When you read the words ‘Sweet Oblivion (feat Geoff Tate)’ for most fans the attraction is that second bit, ‘feat Geoff Tate,’ after all like many I’m sure I have no idea who or what Sweet Oblivion is but am quite familiar with Mr Tate who has always been more than generous to The Rockpit, having chatted many times over the years. the last earlier this year when he was over with Anastasia.
Firstly I have to apologise for not getting to this earlier. It’s a bloody good album and ‘True Colors’ the opening track is probably all you’ll need to hear as a fan of Tate’s work with Queensryche to draw you in. Make no mistake though whilst I think the songs stand up their obvious pastiche of Queensryche’s most commercial moments might put off some – there is a definite attempt to capture the sounds of ‘Operation Mindcrime’ here probably most noticeably on the title track itself.
Tate of course over the years has had his ups and downs, his falling out with Queensryche and subsequent formation of ‘Operation: Mindcrime’ led to mixed reviews and whilst his old band got heavier, he seems more content to experiment with lighter fare. Like his contributions to Avantasia though it appears that others are managing to draw out the best in his vocal performances. On Sweet Oblivion Tate sounds great.
What really made me put this one on for a spin though was when I read about the seeming ‘disagreement‘ between Tate and guitarist Simone Mularoni. Now I know sometimes some artists aren’t always the easiest to work with but laying your feeling bare about working with someone (who was essentially supplying vocals for a project) as Mularoni did in an interview this year with ‘Aardschok Magazine’ isn’t the way to go about securing a follow up.
In the interview Mularoni recalled a process that saw Tate send back his own ideas to the rough guide vocals provided “The entire structure of the songs had changed” and “The guitar solos were erased and the vocal melodies were a closer resemblance to Hip-Hop rather than Metal.” Eventually it seems communication broke down until finally Mularoni got his songs back: “Geoff had recorded his vocals on the tour-bus. Who records vocals on a tour-bus? I struggled for a month just to make it all sound a bit better”.
That said, and the likelihood of a follow up presumably remote I still like what I hear. Indeed I’d go as far as to say there’s not really anything I don’t like. Best of all though for me are those opening two plus ‘Hide Away’ which tries something a little different to the template that is rather strictly adhered to here. There’s also ‘Disconnect’ the ballad here that really hits the spot even if it is strongly reminiscent again of one of Queensryche’s biggest hits.
Tracklisting:
01. True Colors
02. Sweet Oblivion
03. Behind Your Eyes
04. Hide Away
05. My Last Story
06. A Recess From My Fate
07. Transition
08. Disconnect
09. The Deceiver
10. Seek The Light
