Geoff Tate

Geoff Tate the man is most certainly best known as the lead singer of Queensrÿche. Geoff Tate the album is most certainly not going to be confused for a Queensrÿche album. Instead of representing the cutting-edge form of metal for which Queensrÿche is famous, Tate has given listeners an album that is very non-metal. Its style, like Rÿche's, is often undefinable and, much like the band's work, covers a wide range of musical approaches. However, the closest you can come to a description of this album is probably a modern pop-oriented rock sound. It is, as one would expect, thoughtful in texture. The styles that show up on the album vary from almost dance-oriented pop to Spanish guitar-inflected to fairly straight-ahead rock and even electronic neo-symphonic-leaning sounds. All is delivered in a very professional fashion. The disc does, however, have its shortcomings. For one thing, it tends to drag a bit. The other detriment that pops out is that much of the percussion comes across as artificial sounding and is too far up in the mix. It seems a given that the vocal performances would be top-notch, considering Tate's reputation as one of the finest voices in rock. That assumption holds true. The overall vision of this disc is that it will definitely please the hardcore fans of the singer. Those who are more general fans of Queensrÿche may be put off a bit, though. However, the disc is really quite solid and, given the chance, should be enjoyable.