Geoff Tate, the legendary QUEENSRŸCHE frontman and one of the most acclaimed vocalists in the history of hard rock and heavy metal, will release his second solo album, "Kings & Thieves", on November 6 via InsideOut Music.

"My goal with this record was to make a solid rock album," says Tate. "I wanted it to be an album that I could play live that would be both satisfying and fun, because, as a singer, you need to create a show that has a lot of dynamics to it and takes people on a ride."

Tate previously told AnthologySD.com about the musical direction of his forthcoming CD, "Well, it's very different from my last one, for sure. It's a new bunch of people I've been working with to write and record it, so that changes things. When you're working with different people, it really changes the record. This one is really hard rock. The last one was really all over the place with different styles of music and everything, but this one really keeps with the hard rock style. It does it in kind of a different way — more of my way or what I would envision. I guess it's experimental in some ways, while in others it's very traditional. What I tried to do was take traditional rock instrumentation and apply it in kind of a different song structure."

Tate released his first solo CD in 2002 on Sanctuary Records. Self-titled, the LP was a huge departure from the work he had previously done with QUEENSRŸCHE.

"[Sanctuary weren't really a record company. Sanctuary was a money-making machine and they went out of business very quickly," Tate told Oregon Music News earlier this year. "I'm glad to be done with that, actually."

Tate, who was fired from QUEENSRŸCHE in June after fronting the group for three decades, recently sought to prevent his former bandmates from touring and operating under the QUEENSRŸCHE name without him. While ruling against Tate, the presiding judge determined that there was no legal hurdle in Tate also using the name with an all-new lineup of musicians. "I don't see any reason that Mr. Tate can't have the benefit, if he gets other members, of whatever name he uses of using the brand," Superior Court Judge Carol A. Schapira said during the July 13 court hearing. "I think [doing that would be] inherently confusing, although I'm sure the market can get these things sorted out," she added.

On September 2, Tate announced that he was launching his own version of QUEENSRŸCHE with RATT drummer Bobby Blotzer, former QUIET RIOT, OZZY OSBOURNE and WHITESNAKE bassist Rudy Sarzo and former MEGADETH and KING DIAMOND guitarist Glen Drover. Also on board in the new group are returning QUEENSRŸCHE guitarist Kelly Gray — who played with the band from 1998 until 2001 and also produced several of their albums — and keyboardist Randy Gane, who has toured and recorded with QUEENSRŸCHE and Geoff's solo group in the past.

Fan-filmed video footage of Tate's June 7 solo performance at Canyon Club in Agoura Hills, California can be seen below.





Photo credit: Stephanie Cabral