QUEENSRŸCHE's TODD LA TORRE Is 'Working On Ideas' For His Second Solo Album

QUEENSRŸCHE frontman Todd La Torre says that he is putting together ideas for the upcoming follow-up to his debut solo album, "Rejoice In The Suffering", which was released in February 2021 via Rat Pak Records.

Late Monday night (January 9),Todd took to his Facebook page to share a video of him playing guitar at what appears to be his home studio, and he included the following message: "Working on ideas for my next record. I'm looking to do something with more open chords, a more classic distortion sound, and a little less palm muted riffs. Open chords and space always allow for a more diverse vocal to be created, and without a good vocal melody, you don't have anything memorable or worth a damn. Less is more in many cases.

"While I love 'Rejoice In The Suffering', I am not exactly wanting to do another record just like that. I believe Craig [Blackwell, longtime friend, guitarist and collaborator] and I can do something even better, and much more musical (the word that comes to mind). The best songs were never with overplaying or too complex. I just want to write great songs, whatever that ends up being. Maybe this idea will turn into a great chorus idk, but it doesn't hurt to at least capture the ideas."

The idea for a debut solo album was always in the cards for Todd. With QUEENSRŸCHE tour dates postponed indefinitely due to the coronavirus pandemic, the world events offered Todd the opportunity to explore his ideas for the effort. Todd teamed up with Blackwell, alongside producer Chris "Zeuss" Harris, to create a diverse heavy metal album that draws influence from different styles. These styles surprised fans who only know La Torre from his previous work with QUEENSRŸCHE or CRIMSON GLORY.

In a February 2021 interview with Anne Erickson of Audio Ink Radio, Todd said that his solo material and QUEENSRŸCHE are like "apples and oranges. They're totally separate things. I don't write guitars, really, in like a QUEENSRŸCHE way. That's not where I shine in QUEENSRŸCHE. I think my lyric writing and my vocal phrasing and delivery and that sort of thing, that's kind of my asset to the writing process for QUEENSRŸCHE music. I would never try to push this kind of style or sound into QUEENSRŸCHE's music. I don't really write music- I mean, I co-write stuff with them, and I might have a guitar riff idea or something, but they're totally separate things, and I would never, never want to pollute the waters of QUEENSRŸCHE what I'm doing. [Laughs]

He continued: "I think because I've been able to get this first [solo album] out, I think that my eagerness to do things with QUEENSRŸCHE definitely takes a back seat, because I have this other outlet to do those things. So, I feel less inclined to be like, 'Oh, I need to scream here and show people what I can do on this.' I really want to just respect what QUEENSRŸCHE's sound is and not change. I don't want to change the style and sound of what QUEENSRŸCHE is and should be. I very much draw a line in the sand where, you know, I can experiment and try some things that might be fitting for a QUEENSRŸCHE song, but as far as pushing that on to them, I feel, because I got that done, I'm more relaxed doing the QUEENSRŸCHE stuff where I don't feel like I have to try to sneak in something heavier, because nobody's got to hear that from me. Now they get to hear a plethora of styles from me on this record."

La Torre joined his first band BLACKWELL as the drummer, performing in high school talent shows and entering into the club rock music scene in Tampa Bay, Florida. In 2009, Todd was suggested to CRIMSON GLORY guitarist Jon Drenning by a mutual friend to help with some vocal rehearsals in preparation for a CRIMSON GLORY memorial concert. This would pave the way for more collaborations with the band, eventually joining as the band's new permanent vocalist. La Torre was the lead singer for CRIMSON GLORY from late 2010 until resigned from the band in early 2013. In 2012, Todd became a household name in the metal world when he officially became the new lead vocalist of QUEENSRŸCHE. The band immediately began touring globally and started writing new material for the self-titled 2013 album "Queensrÿche". To date, QUEENSRŸCHE has released four studio albums with La Torre: "Queensrÿche", "Condition Hüman" (2015),"The Verdict" (2019) and "Digital Noise Alliance" (2022).