Chris DeGarmo was the primary song writer on Hear In the Now Frontier and I don't know anyone who liked that album when it came out or even now.
Then get out more.
I love it, and it's easily in my top 4 (along with Promised Land, Empire, and depending on my mood on any particular day, either Rage or Mindcrime).
As far as the post-CDG stuff, it's been a steady decline as far as I'm concerned.
Q2K was different, but had some moments. I actually consider it kind of a shame that Kelly didn't work out because I would like to have heard what he could have done if he had stayed in the band with an album and tour under his belt. At least they were writing
as a band with him onboard. It was still a band effort.
Tribe had some really high peaks, but some abysmally low valleys. I love 3-4 songs on the album, would put another 1-2 in the "passable" category, and don't like the rest at all.
OMII: This began their slide into having the musical direction dictated almost solely by Tate, written almost entirely by outside writers, and the band just playing what they are told to play. This is, to me, where Chris was most conspicuously missed. Him serving as a guiding force in the shaping of the music and an album's sound and direction could have made this a respectable record. The seeds were definitely there, but the execution just feel short.
Take Cover: Arrangements entirely by Jason Slater. Vocals sound abysmal, like they are done in one take with no warmup by baritone lounge singer trying to impersonate Geoff Tate. But it's a covers album, so I'm willing to cut them some slack.
American Solider: Again, we have an album dictated by Tate and written almost entirely by Slater. But he has really hit his stride in tapping the Queensryche vibe, and perhaps equally important, Geoff is inspired. Yeah, there are a few weak moments, but overall the album works. The one and only area where it unequivocally fails is Geoff's singing. The vocals aren't quite as bad as on Take Cover, but close. A number of songs suffer because the singing is strained and whiny, and sounds like it is all sung from the neck up. How a singer as talented as Geoff Tate could be so casual about his voice and how he is recorded is just beyond me. This album could have perhaps rivaled some of the original lineup material if the vocals did not ruin it.
DTC: I have only heard a handful of complete songs and some clips. But again, we have outside writers, we have an album where Wilton's guitar tone and style seem to be completely MIA, we have badly written pop instead of hard rock/metal, and we again have horrible vocals. This will be the first QR album I will definitely NOT be buying on release day and likely will not buy new at all. Unless I hear the whole thing and am unexpectedly blown away by tracks I haven't heard yet, I plan on picking this up when I find it in the used bin because I would rather speak with my wallet and let the band know that their approach to their music and their fans have gone somewhere this fan is no longer interested in supporting.
Topic: Official Queensryche thread: Kickstart the next album (Read 634038 times)
