Official Queensryche thread: Kickstart the next album

[bosk1]

I never got why QR fans didn't like Della Brown that much. I think it's an amazing song, one of their best too. Lady Jane as well. Fuck, this band was so amazing up until PL, I have hard time not choosing any of their songs for a top 10 list.

Probably just because it is a bit on the longish side and is both mellow and repetitive.  But, yes, as you have Kev said, fantastic song.  I wouldn't put it in my top 3, but it is still an excellent tune. 

[Nick]

It's a good song, but definitely one of the lower songs on the album.

[Samsara]

I never got why QR fans didn't like Della Brown that much. I think it's an amazing song, one of their best too. Lady Jane as well. Fuck, this band was so amazing up until PL, I have hard time not choosing any of their songs for a top 10 list.

Probably just because it is a bit on the longish side and is both mellow and repetitive.  But, yes, as you have Kev said, fantastic song.  I wouldn't put it in my top 3, but it is still an excellent tune. 

Della Brown rocks. Up until that song, QR never did anything even remotely bluesy like that. The guitar work is amazing, as is all the soul in the track. One of my favorites and truly an underrated gem. But nothing else in the QR catalog sounds like that tune. Just a really great take on the blues by Queensryche. Love it.

[bosk1]

I think it's so interesting because it's not even straight blues--it's kinda blues on steroids.  It has a similar quality to when Floyd really goes back to their blues roots in that while it is definitely blues done well, it's blues with layer upon layer upon layer of atmosphere, which takes takes the song to another level.

[Samsara]

I think it's so interesting because it's not even straight blues--it's kinda blues on steroids.  It has a similar quality to when Floyd really goes back to their blues roots in that while it is definitely blues done well, it's blues with layer upon layer upon layer of atmosphere, which takes takes the song to another level.

Well, I would expect QR to do that "blues on steroids." They were a metal-guitar-driven band, so it makes sense that was the take they did on it.

Great tune. Just sang that live over the weekend. 

[KevShmev]

Breaking the top 3 on Empire is tough, but I think it does it (although 3-5 on my list are all pretty close in my book):

1. "Anybody Listening?"
2. "Silent Lucidity" (overplayed or not, this is a fantastic song)
3. "Della Brown"
4. "Empire"
5. "The Thin Line"
6. "Best I Can"

I was never overly wild about either "Jet City Woman" or "Another Rainy Night," but I enjoy both of them for the most part.

[Samsara]

Agreed, Kev. It IS tough.

I'd probably go with:

Empire
Anybody Listening?
Jet City Woman

But cuts like Best I Can and Della Brown are up there as well.

[Nick]

Anybody Listening?
Hand on Heart
Resistance

[Silver Tears]

I was just listening to Empire and I got a really strong Pink Floyd vibe (The Wall in particular) from some of the songs, especially Silent Lucidity. Anyone else get this or is it just me?

[Samsara]

I was just listening to Empire and I got a really strong Pink Floyd vibe (The Wall in particular) from some of the songs, especially Silent Lucidity. Anyone else get this or is it just me?

Yeah, Silent Lucidity in particular. Chris DeGarmo is extremely influenced by David Gilmour. It's the way Chris writes, particularly his guitar solos.

[KevShmev]

Except for the strings at the beginning of "Eyes of a Stranger" sounding eerily similar to Floyd's "Empty Spaces," I have never gotten a Floyd vibe from QR's music, but many others seem to, so I guess I am just missing it.

[King Postwhore]

I remember a few hardcore QR fans not liking the new sound on Empire but they were few and far between.  I thought that is was a natural progression for QR.  There were more people up in arms over Metallica's sound on the Black album then QR's Empire.

[Phantasmatron]

the strings at the beginning of "Eyes of a Stranger" sounding eerily similar to Floyd's "Empty Spaces,"

WHOA.  I never noticed that before.

And now it seems so obvious. 

[Nick]

Yeah, I've always noticed a Floyd influence, especially the song and section previously mentioned.

[skydivingninja]

Except for the strings at the beginning of "Eyes of a Stranger" sounding eerily similar to Floyd's "Empty Spaces,"

"Eyes of a Stranger" was the first QR song I heard, and the "Empty Spaces" vibe was the first thing I noticed.

[Silver Tears]

the strings at the beginning of "Eyes of a Stranger" sounding eerily similar to Floyd's "Empty Spaces,"

WHOA.  I never noticed that before.

And now it seems so obvious. 

I didn't notice that either 

[TAC]

I remember a few hardcore QR fans not liking the new sound on Empire but they were few and far between.  I thought that is was a natural progression for QR.  There were more people up in arms over Metallica's sound on the Black album then QR's Empire.

Well that's because there were more people paying attention to Metallica than Queensryche. I was one of those QR fans . You had to lift an eyebrow when Empire was released. This was a movement into way more mainstream and accessable music. I liked Empire when it came out. It sounded great (which has really helped it age well), but I was very cautious of Queensryche and where they were going. Haha, and I had good reason to worry, apparently, as they followed it up with Promised Land, a direction that I was not happy with. But you're right King, you could see the progression.
But a few bands put out albums that were more accessable during this time (The Black Album, Countdown To Extinction, F&J's Cuatro). I thought all of these bands went soft for the new decade. Remarkably though, ALL of these albums have aged very well.

[Samsara]

And to be fair, Empire was a natural progression for the band. They could have done what most expected and followed up Mindcrime with another truly metal album with another concept. But they hit the brakes and embraced a warmer, bigger sound, and some of their other influences outside of metal.

I think what I respected about Queensryche during that period was that it was apparent that while a turn toward mainstream was partially generated because of the time period (pretty much all heavy bands put out that more mainstream record from 1990-1993), there was also that whiff of integrity about them that they weren't JUST doing it because of that. You could believe them (unlike Metallica and some other bands) when they said it was just a natural progression.

I think the continued evolution of Promised Land proved that. Every single Queensryche record from the original lineup sounded different than one another. You can't say that of bands like Metallica, Megadeth, Def Leppard (keep adding bands). Queensryche consciously never did any retreads.

With Promised Land, Queensryche could have easily made Empire 2 and continued to go mainstream. But they didn't. They did the complete opposite of what was expected of them, doing a dark, introspective, more Floydian sounding record, when the lure of doing a mainstream or grunge record was there.

QR bucked the trend, and frankly, I respect the hell out of the original lineup for doing that at that particular time, given their mainstream success with Empire.

[bosk1]

I know this probably isn't right, but I almost felt at the time back in 1990 that they intentionally wrote a more commercially successful album with the mindset of, "We're talented enough to whatever the heck we want to do.  If we want to, we can write a smash hit, commercially successful album that puts our name front and center and makes people notice us, while still maintaining our artistic integrity.  And maybe we should do that and get out on a huge tour so we can get the backing to present Mindcrime in all its glory."  I mean, it almost felt like a calculated move to get label backing to be able to do the Mindcrime production that they did on the Building Empires tour.  (and I'm not saying it is a bad thing at all; on the contrary, I think it would have been a brilliant move on their part if it was actually planned)  Now, looking back, that doesn't seem to ring true anymore.  But I still can't help but wonder if there was at least some of that kind of thinking floating around when they wrote Empire.

[Samsara]

I know this probably isn't right, but I almost felt at the time back in 1990 that they intentionally wrote a more commercially successful album with the mindset of, "We're talented enough to whatever the heck we want to do.  If we want to, we can write a smash hit, commercially successful album that puts our name front and center and makes people notice us, while still maintaining our artistic integrity.  And maybe we should do that and get out on a huge tour so we can get the backing to present Mindcrime in all its glory."  I mean, it almost felt like a calculated move to get label backing to be able to do the Mindcrime production that they did on the Building Empires tour.  (and I'm not saying it is a bad thing at all; on the contrary, I think it would have been a brilliant move on their part if it was actually planned)  Now, looking back, that doesn't seem to ring true anymore.  But I still can't help but wonder if there was at least some of that kind of thinking floating around when they wrote Empire.

Sure, the time period and going more mainstream was probably something that was discussed at the label and with the band, but the band was also ripe for moving on to a new direction, and the melody in their tunes made it a natural progression.

They've said that the goal with Empire was to write an album of individual songs, not linked by anything (aka writing singles). So they've come out and said that. So yeah, it was partially planned, but also a very natural turn for them. I think doing Promised Land right after Empire shows a bit that it was more about evolution as a band then money...at least during those times. But I hear ya, an argument can me made either way.

[bosk1]

I know I may have made it sound like money was the motivating factor, but that's actually not what I meant.  What I was trying to say is that Mindcrime still very much had its integrity to it and was something that, despite that concept albums had been by others before, was startlingly different.  They were rightly very proud of it.  What I think may have been a motivating factor was that they wanted to find a way to present their vision of OM, their "pet project" so to speak, to the masses, and a more commercial album would provide a vehicle for them to do that.  So I've just always wondered whether they had that much vision to have planned it that way, or whether it that was just the way it ended up playing out.

[TAC]

Bosk & Sam, I agree with both of you. Empire DID sound more commercial. I mean it was obvious on the first listen, but I also felt this was very much a Queensryche album. I never questioned the integrity of the band back then. I wasn't concerned about Empire itself, I was concerned about where they would be going next.

[King Postwhore]

You know Bosk1, TAC and Samsara, when we were younger, any band that had any hint of a more comercial sound were frowned apon but, now that I'm older I realize that some bands want to strech themselves muiscally like QR, Rush, Yes and other bands like Ratt, Poison ect... didn't mess with their sound or didn't have those aspirations.  I'm ok with both.  QR to me seemed to be a band that I personally wanted to chalenge themselves.

[Samsara]

Bosk & Sam, I agree with both of you. Empire DID sound more commercial. I mean it was obvious on the first listen, but I also felt this was very much a Queensryche album. I never questioned the integrity of the band back then. I wasn't concerned about Empire itself, I was concerned about where they would be going next.

No, I get that, TAC. I just find your take different then what I thought the conversation was. You were worried with Empire being "lighter" than Mindcrime, that they'd continue that. So in a nutshell, you were right, to an extent, because it was more cerebral and acoustic-based in comparison to Empire. Some heavy moments to be sure, but not an album of mainstream songs, more of a progressive rock, thicker sounding Pink Floyd record.

I think what bosk1 and I are saying is that the natural evolution of the band took them there, and we respect them for allowing themselves to stretch out, instead of repeating themselves. PL was another natural progression, but was what was least expected from people (most general fans figured we'd get another Empire-sounding record, which we did not at all get).

[TAC]

No, I'm good Sam. I was just sticking my 2 cents in.
I also didin't have a problem with PL in a sense that it was also very much a QR record. I didn't quite "get" it, but...

[KevShmev]

Ya know, as crappy as Q2K is overall, I still kind of like "Sacred Ground," "One Life" and "Right Side of My Mind."

*ducks*

[Gadough]

Queensryche is one of my favorite bands, and I realized I've never posted in this thread. I'd like to remedy that.



Ignore the blurry douchebag.

[MykeHavoc]

Right Side is the best track off Q2K (original release. The expanded version features Howl), so it's hardly anything to need to duck over...

[Lowdz]

New album samples are up on Amazon.com. I can't recommend them I'm afraid.
i've got some wood and a box of nails. I'll get on with the coffin...

[King Postwhore]

Lowdz.  They.......sound..........horrible!!  Holy shit were they bad.

[Jirpo]

Please split up...

[abydos]

Did you hear the new song, Get Started or something? Worst QR tune I've heard so far (and I think their last two albums are complete and utter shit from start to finish).

[Perpetual Change]

Did you hear the new song, Get Started or something? Worst QR tune I've heard so far (and I think their last two albums are complete and utter shit from start to finish).

It wasn't good, but I think it was easily better than much of QR have done lately. If I were a longtime fan who'd bought everything, I'd buy this, but since I just own their important albums I don't feel that I'll likely need to spend anything on this.

[EPICVIEW]

I just took a listen.

That was BEYOND HORRIBLE. they need to break up and just go away!
Tate sounds so bad, and the band does also.
Why does Tate only use that one whiney tone over and over and over..??

[Perpetual Change]

Wait, can someone link to this? I dont' know if I'm listening to the right thing.