Since joining Queensrÿche in 2012, vocalist Todd La Torre has played a significant role in bringing back the band’s signature vocal prowess. In a recent interview with PowerOfMetal.cl, he was asked what he believes has been his greatest contribution to the group’s evolution.
“Well, the key word you said there was ‘evolution’ because I was gonna say I think I’ve brought back a lot of the vocal acrobatics that were missing for a long time,” La Torre explained. “As far as the evolution of the band, I don’t know how to answer that other than the fact that the band is free to write as heavy a music as they want or not. There was a long period of time where heavy ideas were being stifled and were not being accepted. And so when I got into the band, I think that the chains were taken off and these guys felt like they could write whatever they wanna write without being told it’s too heavy, which I think is, again, contributing to that evolution.”
“But I don’t know how I’ve contributed to the evolution other than just embracing the old catalog and performing those songs in standard tunings, like the records go, and really embracing the debut Queensrÿche EP record and performing it, or the entire album The Warning, things like that — playing all these songs that fans love to hear that they haven’t heard in a long time,” he added.
As for what the band has in store, La Torre kept it simple: “Same as we’ve been doing for the last 13 years. We write records, so we’re working on a new record now, and then we’ll go tour on it. It’s just kind of the way the nature of the beast is. We tour year-round and try to find pockets of time to write new music and then record it and put it out and promote it and do videos, that kind of thing. So same thing that we’ve been doing. We’re just working on the next record now.”
One key aspect of La Torre‘s approach to Queensrÿche’s music is his insistence on maintaining standard tuning, a rarity among rock vocalists who have been performing for decades. In an August 2024 interview with The Metal Voice, he elaborated on what this means.
“Most guitars are just, you strum and they’re just E — standard tuning… And listen, back then, ’80s and rock was very much always in E — maybe E flat where you downtune it a half step. And singers that struggle a lot of times will say, ‘Hey, we’re gonna need to tune this one down.’ So the song, all the music gets tuned down. You tune the music, the key, the instruments down a little. And then when you play those same chords, you play the guitar the same way, but it’s just a little bit in a lower key, and so it makes it easier for a lot of singers to sing those songs still, just not in the standard tuning that they were originally recorded.”
La Torre made it clear that while lowering the tuning can be a useful tool, he takes issue with those who don’t acknowledge it.
“There’s nothing wrong with that if that’s what you have to do to make it work. What’s not cool is when you act like you didn’t do it, and there are singers that do that, or it’s frustrating when people will say, ‘Oh,’ whatever band it is, ‘that guy’s still hitting the notes like the record.’ And they don’t realize that, no, he’s not. It’s tuned down. It’s not the same. And you can compare ’em — you can ‘A-B’ ’em and listen. You think he’s killing these high notes. He’s not. He’s singing a lower note that still sounds good, but let’s make no mistake. It’s not how it was recorded. And again, that’s fine. There might be a point in my life where, yeah, I can’t do that. But you can still sing it really, really well.”
Despite the challenges of maintaining such a demanding vocal range, La Torre remains steadfast in his approach. “At 51 years old, I still — when I feel good and I’m not ill and tired and everything — I can sing all the Queensrÿche stuff in standard tuning and it’s fine. It’s not a big deal.”
