QUEENSRŸCHE And GEOFF TATE Are Working on A 'Empire' 30th-Anniversary Box Set
Seattle progressive rockers QUEENSRŸCHE are working on a 30th-anniversary edition of their landmark "Empire" album. Released in 1990, the set included the hit ballad "Silent Lucidity", which reached No. 9 on the Billboard singles chart, helped propel "Empire" to No. 7 on the album chart and earned two Grammy Award nominations.
Speaking to Eonmusic, former QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate praised the LP, calling it "one of my favorite albums," before going on to reveal his involvement in the reissue, as well as his own plans to perform the record in its entirety.
He said: "I'd like to play every song [from 'Empire'] because there are songs on that album that I have played very rarely. There are some I've played maybe ten times on my life, and one of them is 'Anybody Listening?' When QUEENSRŸCHE was together, we never really put that song in our set. We just had a hard time playing it, for some reason; it just never jelled or felt right. And I'd really like to play that song again, and play it right."
Going on to reveal plans for an expanded 30th-anniversary release of "Empire", Geoff said: "There's a box set thing coming out for that. I'm kind of in the process of working with them on it right now. I can say from my perspective looking it, it's going to be a phenomenal box set, and I'm really looking forward to it. I'm contributing all kinds of stuff, from interviews to comments to liner notes — yeah, you name it."
When pressed about the musical content, however, the singer remained tight-lipped. "I know exactly what it's going to be, but I can't tell you exactly right now — it's too early," he said.
