QUEENSRŸCHE

Three decades of envelope-pushing hard rock—and they’re just picking up speed

On the opening track of Dedicated to Chaos, Queensrÿche’s 12th and most recent album, frontman Geoff Tate sings, “You ain’t seen nothing yet/We’re just picking up speed.” Though “Get Started” is ostensibly a love song, that lyric could easily be applied to the progressive-metal band itself, which is celebrating its 30th anniversary this year. The group’s ongoing success, Tate believes, owes to its willingness to take chances. “Our operating plan from the beginning was to always push musical boundaries, to do different things and not be afraid of going on a limb musically,” Tate says. “Whatever moved us, that’s what we’d go for.”

In recent years Queensrÿche has been inspired to make two concept records and a covers album. Chaos finds them moving away from the rigid formats of those projects. “We wanted to stretch out from making concept albums,” Tate says, “and write a collection of songs that had no interconnection other than having our musical stamp on them.”

The core members of Queensrÿche—Tate, drummer Scott Rockenfield, bass player Eddie Jackson and guitarist Michael Wilton—have remained in place since the group’s inception in 1981. The four have resisted stagnation by employing a series of second guitarists, a role that currently belongs to Parker Lundgren. “We’ve always liked working with different people,” Tate says. “That keeps things fresh, to bring in another personality.”

Tate approaches songwriting like a full-time job, working in his studio five days a week, “like going to the office.” When he’s not punching a time card in front of a console, Tate remains creative in a nonmusical field: The wine connoisseur developed his own brand, Insania, which recently released its third vintage. Though “metal ringleader” and “winemaker” appear to be disparate career paths, Tate finds similarities. I see grapes as musical notes,” he says. “You take notes and form them into chords that are pleasing to the senses, just like taking different kinds of grapes to form a pleasing blend. It’s a little inspiration and a lot of craftsmanship.”

After three decades, Queensrÿche remains short on neither inspiration nor craftsmanship. “I love making new music, I love being in the studio, I love writing and I really love playing live,” Tate says. “I hope we can still continue to do that as the years pass.”

–Juli Thanki

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