Geoff Tate – Kings And Thieves

It is really very sad for every Queensryche or metal fan in general those that happened with the band and Geoff Tate. But here we are, Queensryche with a new singer continuing their career and Geoff Tate going his own way releasing a second solo album. The new album is entitled “Kings And Thieves” contains eleven tracks giving the album the total length of 52 minutes. The line – up is completed by Kelly Gray on guitars and bass, Randy Gane on keyboards and Greg Gilmore on the drum kit.

Now to the album, it’s a pretty decent album, I’m not going to call it a return to shape, or a classic QR sound or anything like that, but at least is not worse than “Tribe” and “Dedicated to Chaos”. Let’s be honest, to some degree many fans blame Tate’s songwriting and contribution to the Ryche as one of the reasons why the band has struggled so much the past few years, the truth lies somewhere in between all of those things as no one can say for sure who’s fault it was. But to be honest on this record you can put on the cd and hear it without wanting to commit suicide.

First of all in my opinion a solo artist should be judged as a solo artist and not by considering his previous work with his band, probably that will not happen but I’m just saying. So if the listener wants to hear something harder from Tate or his previous band he should stick with ”Rage For Order” or ”Operation:Mindcrime”. Of course on some degree you will compare it to the QR records perfomances so the good news here is that Tate’s vocals don’t sound as half ass as “Dedicated to Chaos”, that really bad new alternative, uninspired record if you can call it that. Some of the up beat tunes here come via “Take a Bullet” and “In The Dirt” which feature a mix of those mysterious synth keyboards, alongside a touch of Saxophones which we know Tate like’s to throw in there from time to time.

The musicianship on these two songs is halfway decent and actually a little groovy which works as it sets the tone of the record early. Unfortunately with some good there comes a wave of bad and on theo hipster tune “The Way I Roll” Tate fails as it sounds like a tired brooding piece that leaves much to be desired. The songwriting in “Dark Money” is odd and it doesn’t make sense at all, Tate’s vocals are not bad here but for some reason it sounds like I’m listening to U2. The finale ends with “Change” a slower ballad art crop that ends the record on a mute tone. So this record is in the middle, not good but also not bad, just decent. If you are a dying hard fan of Geoff Tate’s Work give it a shot.