Queensrÿche’s Geoff Tate Unplugged February 2, 2012

“The songs are all about the strongest passion of life, which is love. It’s all about the feelings that you have for somebody, how relationships work and don’t work, the misunderstandings, and all that it takes to keep a relationship working. That said, it’s also about stepping out on you’re own and trying new stuff, and not being afraid to take that big step. That makes it kind of autobiographical, because I’m taking that step, moving out from where I’ve been and stepping into other areas, and that’s important for people to do.” This is what Geoff Tate himself said about his solo album with sanctuary records. “Ask me what I believe in, I’ll say compromise…” rings the opening line of the album’s first track, and in those vulnerable depths of “Flood” the mood is set. The music swirls in a textured wash of soothing guitar tones and gently cascading rhythms, and Tate’s vocals shower the proceedings like the most welcome of spring rains, his words glistening like a morning dew. Fans of Queensrÿche will revel in the familiar, soothing warmth of one of music’s most pure voices, while new fans will find themselves lost somewhere between the melancholy of “Forever” and the hopeful effervescence of “This Moment.” Co-songwriter Scott Moughton paves a tantalizing trail of Spanish-flavored guitars into “Helpless,” a piano lays the path through the peaceful calm of “In Other Words,” drums propel “Passenger,” and “Grain Of Faith” plays like the perfect culmination of Tate’s lyrical harmony and Carrell’s guitar-based foundations.