Sweet Oblivion ft Geoff Tate – S/T

6/10

Oh dear me. I have had Geoff as a favorite singer and Queensryche is one of my 2 favorite bands of all time. But somewhere in the mid 90´s something changed. The rollercoaster ride of the band at that time is all over the web so if you want to know more of this just google it.
Then I heard him do some Avantasia stuff and thought. Hey! He´s back! Back to the form of his golden era vocally. And now he´s involved in this project. Immediately when I read about this I pleaded for a chance to review it. So here we go.
The return of the Geoff Tate I knew?

“True Colors”: A hard hitting rock song, very close to what Queensryche sounds today actually. If he has gone far from his nest the last decade this might be what he needs to not be seemed as the bitter old man who left this big band. Not bad at all. Title track “Sweet Oblivion” is next and features a guitar intro that seems so familiar. But hey! He is back. I can´t say anything else. This is the Geoff Tate I came to like so much when I first heard of Queensryche.

“Behind Your Eyes”: Now he dipped his foot in his desert wandering late 90s again sadly. A song that is more relying on the instrumentalists than Tate. “Hide away” is a song with a dark mood to it with a bit haunting vocals. A dollar for an explanation of the lyrics here. “My last story” . “six days ago my life ….”oh…okay. But very very near melody and lyrically through the whole song. Another dollar for the meaning of this one lyrically.
I can´t help thinking of the disillusioned era of his former band here again. And how it would have been if…

“A recess from my fate”: And the question comes up again. Why didn´t he come up with tracks like this in the 90´s. Then the dark years of the band he once fronted might never would have happened. Another question that pops up is if this a way for him to make up for those dark years? “Transition”: You hear it, you listen to it and move on with your life. A boring song.

“Disconnect”: This review could be so much about what if´s and why and if not. Those who know his previous work must react to the title here. Another track that barely lifts off. And hopes of redemption and the grand return is run to a halt.
“The deceiver”: Without I beg sweat or bleed… Another track so filled with notches to his masterpiece he squeezes every inch out of on tour nowadays it´s almost ridiculous sometimes – like here for instance.

“Seek the light”is a decent end to a kind of a good record. When he sings close to like he used to it still sends chills down my spine, but far too often he´s back in the dark days again. Yes this is a project of DGM(the Italian progsters) but still. Up til late 80´s Geoff Tate was the God of metal vocals in my world. Sadly not so much today. I still think this is far better than his later year’s releases. But Mr Tate. Do another solo record and use your voice the way we all came to love.
There is so much Queensryche vibes on this record it feels ridiculous sometimes but welcome back mr Tate, hope you can stay this time

Artist: Sweet Oblivion Featuring Geoff Tate
Album: Sweet Oblivion
Label: Frontiers records
Date of release: 19-06-14
Rating:6/10
Stand out track: True Colours