I don’t want any of you Metal Legions to tell me that you didn’t see this one coming. What’s that? You didn’t? Well okay, I guess I should believe you when you tell me that you never expected that Geoff Tate would eventually announce the formation of his own Queensryche and start to map out his touring plans after being fired as the singer for the original Queensryche. Maybe I am just still shocked about that particular case scenario.

I’m a little behind in speaking about this based on my own hectic schedule but Tate made a statement on the Official Band Site just the other day that said….

“Today is a new day and I am thrilled to announce the new Queensryche; Joining me are: Rudy Sarzo, Bobby Blotzer, Glen Drover, Kelly Gray and Randy Gane. Together we shall embark on a new musical journey that will be a greater extension of where Queensrÿche has ever been.”

Now I don’t know who Randy Gane is but Gray had worked with Geoff before and was a member of Queensryche for a short time and did “Q2K” with them in 1999. Sarzo has played with just about everyone of note in the Metal and Hard Rock realm so is a winning choice and Glen Drover kicked some serious tail during his tenure in Megadeth. The only one I am not too sure about is Bobby Blotzer on the drums and I realize I will get all the Ratt fans mad by saying that. Don’t get me wrong, I always felt he was a solid player but the legacy Queensryche material was ahead of its time in terms of feel, especially in the drum department. Maybe he is a lot more technical than Ratt ever allowed him to showcase so I will remain skeptical until I see it.

The weird thing to me is knowing that there are going to be two versions of Queensryche now and that cannot be good for either side of the fence. The original guys in the band (Wilton, Jackson, Rockenfield) along with their newer blood Lundgren and LaTorre have stated that they will be delivering the earliest years material that people have been dying for and I guess that Tate will be forced to do much of the same now to counter their moves. It’s definitely an effed up situation but a second version of a band is no longer something new and we’ve seen two Great Whites, two L.A. Guns and I am sure a few more that I just cannot name off the top of my head. One has to wonder if Mike Portnoy will decide to form his own Dream Theater at some point in the future after seeing how this turns out.

So here is my question to the Metal Republic. Which version will you support? Will you give the original guys a chance with the new singer or do you no longer give two craps about them and will instead stick by their legendary front man Tate as he moves forward in this new chapter using the bands name. Clearly there is a dividing line and this will only get messier as time goes on. I know that many fans have lost interest in the direction that the band had gone in based on what they tell me, but I know that I am willing to give each now unique side a chance to be able to report on it for the larger Metal fans of the world.

Stay tuned is all I can say for now. Let me know your thoughts in the comments section.

Official Website: www.queensryche.com
Official Website: http://geofftate.com
Official Website: http://www.queensrycheofficial.com/home.cfm/