QUEENSRŸCHE guitarist Michael Wilton says that "the band was getting stale" prior to the departure of its original singer, Geoff Tate. Todd La Torre joined QUEENSRŸCHE as the replacement for Tate after the latter was fired in 2012. QUEENSRŸCHE has released three albums thus far with the former CRIMSON GLORY frontman on vocals: 2013's "Queensrÿche", 2015's "Condition Hüman" and 2019's "The Verdict". Wilton spoke about La Torre's addition to QUEENSRŸCHE during an appearance on a recent episode of the "Tunestiles" podcast. He said (hear audio below): "I think it's a shot right in the arm. The band was getting stale and it needed to reinvent itself and drastic measures were taken. We've been rebuilding the whole process with QUEENSRŸCHE for eight years now, and it's all for the better." Michael also talked about QUEENSRŸCHE's musical evolution over the course of its nearly four-decade existence. He said: "With QUEENSRŸCHE recordings, we've always tried to not tread in the same water. So we've always tried to evolve from each recording. And I think that's pretty evident in the early days. And as far as the new QUEENSRŸCHE, we've put out three albums, and each one has progressed in its songwriting style to a point where you see a mature songwriting confidence in the band. I think the key aspect now is that we're a band again, so it's kind of a democratic process — everybody throws their ideas into the pool; everybody works on everybody else's music; there's not one guy that's saying, 'This is how it's gonna be.' So I think that really shapes a fertile ground for creativity for recording albums with QUEENSRŸCHE." According to Wilton, there are no plans for QUEENSRŸCHE to slow down anytime soon. "QUEENSRŸCHE has basically been going for 38, 39 years now, and I think that we've done it our own way," he said. "We're kind of unique in our style of writing and our music, and it's just stood the test of time. We're a band that tours relentlessly, we put albums out, and we've been doing that ever since the early '80s. So I think it's just something that… If there's a demand for QUEENSRŸCHE, we're still gonna keep bringing it." "The Verdict" was released last March via Century Media Records. The disc was produced, mixed and mastered by Chris "Zeuss" Harris (ROB ZOMBIE, ICED EARTH, HATEBREED) at Uberbeatz in Lynwood, Washington; Planet-Z in Wilbraham, Massachusetts; and Watershed Studio in Seattle, Washington.
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