MTV's HeadbangersBlog.com recently spoke to Queensrÿche singer Geoff Tate about the band's forthcoming album, "American Soldier". Tate also discussed the recent presidential election, the way the government trivializes rock music, the slumping economy and the failure of the music industry to confront the threat of illicit downloading. You can now stream the 21-minute interview here.
A snippet of a new Queensrÿche song, "
If I Were King", is featured in the new tour commerical for Snoqualmie Casino. To download the MP3 of the radio spot, click
here.
Due in April 2009 via Rhino, Queensrÿche's twelfth studio album, "American Soldier", is a concept effort which finds the band once again tackling some heavy subject matter, this time focusing on telling the story of war from a firsthand perspective. Singer and chief songwriter Geoff Tate has spent the last few years conducting extensive interviews with veterans and has crafted their thoughts into this epic tale. "American Soldier" examines American wars from World War II through Iraq from the viewpoint of those in the trenches and on the frontlines. Following the album's release, Queensrÿche plans to present tracks from the album live on an extensive spring tour of the U.S., with international dates to follow later in 2009. The first date of the tour will be a hometown gig at Seattle's Snoqualmie Casino on April 16.
"Queensrÿche has always had incredible support from members of the Armed Services," says Tate. "It seems like after every show, I'd end up speaking with a fan that was or had been involved with the military. The more and more I began to hear their accounts and feelings, the more I really felt a conviction to tell their story. Over the last two years, I've conducted dozens of one-on-one interviews with veterans of many different American wars. I listened to their amazing and moving recounts and did my best to examine war through their eyes."
Thanks for the report to Blabbermouth.net.
Should be an awesome album.