The Queensr˙che Discography Thread

[TAC]

'Anybody Listening?' from MTV 'Unplugged'.  Great to see the camaraderie before and after (sad to think of how things changed).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DBVql6-ZXw

 

Cool. Other than watching the airing of the original cut version on MTV, I have never ever gone back and watched any of this again. I see the full show is on youtube. I will have to hit this tomorrow.

[KevShmev]

Anybody Listening may be my favorite QR song of all time.

Mine, too.  It's neck and neck and neck with Suite Sister Mary and Promised Land.

[TAC]

Roads To Madness

[KevShmev]

Roads To Madness

That wouldn't make my Queensryche top 40.

[TAC]

Roads To Madness

That wouldn't make my Queensryche top 40.

[ronnibran]

Anybody Listening may be my favorite QR song of all time.

Mine, too.  It's neck and neck and neck with Suite Sister Mary and Promised Land.

Cool to see love for the song Promised Land.  I literally don't listen to QR anymore, but still on occasion listen to that particular song.  My fav of theirs.

[T-ski]

Anybody Listening may be my favorite QR song of all time.

Mine, too.  It's neck and neck and neck with Suite Sister Mary and Promised Land.

Promised Land is top 5.

[NoseofNicko]

Roads To Madness

 

[ReaperKK]

Just heard Empire for the first time. I knew Silent Lucidity and Jet City Woman but haven't heard any of the other songs. There are some really killer songs on here and the record is the best so far. Della Brown is easily the best song on the album IMO. I think the only thing that irked me was the spoken part in "Empire" the song.

Not to go off topic, but wouldn't it be great to hear any album you love for the first time again?

Empire is great. I remember getting the cassette and replaying Silent Lucidity numerous times, it was just so gorgeous. Unfortunately radio killed that feeling. Anybody Listening may be my favorite QR song of all time.

Absolutely. There are so many albums I've fallen In love with over the years that I still enjoy but I feel like after hearing every note of those records some magic is lost that can't be regained.

It's why I love these discography threads. I love listening through the albums while reading the write ups, it's like traveling through the life of the band with commentary about the time period the album was released. A lot of these albums are completely new to me.

[PowerSlave]

Roads To Madness

That wouldn't make my Queensryche top 40.

 

[wolfking]

Road to Madness would be in my top 10 at least.

[Lowdz]

Roads To Madness

That wouldn't make my Queensryche top 40.

Top tier for me

[Kwyjibo]

As I already mentioned somewhere, I came to know Queensryche with Mindcrime, which was recommendation from my sister. So Empire was the first QR record that was released after I became a fan. But this was before the internet and I had no idea that it was coming out. I came to know of it by seeing a video of Silent Lucidity on MTV. And the song was listed as being from Empire, so the next day I went to my local record dealer and bought it.

Empire is probably the most accessible and most mainstream record Queensryche has done. And I like it a lot. Never thought that this was a sell-out, it was just another facet of their sound and stood in line with changing their sound from record to record but still maintain a recognizable QR-style.
And I never had problems with bands going the more melodic approach, I was a fan of melodic rock before I became a fan of metal and prog. And I like Falling Into Infinity for the same reasons  .

As Samsara has said the songs breathe more and I think this goes for the guitar solos too. On Mindcrime we had the full metal shred solos, now they have taken more to the “David Gilmour” approach. They are much more atmospheric and there’s a lot more room for the notes, most noteworthy in the song Della Brown.

Tate isn’t going to the almost insane high notes like on Mindcrime but still delivers a great performance, showing a lot of emotion and warmth in the more laid back and atmospheric songs. My highlight in regards to singing would be Anybody Listening?

I have the cd version with the bonus tracks, because my original disc was lost on some party or other. The new mastering doesn’t bother me much but the bonus tracks just don’t fit the rest of the record. Not that they are bad, but, even if this isn’t a concept record it has a great flow to it due to the track order, and Anybody Listening with the ambient sound of the ocean rolling in is such a perfect way to end the record. I’m an album guy, meaning I rarely listen to individual songs but mostly to full albums from start to finish and therefore everything that comes after that perfect ending just disturbes the mood and the flow and feels tacked on. Okay, I could just hit stop after Anybody Listening but still…

Empire is probably my second favorite QR record, with Jet City Woman, Silent Lucidity, Anybody Listening and One And Only being my favorite pieces. The latter seems to be a love it or hate it song.

And Della Brown is amazing as well. And all the other songs are great, so it’s hard to choose some favorites. The only songs I don’t care about are Resistance and Hand On Heart, not bad but just kinda there.

[Samsara]

re: Anybody Listening?

>>>Not only is this my favorite QR track, it's my favorite song of all-time. I really have a high regard for it. Live, it doesn't quite sound right without DeGarmo singing lines (and Tate doing them). It had a really cool vibe when that other voice came in. The Unplugged version is pretty funny. Ed at first doesn't want to do it, and says he'll come in on the parts he remembers. Scott wants NOTHING to do with it, and Chris goes "C'mon,, Scott, fuckin play along! Who cares if we screw up, these are our friends, right?"   

Then, as they begin take 1, Wilton mistakenly plays his part in the solo after the intro.

Chris (with Michael playing the wrong part): "Michael, Michael, Michael..."

Whip: continues to play

Geoff: "that's the solo..."

Whip: continues to play

Chris: "Michael, when we get to the solo, that sounds gorgeous man. But uh, one more time around..."

(paraphrase)

Just classic. 

They try it again, and its mostly correct. Tate forgets a lyric or two, but they mostly get it down.

The other cool part about the complete Unplugged footage is another humorous section where the guys aren't sure they can play anything else. So they're sitting there, sorta at a loss, and DeGarmo starts playing Suite Sister Mary. Eddie yells out "yeah, you wish!" and Chris keeps noodling. Then Geoff realizes Chris might actually move forward with it, and Geoff says "no no no...and starts to get up and leave." hahahahahhahahahahahahaha.

Then they decide to do a cover of "Rockin in the Free World." As they get through half of it, Tate wants them to repeat the chorus, and the band sorta stops playing, with Geoff going "you gotta follow me..." and Chris just plays the ending of Suite Sister Mary. 

Ed, of course, has the funniest line, saying at the end: "I may not know our own songs, but I can play somebody else's!"    Fuckin' Ed Bass...

Chris then says: "Yeah, I like that shit a little better honestly..." (referring to Suite Sister Mary).

It was so cool to see them vibing like that. They had a good break from the tour for a while at that point (about two to three months), so the batteries were recharged a bit...

[Lowdz]

Yeah I really enjoyed the interplay on the unplugged session.

Re AL - the CDG vocal lines are cool. Just love that song

[Grappler]

I listened to Empire this morning - I had forgotten that I've also seen the band play Best I Can a few times as well.  It was actually a nice change to hear it, since I usually go to Mindcrime/RFO/Warning, especially over the last 5 years.  The singer change left me not wanting to listen to those old recordings (i.e. vocals), but enough time has passed, I'm older and I've simply stopped caring about what the band does or does not do since I have new priorities in my life. 

So it's easier for me to enjoy the original albums again and it can take me back to when I discovered the band and became a big fan 20 years ago.   Della Brown still bores me, but I'm more tolerant of the song now as well.

[DragonAttack]

Thanks to this thread, as mentioned in the original write up, I heard 'The Thin Line' demo for the first time
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxlWdMEElH8

From approximately 3:30 onward of the demo, does it remind you of anything?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEZH0t5Yozw

[TAC]

It was so cool to see them vibing like that. They had a good break from the tour for a while at that point (about two to three months), so the batteries were recharged a bit...

I have to remember this comment when we get to Promised Land.

[millahh]

Back when I had this on cassette [insert fogey emoticon here], I appended The Real World after Anybody Listening...and it actually flowed well!

That's all I have...

[Stadler]

I like all three:  Real World, Last Time In Paris and Scarborough Fair.  I don't have the latter two on CD (yet) but I had all three on cassette singles back in the day. 

[millahh]

Back when I had this on cassette [insert fogey emoticon here], I appended The Real World after Anybody Listening...and it actually flowed well!

That's all I have...

Huh...guess I jumped the gun a bit, seems like it is considered part of the PL cycle.  Always seemed to have more more common DNA with Empire for me, and it predated PL by a year, so I guess that's why I categorized it there.

[King Postwhore]

I like all three:  Real World, Last Time In Paris and Scarborough Fair.  I don't have the latter two on CD (yet) but I had all three on cassette singles back in the day. 

Yes the remaster.  I bought that as well just for Last Time In Paris.

[T-ski]

I have the Anybody Listening single on cd with Scarborough Fair.

I think that was a rarity at one time, not sure if it is anymore.

[KevShmev]

Roads To Madness

That wouldn't make my Queensryche top 40.

LOL. But hey, I like Roads to Madness; I just don't love it.

[Cyclopssss]

Empire was a disappointment to me. Anybody listening was the best track on there.

[jingle.boy]

As usual, fantastic writeup and follow-up responses from Brian.  Love all the stories, memories, and anecdotes being shared by all.

On the other hand it probably helped many newer fans to discover retroactively Mindcrime, so that's all good.

This was me exactly.  Silent Lucidity's constant rotation on radio and TV was my introduction to the band.  The fact that I was very much a glam/hair metal guy at the time, this kind of power ballad appealed to me.  And it was so much better than any of the standard power ballads that traditional glam bands were churning out.  It absolutely floored me, and I listened with awe for a very, VERY long time.  I remember buying the CD at a flea market (along with Slaughter/Stick it To Ya, and Cinderella/Long Cold Winter - because they too had killer power ballads).  Empire was something else though - #24 on my Top 50.  The 'thinking man's metal' moniker is fairly apt... I remember thinking (and still do to this day) that the lyrics were just so damned intelligent - especially when compared to the music of the day from the bands/albums that I was listening to at the time.

I promptly went backwards in their catalog, and naturally spent a LOT of time with O:M; it would take many many years for me to give RFO/Warning/EP their fair due.  However, on the strength of O:M and Empire alone, QR quickly became a favorite band of mine.  I spun the shit out of those two albums.  I too just missed their show that tour, which is also my biggest concert regret ever.

As for the notion of this being a sellout, "sellout" is a terrible term to use, but it was definitely a move to appeal to a broader audience.  Thankfully, as Brian mentioned, this was more of a 'hybrid' transition from where QR was.  For Metallica though, their move was absolutely a conscious one (maybe not as much by the band, but for sure by the extended groups involved), and the backlash from hard-core thrashy-metal fans was immense.  Metallica doing power-ballads?  Bob Rock as the producer?  That album was most certainly pandering to the industry ... even though time has definitely proved it was a beneficial move (and an excellent album to boot).

@ Scotty... if you didn't like how the album cover was so pixelated, then you would've hated the 3'x5' poster I found of the cover.  I think (hope) I still have it somewhere.  I hung it above my bed in my dorm at Uni, which took like 1/2 a role of tape to hold that fucker up.  For a long time, I had wanted a tat of the tri-ryche.  Probably would've later in life if they had continued to produce good music.

Music has been there when nothing else seemingly has. Every range of emotion can and does get expressed. I think that this is especially true when you're a fan of music with progressive tendencies.

Amen brother!

[romdrums]

One thing about Empire, and Mindcrime, too, that I think deserves mention is the guitar solo work by both Wilton and DeGarmo.  These records are a clinic in how to write guitar solos that serve the song and help create the perfect mood to drive the song home.  I love the conversational nature of their trade off solos in Breaking the Silence and I Don't Believe in Love.  Wilton perfectly captures the emotional anxiety in the lyrics of Another Rainy Night with a solo that is anxious and tense and slides perfectly into that final prechorus.  DeGarmo's versatility shines in his Gilmour-esque melodicism in his solos on Anybody Listening and The Mission, while he takes a totally different approach in creating the emotional highpoint of Suite Sister Mary with a twisted and tormented solo.  In all, while they weren't super flashy virtuosos, their work on these records is a masterclass of how a guitar team can work together to create leads that serve the songs perfectly.

[Stadler]

Back when I had this on cassette [insert fogey emoticon here], I appended The Real World after Anybody Listening...and it actually flowed well!

That's all I have...

Huh...guess I jumped the gun a bit, seems like it is considered part of the PL cycle.  Always seemed to have more more common DNA with Empire for me, and it predated PL by a year, so I guess that's why I categorized it there.

Don't apologize; I'm with you on that.   Maybe it's because I LOVE Empire and I LOVE Real World and... let's say, DON'T LOVE Promised Land, but still.  I get that association.

Cinderella/Long Cold Winter

One of my favorite records, ever.   Quality from top to bottom.   "Lookin' on back when, I was young..."

Metallica doing power-ballads?  Bob Rock as the producer?  That album was most certainly pandering to the industry ...

I don't know that I am arguing with you, exactly, but I really have a hard time with the word "pandering".  I can concede it was a conscious change in direction, but I don't at all think "pandering" is the right word.  They wanted to move away from ...AJFA (10 minute, prog-thrash epics), and where were they going to go?   Redo MoP?  But they also wanted to move away from the Fleming Rasmussen style of production (cold, trebly, in my humble opinion, sterile) and liked what Crue did with Dr. Feelgood - musically as well as psychologically - and where were they going to go?   Mutt Lange?    Hetfield, who I consider to be probably the best example of musical integrity in the business right now, said point blank:  we have done the long song to death and wanted to - had to - move in a different direction.

One thing about Empire, and Mindcrime, too, that I think deserves mention is the guitar solo work by both Wilton and DeGarmo. <SNIP> In all, while they weren't super flashy virtuosos, their work on these records is a masterclass of how a guitar team can work together to create leads that serve the songs perfectly.

Listen to the way the riff going into (and under) the chorus works.  That's two guitar players playing two different lines that are butt simple but when played together, in my opinion, carry the whole song.   Those lines mesh and dissonate (is that a word?) at the same time and move the song along.  I LOVE that. 

[jingle.boy]

Fair enough... maybe they (Metallica) didn't intend to pander to the industry from the outset, but the result they came up with was hard to interpret any other way - especially by their hardcore/loyal fans.

[TAC]

Fair enough... maybe they (Metallica) didn't intend to pander to the industry from the outset, but the result they came up with was hard to interpret any other way - especially by their hardcore/loyal fans.

Agreed.

It's funny how well that album has aged though. The production and sound is amazing, plus they released mostly crap for the next decade and a half.

A comment that could also apply to both Queensryche's Empire and Dio's Lock Up The Wolves.

[Stadler]

Fair enough... maybe they (Metallica) didn't intend to pander to the industry from the outset, but the result they came up with was hard to interpret any other way - especially by their hardcore/loyal fans.

Well, yeah, but those "fans" largely want(ed) the catalogue to look like:

Kill 'Em All (1983)
Ride the Lightning (1984)
Master of Puppets (1986)
...And Justice for All (1988)
Metallica Ride The Lightning II (1991)
Load Master of Puppets Redux (1996)
Reload ...And Justice For All Revisited (1997)
St. Anger Ride The Lightning Again (2003)
Death Magnetic Son of the Master of Puppets (2008)
Hardwired... to Self-Destruct ... And Justice For All Those We Missed The First and Second Time (2016)

I was not a "hardcore" fan, but I knew the catalogue well (my roommate in college stood in line over night to buy ...And Justice For All upon release) and to me, "Metallica" was a band coming into it's own.   If they had stayed "thrash", in my view, THAT would have been the "pandering".  Like Slayer.  Slayer to me is a cartoon and (though I stole this from two guys that used to host an internet radio show back in 2012 or so) I can't listen to them without hearing "Entrance of the Gladiators" (the "circus theme" song) in my head.   Metallica needed to move on, and there could have been a LOT worse than "Metallica" in that case. 

I'm not posting this to argue, or to go off topic.  I think there are a LOT of similarities between the Queensryche and Metallica arcs up through their defining albums; it's from this point that the tangents appear. 

[Samsara]

The Metallica/QR thing (which I know I planted a seed to discuss up above a bit) may make an interesting other thread, Stadler, if you're so inclined. They did share management, so there's that. I think I may have a bit to contribute if you did.

Of course, a lot of bands did the same thing during that era.

One thing about Empire, and Mindcrime, too, that I think deserves mention is the guitar solo work by both Wilton and DeGarmo.  These records are a clinic in how to write guitar solos that serve the song and help create the perfect mood to drive the song home.  I love the conversational nature of their trade off solos in Breaking the Silence and I Don't Believe in Love.  Wilton perfectly captures the emotional anxiety in the lyrics of Another Rainy Night with a solo that is anxious and tense and slides perfectly into that final prechorus.  DeGarmo's versatility shines in his Gilmour-esque melodicism in his solos on Anybody Listening and The Mission, while he takes a totally different approach in creating the emotional highpoint of Suite Sister Mary with a twisted and tormented solo.  In all, while they weren't super flashy virtuosos, their work on these records is a masterclass of how a guitar team can work together to create leads that serve the songs perfectly.

The solos were pretty perfect, I agree. I am with you that the best solos are the ones that heighten the drama and capture the essence of the song, and DeGarmo and Wilton were masters at that during their primes. Agreed completely on your Mindcrime and Empire examples. Simply put, there is a magic between the two of them that has never, ever, been replicated by the band after DeGarmo's initial departure. And the 1988-1992 eras of the band were the absolute pinnacle for that.

Because Empire was warmer, and wasn't as aggressive, you really got a ton more exposure to just HOW GOOD those guys were on a creative level, instead of being bombarded. Just such a classic record.

[jingle.boy]

Holy mother of god... Stadler and I agree on something!

Back on Mindcrime though, I just listened to the re-matster disc 2 (live).  So good.

I will say that Hand on Heart is the one song that I never did appreciate, and time hasn't done anything to change that opinion.  For me personally:

God-tier ... Best I Can, Empire, Silent Lucidity, Anybody Listening?
Awesomesauce... The Thin Line, Della Brown, JCW, ARN (w/o U), Resistence
Very very good ... One and Only
Meh... HoH

[Samsara]

Regarding "Best I Can," I thought that song was a huge departure for the band that really worked. It was totally driven by by the drums using the guitars to highlight the emotion rather than drive it until the chorus. Great work of keyboards in the same regard. I felt it really gave Scott and Geoff a chance to shine.

Chris' solo was also a bit of a departure for the band, style-wise, incorporating the wah a bit. But unlike when it was abused by Kelly Gray later on in the band's history, its use on this song by Chris really gave the song a unique feel to it. You can tell the guys really obsessed over these songs and worked them over big time. The attention to detail is just astounding...even 27 years later.

[TAC]

God-tier ... Best I Can, Empire, Silent Lucidity, Anybody Listening?
Awesomesauce... The Thin Line, Della Brown, JCW, ARN (w/o U), Resistence
Very very good ... One and Only
Meh... HoH

This album has it's stronger songs (Anybody Listening?) and surely it's weaker ones (Resistance), but I find the tracks on Empire all seem to lean on each other as this album is definitely greater than the sum of it's parts. IMO of course.

Well, yeah, but those "fans" largely want(ed) the catalogue to look like:

Kill 'Em All (1983)
Ride the Lightning (1984)
Master of Puppets (1986)
...And Justice for All (1988)
Metallica Ride The Lightning II (1991)
Load Master of Puppets Redux (1996)
Reload ...And Justice For All Revisited (1997)
St. Anger Ride The Lightning Again (2003)
Death Magnetic Son of the Master of Puppets (2008)
Hardwired... to Self-Destruct ... And Justice For All Those We Missed The First and Second Time (2016)

Personally, I was waiting for Kill 'Em All Again!