Geoff Tate<\/strong>, the former voice of Queensr\u00ffche<\/strong>, is set to release Operation: Mindcrime III<\/em> on May 3, marking the next installment in his legendary concept album series. The LP’s first single, “Power,” is now available to stream, giving fans a high-energy taste of the story to come.<\/p>\n “Power is the first \u2013 I don’t know \u2013 we call ’em singles nowadays. It’s a really cool song \u2013 very, very energetic, very up, and kind of says a lot in a very short time, which I like,” Tate <\/strong>told Dean Delray<\/strong> on the Let There Be Talk<\/em> podcast.<\/p>\n Written alongside guitarist and producer Kieran Robertson<\/strong>, “Power” features Tate<\/strong> on vocals, Rich Baur<\/strong> on drums, and Disturbed<\/strong> bassist and Mindcrime III<\/em> co-producer John Moyer<\/strong> on bass. Guitar duties were handled by Dario Parente<\/strong> and Amaury Altmayer<\/strong>, with Tate<\/strong> and Robertson<\/strong> contributing synths and strings. The track was mixed and mastered by Juan Urteaga<\/strong> at Trident Studios in Pacheco, California.<\/p>\n Unlike the first two chapters, which followed protagonist Nikki<\/strong>, Operation: Mindcrime III<\/em> tells the story from the perspective of the enigmatic Dr. X<\/strong>.<\/p>\n “Which is kind of interesting, I think, because we’ve only heard it from Nikki<\/strong>‘s point of view, and he’s been sort of this victim throughout the whole story. And Dr. X<\/strong>‘s perspective is completely different, ’cause he’s not the victim at all. So it’s very aggressive,” Tate<\/strong> explained.<\/p>\n Tate<\/strong> also detailed his meticulous songwriting approach: “I write the story out first of what is happening, and then I kind of dissect it and create chapters, and those chapters turn into songs\u2026 Then you gotta kind of factor in musically how you’re gonna tie it together.<\/p>\n “Does it make sense musically and melodically to put this song before this song, before this song, before this song? ‘Cause that’s a big thing too, is making it flow, so it doesn’t seem obtrusive and people don’t have to turn the page back to find out what happened.”<\/p>\n Tate<\/strong> emphasized that, while released under his own name, the music was crafted within the Mindcrime<\/em> universe: “Part of the whole writing process was keeping the music in the universe of Mindcrime<\/em>, writing within that style, I guess you’d say.”<\/p>\n Adding to the album’s mystique, recording took place in unconventional locations across the globe. “One track was recorded in a church\u2026 parts of it in this castle in Italy\u2026 big, high ceilings, open environment, big stone walls\u2026 it added a really unique sound to the song. We just kind of took advantage of that wherever we could and wrote the album as we were touring around the world,” Tate<\/strong> said.<\/p>\n