As easy as it is to take credit for his vocal abilities and incredibly theatrical performance; as easy as it is to admire his work, at least in the first fifteen years of his career after he has left a priceless legacy in music, just as easily we have…lost him when he decided to follow his own path regardless of the commercial success of his efforts or not. Both his work with Queensryche from 1997 up to 2011, as well as his personal works thereafter, were often the recipient of negative and unfair criticism. People nowadays don’t have the mood, the time or the courage if you want to dive deep into new music with new ideas. The truth is that most of those albums are not addressed to the general audience of heavy metal music (because, like it or not, both the world and the media have classified him there).

For those who know Geoff Tate -not necessarily personally- and have tracked down his career a little more (and I’m lucky enough to be one of those lucky ones who have both known him and followed his career) are fully aware that he is a very gifted singer, performer and human being. Geoff Tate is a genius, inspiring man who is not afraid to put his beliefs and desires out there. His open mind allows him to inspire the incredible story of Operation: Mindcrime in 1988 and its sequel in 2006. In 2002 he traveled all over United States perfectly sketching the American citizen and presenting him a year later in “Tribe” to somehow continue six years later with a concept of the life and soul of the American soldier in “American Soldier” where the verse “What In The Hell Did I Make?” in “At 30,000 Feet”, words of a bomber pilot who has just dropped a bomb, literally give chills. He is the same one who in 2004, during an interview on Rockpages.gr, didn’t hesitate to call the then American President, George Bush, a liar to the American people and not only, for the invasion of the American Army in Iraq. It’s a balanced psychology from a man who ten years before brought out the most neuropsychic inner self that existed in “Promised Land” with “I Am I”, “Damaged” and especially with “Out Of Time”. And all this right after “Can You Feel It’s Coming, Empire”!

Geoff Tate talks a lot, he likes to talk. And the most important thing is that he always has something to say. The education and cultivation that distinguishes him as a human being is a challenge for him who finds himself in front of him every time.

When for his own reasons he wanted to leave metal behind, Geoff released an excellent solo album in 2002, culminating in the magical “Helpless”, which clearly showed the path he wanted to take, something he later attempted to do with Queensryche. with mixed results. His personal work after the breakup with the band led him to experimental roads, but mainly with the trilogy as Operation Mindcrime releasing the very interesting “The Key” (2015), “Resurrection” (2016) and “The New Reality” (2017) showed a tendency to return to his roots but in a modern way to avoid any comparisons with the past. It was a…new reality.

But we all know that the roots are usually deep and strong and in 2018 Geoff Tate decided to hit the road and perform once again, with his own band now, “Operation: Mindcrime” and the truth is that this performance was really great!

“Rage For Order” and “Empire” are now next in line on a tour that will pass through Athens and Thessaloniki on October 14 and 15 respectively. Should I say that I’m sure we’ll be ecstatic again? Yes I am!

Dimitris Kazantzis