Good day all,
Is it just me or has there been a higher than usual amount of public divorces in metal this year? First it was Black Sabbath with the Bill Ward issue and now Queensryche is allowing their dirty laundry to be aired all over the metal communityn (and there are more but I am going to focus on these two). I guess it is understandable I mean after 20-30-40 years familiarity really does breed contempt but it is kinda sad to see this all play out publicly. But, if you look at it this way, 50% of the time two people can’t even stay married for as long as a lot of these bands have been together, and a band is usually more than two people. So I guess they should be credited for making it this long.
The sad part for me is that I just finished watching “God Bless Ozzy Osborne” the documentary about Ozzy’s life and addictions and there is a scene in the movie at Ozzy’s 60th birthday party where he is having an animated conversation with Bill Ward. They look like they are best friends having the time of their life, and then to think just a short time later they are releasing quotes about how one side doesn’t trust the other and that the Black Sabbath reunion is unfair because they are not all making the same money etc… Personally, I don’t think Ozzy has anything to do with any of that, I am sure he would rather have his original band mate but the money people need to do their part.
The Queensryche situation is a bit different to me than the Black Sabbath one only because in the grand scheme of heavy metal and hard rock Queensryche is kind of irrelevant. Black Sabbath will be able to pack an arena tomorrow if they tour, Queensryche was lucky anyone watched them during their M3 Festival performance, and trust me , I watched it, I know of what I speak. Additionally, at least to me Queensryche really hasn’t been a relevant musical force to me since Operation Mindcrime. Just so you know I was a really big Queensryche fan, I would listen to Rage for Order over and over again, it was and still is one of my favorite albums, but after Mindcrime, they really became non-existent to me.
But needless to say this public display of idiocy that is the break up of Queensryche is a bit childish. The band wants to move on without Geoff Tate? Fine go ahead and do it! This is the part that I don’t understand, the band had already found a new singer and started a new band called Riding West and they were going to continue to play Queensryche songs and move on from Tate. Great idea! Take what you have, move on and don’t look back. But no, now they have to fight over who owns the Queensryche name and who can use it for themselves going forward. It is stupid, yes you are going to get some fans to show up because of the Queensryche name, but is it really that important. I would think that instead of associating the Queensryche name with the sophomoric legal battle that retiring the name and moving on is the best move. I mean you have already started a new band with a new name and everyone knows you will be singing Queensryche songs, so move on! And Geoff Tate? He has already toured several different times as a solo artist and no one is going to forget that he was the lead singer of Queensryche right? Both can still tour the ’80s heavy metal circuit and festivals, maybe not at the same time as they will be singing the same songs, but people are going to want to see Riding West just like people are going to want to see Geoff Tate. To me it is a no brainer, a win-win for everybody, but what do I know?
Song of the Day: http://youtu.be/tDlPaizg1tY
culturemisnomer 