I’m late to this thread, didn’t find the time but here’s some random comments from my part.
I came to know Queensryche with Operation: Mindcrime. Followed them closely from then on and also went backwards in their discography. Actually QR was one of the few bands my younger sister introduced to me, normally it was the other way round.
Queensryche EPComing from Mindcrime and RFO and The Warning to this EP, it is more than a little bit rough but I like it for what it is. The songs are good if sometimes a little unpolished and Tate shows he has a gigantic range. Other than that I don’t find his vocals that amazing (that would come later) as others seem to do, he’s to shrill and sometimes to close to hysterical wailing.
Greatest singer of his era?Geoff had talent but apart from Mindcrime and Empire which have phenomenal vocal performances, he’s not up there with the best imo. Controversial I guess, but as I said on the EP he’s more wailing than singing. He developed his voice on The Warning and RFO but still lacked some warmth on his voice, it was mostly his range that impressed me from the beginning and not necessarliy the sound of his voice. Then came Mindcrime and Empire and he was phenomenal on that two records, after that it’s all downhill, his voice began to crack on Promised Land and every effort after that was worse. He still has a characteristic voice, I give him that, but for a long time he had this nasal whining when singing live and he has lost most of his range.
For the be considered the best he had to have more longevity and less douchebaggery. But that’s just me.
Douchebag?I don’t pretend to know Geoff from the beginning but at the end of the 80s/beginning of the 90s there were a lot of interviews in music magazines and on music television with him, and for me he came across as being arrogant and presumptuous. He just wasn’t a likeable guy from what I saw/read. So maybe he had it all in him from the beginning.
The WarningSome early highlights on this one. Take Hold Of The Flame, Roads To Madness are great and the rest isn’t shabby either. But NM 156 takes the cake, that song is just phenomenal and shows the more progressive side that was to come. The machine voice, the odd rhythms, the soaring chorus, the twin guitar solo, everything is just great. One of my alltime favorite QR songs.
I don’t mind the altered track order and I didn’t know it at the time, but the meddling with the production was a big mistake. The production sounds dated and cheap.
But still a good effort for a “debut” longplaying record.
Anyway, great thread, great insights into the band (thanks Samsara) and the thoughts and stories of others.