QUEENSRŸCHE Singer TODD LA TORRE: 'We Didn't Want To Write A Record That Sounded Really Dated'

MetalTalk's Roger Fauske recently conducted an interview with QUEENSRŸCHE vocalist Todd La Torre. You can now listen to the chat using the SoundCloud widget below. A couple of excerpts from the interview follow.

MetalTalk: I did review the [new self-titled QUEENSRŸCHE] album for MetalTalk and I have to say it bought a smile to my face.

Todd: That's great. We are really happy about all the positive feedback we have received from all the people who have had the chance to listen to the album and have been able to review it, and overwhelmingly, the response has been very positive. It's a really exciting time for everybody in the band, and we are really enthusiastic about the record being released and the people finally being able to hear the songs and everything, so it's a good thing.

MetalTalk: It is very much like the old QUEENSRŸCHE sound, I have to say.

Todd: Well you know thats a really great compliment. I think that there are elements that are definitely reminiscent of some of the works from the first five, possibly even six, albums that the band did, and there is a lot of things in there that sound like the classic sound, with the harmony guitars and Eddie's [Jackson] bass tone and Scott's [Rockenfield] great drumming. But also, so we have been told, it has a bit of a new flavor to it. We didn't want to write a record that sounded really dated but you also want to maintain those writing elements that are the QUEENSRŸCHE sound, and I think that much of that was accomplished on this record. And look, it's the very first record that we have done with me in the band, and we are already starting to write new songs for the next album, so there is a whole bunch of other things that weren't really ready to make it on this first album that will definitely be going on the next one, so it's all positive.

MetalTalk: There is definitely some of the "Rage For Order"-type sound on there and, obviously, "Operation: Mindcrime", and going back, that's why it bought a smile to my face, because I am, unfortunately, old enough to have been around when "Mindcrime" came out.

Todd: Well, I think that there is a little bit of that. One of the things that has been really great to hear is that out of all the interviews that we have done, each interviewer that has heard the album has said, "Oh, my favorite song on the record was this song or that song," and the next interviewer says they are very fond of a different song. Sometimes you will have a album with one or two good songs on the album, so if everyone were to say their favorite song was the same song, that would really worry me. The fact that everyone has their own idea of what is their favorite is a really good indication that there is something on the album for everybody.

MetalTalk: That is very true, because, I must admit, you know what it's like — most albums you listen to for the first time there are always one or two tracks that you are not sure of maybe for the first couple of listens, but I do have to say with this one there is not a lot of growing on you needed; they just seem to grab you by the nuts straight away.

Todd: Well, that's the plan. You know, some of my favourite songs or albums from many bands took several listens for those songs to really grow on you and for you to really kind of have an open ear and you will find new elements within the songs that maybe you didn't catch the first time or two around. Some people have said that this album has really grown on them a lot, so it's all really great feedback, and like I say, it's a really great starting point. We knew that this was a very important album for the band and for me personally, for those guys personally and professionally for the name QUEENSRŸCHE, so there was a lot riding on the first album and so far I have no regrets. There were no outside writers on this record, so it was just the five of us throwing all of our ideas in to the pot and this is the first serving of the new lineup of QUEENSRŸCHE.

Read the entire interview from MetalTalk.

Interview (audio):