Album Review: Sweet Oblivion - Sweet Oblivion

It's been a rough time for Geoff Tate. Since his split with Queensryche, he has put out three awful records under the Operation:Mindcrime moniker, his voice has continued to rot away, and his former band has gotten a fair amount of acclaim for returning to decency. I have to imagine, no matter how much of his own wine he drinks, it can't be easy to swallow losing a split so badly. He's had help trying to rehab his image with guest appearances on the last two Avantasia records, but this is the step that is so obvious, and so cynical, it's amazing it didn't happen sooner.

Sweet Oblivion finds Tate singing a record provided to him that tries to more or less clone Queensryche's period of commercial success. Sure, it might please his old fans, but it also flies in the face of everything he's said over the years about following his muse and evolving as an artist as Queensryche's career fell to pieces. Yes, he can say he didn't write a note of this, and he's only a hired gun, but to knowingly put himself in this situation shows what I believe to be a recognition that the only interest in Tate, at this point, is nostalgia.

That's what this album delivers. The music is that somewhat airy, slightly progressive type of rock/metal that sounds a bit less straight-forward than the usual, but sits in four minute chunks that never ask you to consider if 'prog' was a label thrown on to make the musicians seem more intelligent than they actually are.

The album is centered around Tate's voice, as you would expect with his name singled-out on the front cover. That's going to help sell copies of the record, but it also puts all the emphasis on the weakest aspect. The playing is flawless from the band, and the songs are better written than anything Tate has had his name on in decades (if I'm honest, maybe even ever - I've never heard the appeal of Queensryche), but Tate's voice is still a flawed vehicle. He was sounding better on his Avantasia appearances, but that is likely due to Tobi understanding his limitations and writing simple material for him to sing.

What I can say with certainty here is that this record would be close to something great if anyone other than Geoff Tate was singing it. He tries here, but his vocal tone is now so strained I find it unpleasant and difficult to listen to. These songs are good enough to help a career more deserving than that of current-day Tate. What that means is that for all the people who still love him, and Queensryche, they are going to be thrilled by what they will be hearing. Sweet Oblivion sounds as much like classic Queensryche as the band themselves do these days, and these songs are hookier and more memorable than what his former mates are up to.

I really want to say this album makes up for the last few years of strife and drama surrounding Geoff Tate, but I can't. It can't take back the time that was murdered by those Operation:Mindcrime albums, nor can Tate's voice sound good enough to make me eager to listen repeatedly. Sweet Oblivion has given us a very good album that has one giant, glaring flaw I, personally, can't look past. But hey, if you like Geoff Tate, this album is everything you could ever want.