it done, and you're depending upon your bandmates to follow through. And there's a lot of stress — there's a lot of stress, and I think that's really what can really break a band up, is that kind of pressure. Having to perform, having to make it happen, no matter what. You're sitting there looking at a blank piece of paper going, 'What am I gonna say? But I've got two months. I gotta get it said.'"

Asked what QUEENSRŸCHE's record label's initial reaction was when they heard "Operation: Mindcrime" for the first time, Geoff said: "They said, 'What the fuck is this?' [Laughs] 'Why does it sound like that?' [Laughs] They didn't like the way it sounded.

"It was one of the first digital recordings made," Geoff explained. "And so people weren't used to the digital format and what it sounded like. They were used to that kind of fuzzy, muddy analog sound. And this was brittle and hard and cruel, and we embraced it as a production group. We were, like, 'Oh, listen. Oh, it just sizzles.' But when we played it for the suits, they were politely trying to plug their ears and turn away from the speakers. [Laughs] And it was, like, 'Oh, they don't like the music.' Then after it was done, they go, 'No, we don't like the way it sounds. It's too hard.' [Laughs] "

Tate recently released the third and final chapter in the "Operation: Mindcrime" album series. The LP was made available under Geoff Tate's own name and not under the QUEENSRŸCHE banner. The effort is once again a concept album with a storyline following Nikki, a drug addict-turned-assassin manipulated by a shadowy figure known as Dr. X. However, unlike the first two installments, "Operation: Mindcrime III" tells the tale from the perspective of Dr. X.

"Operation: Mindcrime III" was produced by DISTURBED bassist John Moyer, who has worked with Tate on four of the singer's albums, starting with 2015's "The Key". "Operation: Mindcrime III" also marks the recording debut with Geoff of guitarist Kieran Robertson, who co-wrote many of the songs on the album with Tate. According to Ultimate Classic Rock, Kieran moved to America nearly a decade ago from Glasgow to join Geoff's band as one of the guitar players.

Originally released in May 1988, QUEENSRŸCHE's third studio album, "Operation: Mindcrime" took the quintet to an entirely new level. The concept, revealed through the songs, revolves around the character of Nikki, a recovering drug addict disillusioned with a corrupt society. Drawn into a cult-like revolutionary group headed by Dr. X (voiced by the late and beloved British actor Anthony Valentine),Nikki is manipulated to assassinate political leaders until his friendship with nun Sister Mary finally opens his eyes to the truth. Regarded as one of the greatest concept metal albums of all time, "Operation: Mindcrime" was certified platinum in 1991 in the U.S. and was ranked in the "Top 100 Metal Albums Of All Time" by both Kerrang! and Billboard magazines. Rolling Stone included it on a similar list, noting that "nearly 30 years after its initial release, 'Mindcrime' feels eerily relevant."

The original "Operation: Mindcrime" album weaved themes of religion, drug abuse and underground, radical politics. By contrast, 2006's "Operation: Mindcrime II" was regarded as an unnecessary sequel that many felt cheapened the original album, despite being a decent record in its own right.

In April 2014, Tate and QUEENSRŸCHE announced that a settlement had been reached after a nearly two-year legal battle where the singer sued over the rights to the QUEENSRŸCHE name after being fired in 2012. Guitarist Michael Wilton, drummer Scott Rockenfield and bassist Eddie Jackson responded with a countersuit. The settlement included an agreement that Wilton, Rockenfield and Jackson would continue as QUEENSRŸCHE, while Tate would have the sole right to perform "Operation: Mindcrime" and "Operation: Mindcrime II" in their entirety live.

Tate's replacement, Todd La Torre, has released four albums thus far with QUEENSRŸCHE: 2013's "Queensrÿche", 2015's "Condition Hüman", 2019's "The Verdict" and 2022's "Digital Noise Alliance".