Queensryche

GuitarDojo said:
I lost interest when Degarmo left. He took the songwriting skillz with him IMO.
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Word. I remember buying Q2K and thinking "WTF?!?!?!" They were once one of my few "buy their stuff before hearing a thing". Since then, it's been more like "hear their stuff without buying a thing".

Tribe has some decent stuff coinciding with a DeGarmo cameo. Hopefully he'll re-engage if QR is going back to being a rock band.
 
aleclee said:
Word. I remember buying Q2K and thinking "WTF?!?!?!" They were once one of my few "buy their stuff before hearing a thing". Since then, it's been more like "hear their stuff without buying a thing".

Tribe has some decent stuff coinciding with a DeGarmo cameo. Hopefully he'll re-engage if QR is going back to being a rock band.
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That's the only thing that would engage my interest in the band again.
 
Stringtheorist said:
Just curious.... What evidence do you have of this?

I'm in agreement with most others here. LaTorre does a good job but it's no longer Queensryche. Ironic that the two truly irreplaceable members of the band are the ones who have gone. I really have little interest in following them further.
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Found this on the interwebz ....


Why Chris Left ( Initially in 1997 ): An Answer
by: Dan Birchall - ( editryche@ryche.scream.org )

Years ago, everyone wanted to know: Who killed Mary. In recent years, that has been replaced by a different question: Why did Chris leave ? Neither Chris nor the remaining members had much to say about it, and the few things that were said turned out to be of varying accuracy.

After hearing bits and pieces over the last two years, I wrote an article two issues ago, presenting some circumstances that could possibly explain the departure, and asked for thoughts. With thanks to all those both close and not-so-close to the band who sent clarifications, corrections, and critiques of the presentation, I now present this update.

I believe this to be a valid, truthful and correct answer to the question, “Why did Chris leave ?” It’s not as detailed as it could be - there are some details that I’ve left out because they wouldn’t really make the answer any better, and would hurt those involved, or violate the trust of the people who’ve filled in the gaps in my personal understanding of events, and I’m sure there are details I still don’t know. And I’m not naming names, other than Chris, because this is all historical, and how people behaved in the mid-90’s shouldn’t necessarily impact how we think of them now. I’m just going to give the facts, to the best of my knowledge.

First, the good news: my suspicion that the decision was not entirely, one hundred percent Chris’s was wrong. I’ve heard from sources close to the band, and he wasn’t forced to leave.

That’s where the good news ends, sorry. You might want to skip down to the classifieds section rather than reading the rest of this. Not that it’s bad, per se - it’s just there.

Basically, here’s the deal. From the earliest days of the band, the guys were very close to each other, and to each other’s families. Throughout the 90’s, though, various members of the band went through various personal crises. There were battles with alcohol between Empire and Promised Land. A couple marriages broke up and a few new ones started, changing the makeup of the “extended Queensryche family.” EMI mightily self-destructed. The handling of the Empire windfall varied from member to member, as did their resulting financial states.

Chris’s life wasn’t entirely trouble-free, but from what I’ve been told, he appears to have managed to stay focused a little bit more than the other members of the band. I also understand that he was president of the Tri-Ryche Corporation, the business side of Queensryche. Whether he was made president because he was focused, or felt he had to remain focused because he was president, I have no idea. The two don’t even have to be related, really.

Anyway, my sources tell me that Chris was pretty much responsible for dragging everyone else out to Big Log to sober up and do some recording after one or two members spent a bit more of their Empire money on booze than they should have, that he didn’t get much help from anyone else in negotiating with Virgin when EMI tanked, and that toward the end, he was essentially helping keep a roof over the heads of another member’s family.

As I said before, Chris’s life wasn’t entirely trouble-free. The tours of the 90’s were a strain on his home and family life, just like they were on everyone else’s. I heard in mid-decade that three marriages were on the rocks - of the three, Chris’s was the only one that survived, and I’m sure keeping that relationship together wasn’t easy. Being president of Tri-Ryche, and taking on the responsibilities enumerated above and others, also can’t have done much good for the man’s stress level.

These challenges were compounded by changing interpersonal dynamics within the band and the extended family. As the bandmembers’ families grew, it naturally became more difficult to balance time and energy between their art and their families. And since some new family members didn’t always get along with existing bandmembers, the relationships between those bandmembers were strained.. ( ed. take a guess, folks ).

Ultimately - and this is where it gets tricky, since I’m not inside Chris’s head - three circumstances converged. Chris wanted very much to be able to spend more time with his wife and children. His efforts to make the business end of the band work were stymied, apparently at least in part due to lack of interest or participation by other members. And the very close relationships he’d had with one or two other members crumbled, as they focused more on relating to new family members, who didn’t necessarily like Chris.( ed. considering the two new marriages were Scott and Geoff, you do the math ).

Of course, this was in 1997. It had taken 5 years to get to that point. But yes, Chris quit. Chris gave up on the rest of the guys. It’s a fact. Was he justified in quitting ? It probably depends who you ask. I’m sure Chris thought so. Some of the other members might have thought so too. But I’ve been told the decision was a shock to some of the guys, and upset them enough to spark the rumors we all heard back then of the whole band breaking up. I don’t think I’d make it 5 years in any unpleasant situation, though, so I can’t judge him.

As far as what Chris has been doing since he left - well, we all know about the 1998 tour with Jerry Cantrell. And we’ve heard he showed up at the ceremony kicking off Seattle’s new museum, the Experience Music Project. And of course there are rumors about him helping out various Seattle bands. Other than that ? My sources say he’s doing pretty much exactly what he wanted to do - spending time with his family. And in the process, getting some rest, a break from the media glare after all those years, and a little space to breathe.( ed. note that this was written in 2000. Since then, Chris had rejoined Queensryche briefly to work with them on two separate occasions - 2003's Tribe sessions and more recently finish the recording of the song "Justified," which was written and partially recorded for Tribe, but was left unfinished when Chris left. He has also worked on a variety of musical projects, collaborating with the members of the band dredg on their Catch Without Arms record, doing some movie soundtrack songs, etc; ).

So there you have it - an answer to “Why did Chris leave ?” Of course, I hope that someday Chris will tell us all in his own words, and perhaps the other guys will tell us in their words, and so on and so forth. But for now, I hope this one will suffice. We now return you to your regularly scheduled Queensryche ….
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Just got done watching some of the posted video and all I gotta say is that Eddie Jackson still has killer bass tone. Aarrrrrrgh!
 
Stringtheorist said:
Just curious.... What evidence do you have of this?

I'm in agreement with most others here. LaTorre does a good job but it's no longer Queensryche. Ironic that the two truly irreplaceable members of the band are the ones who have gone. I really have little interest in following them further.
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Michale Wilton recently mentioned in his interview that it was Geoff Tate's attitude and lack of interest to co write with Degarmo that made him leave. And it's so obvious after "Promised Land" there was a major downfall in the band,even when Degarmo was present the band was going down because there were a lot of personal tensions in the band.

Geoff rejected a lot of Degarmo's ideas and just wanted to impose his own vision in the band,that cause Degarmo to eventually leave the band. After that more proof is how we see Tate using sessions musicians and not letting the original band members be a part of the recording or writing process.

If you see Queensryche's history Tate is not a founding member,sure he was the voice of the band I won't argue there but with what he has done to the band and how he has basically destroyed their sound in the recent years;I am really glad he has been removed. Degarmo's departure was a big blow for the band but I feel with the freedom they have now they can bring back the classic Queensryche era. This band was formed by Michale Wilton and Scott Rockenfield. Hopefully we will see Degarmo return again as well. I don't miss Geoff cause he has given Queensryche albums a bad name for quiet sometime,with his dictatorship,commercial sell out ideas,and big ego. Someone who involves his entire family in the business of the band and wants to control everything and not let the members be a creative force like they once were doesn't deserve to be in the band no matter how glorious that persona was in the past.

This is my honest opinion.
Cheers :)
 
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