Official Queensryche thread: Kickstart the next album

[Samsara]

Excuse the language, but...

What. The. Fuck?

So done with this fake version of Queensryche.

[elyster]

I'd go just for the "train wreck" aspect of it.

Notice how the Comments section is closed, I guess they were getting too many negative complaints about it.

[KevShmev]

This is the look Devin Townsend gave when somebody had just explained the Queensryche cabaret tour to him (that comment is courtesy of a friend in an email earlier today):

[skydivingninja]

I thought they had finished all the cabaret nonsense...guess I was wrong.

@ that pic.

[El Barto]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h92dyaxVaNo

Cool song.  Shame about the train wreck.

[Dr. SeaWolf]

LOL @ Geoff's "ringmaster" costume in that vid.

[Samsara]

The sad thing is, the set list they played for that show was actually pretty cool. Had some Promised Land stuff on there, including the title track, and they played "Art of Life" from Tribe for the first time, which is a traditional, epic sort of tune.

But this damn cabaret thing is just incredibly pitiful.

[Mebert78]

Just saw two interesting comments on the YouTube comments:

1) Would you believe if I told you in 1990 that Queensryche would do a cabaret in 20 years?

2) When inspiration ends...tits and ass begin.

[LCArenas]

(Opinion parenthesis: RaO was very good, O:M was a masterpiece, Empire was very good, PL was very good, haven't heard HINTF, Q2K was VERY MEH, Tribe was good, OM2 was meh, don't care about TC and American Soldier was bad)

I just read here about the Queensrÿche Cabaret stuff. What the Fuck. WHAT THE FUCK!!!??? How can a cabaret be related to American Soldier tour? Why dancers and drag queens? Why Geoff is now bald? This is just ridiculous.

PD. My avatar was my actual expression when I saw this nonsense.

[Perpetual Change]

The only Queensryche albums I had until last week were

Operation Mindcrime: Great
Empire: Good
Mindcrime II: Absolutely Terrible

I found Promised Land in a bargain bin over the weekend and decided to get it, but I was really disappointed.  I thought I'd like it since Sam, Bosk, Nick, and some others here seem to think it's good.  But I really can't get into how different it is.

[pogoowner]

The only Queensryche albums I had until last week were

Operation Mindcrime: Great
Empire: Good
Mindcrime II: Absolutely Terrible

I found Promised Land in a bargain bin over the weekend and decided to get it, but I was really disappointed.  I thought I'd like it since Sam, Bosk, Nick, and some others here seem to think it's good.  But I really can't get into how different it is.

Along with O:M and Empire, I'd say Promised Land is one of their best albums.

[glaurung]

Yeah, Promised Land is probably my second favorite after O:M.

[Perpetual Change]

Hm.  I can't stand I Am I, but the album does seem to pick up later.  Maybe I just need to give it more time.

[contest_sanity]

Promised Land is my favorite QR album.  Definitely give it a few more chances.

[KevShmev]

I stand firm in my opinion that Promised Land is QR's best album by a wide distance.  In fact, it is probably one of my all-time favorite records; it would probably make my top 25 or 30.  It did take some work, though, when I first got it.  It was a bit odd the first few listenings, but then the light bulb went on, and it was like, holy crap, this is awesome.

[contest_sanity]

I stand firm in my opinion that Promised Land is QR's best album by a wide distance.  In fact, it is probably one of my all-time favorite records; it would probably make my top 25 or 30.  It did take some work, though, when I first got it.  It was a bit odd the first few listenings, but then the light bulb went on, and it was like, holy crap, this is awesome.

Agreed.  I know for me part of the reason is because, in my opinion, OM and Empire both sound too 80's (even though the latter was 1990) to be labeled as 'favorite.'  They're both great records, don't get me wrong, but it's just personal preference about the sounds of different eras (Signals-era Rush is the same for me: great albums, but they'll never be my favorite ones).  Promised Land sounded more modern and more fresh, yet somehow also darker and delightfully twisted.  It also seems to be a more personal and emotionally moving album, at least to me.   

[Arcaeus]

Promised Land is the only Queensryche album I still give time to (not saying their other older albums are bad, though). I love it dearly.

[contest_sanity]

Promised Land is the only Queensryche album I still give time too (not saying their other older albums are bad, though). I love it dearly.

And so it was that the Promised Land club began with its initial three members.....

[Mebert78]

Promised Land is my favorite album of all-time.  I have a framed full-length poster of the album cover right above the staircase in my apartment.  The artwork is one of Hugh Syme's best in my opinion and is really brilliant.  But I'll admit I don't listen to it all the time.  It takes a certain mood.  The lyrics are truly breathtaking and the sound has a dark beauty to it.  It's like a whole album consisting of the dark vibe of  DT's "Voices" and "Space-Dye Vest."  Incidentally, Awake is my second favorite of all-time.   

[King Postwhore]

I think that all bands havve that one album that, doesn't jump out at you but over time seems to be the one album you spin over and over.  Promised Land is that album for Queensryche.

[TAC]

I'm sorry, but I've tried. Promised Land was pretty much the end of the road for me with Queensryche. I will say that I did see that tour and it was one of the best concerts that I've ever been too, but the album still stinks to me. I like Damaged, Someone Else, and the title track isn't bad. And Out Of Mind was great live, but very lackuster in the studio version. But Bridge, Lady Jane, Disconnected....what is this crap?
I don't get it at all....and I WAS a huge Queensryche fan back in the day.

[KevShmev]

Good to see others are on the Promised Land bandwagon.

I know many would argue that Operation: Mindcrime is far superior, as well as being their best record, but, while that is a damn fine record, too, PL is far more diverse, has better songwriting, tells a better story (I will take a introspective, personal story over a fairy tale about nuns, priests, and politics any day of the week), and flat-out sounds much better (O:M sounds very dated, while PL still sounds fresh).  Don't get me wrong, O:M is a well-done concept album, but the themes told in PL are simply more appealing to this fan.

[Perpetual Change]

Promised Land isn't that bad after all.  If I could get over "I Am I," I'd like it a lot better.

[pogoowner]

Promised Land isn't that bad after all.  If I could get over "I Am I," I'd like it a lot better.

What don't you like about it? I don't have any issues with it.

[TAC]

Promised Land isn't that bad after all.  If I could get over "I Am I," I'd like it a lot better.

What don't you like about it?

It's a garbled mess.

[Perpetual Change]

That, and I can't stand Tate.

[Dr. SeaWolf]

I think PL is a great album, but I'd still probably rate MC, RFO, and Warning above it.

[GuineaPig]

Unrelated, but I was listening to "Empire", and one thing that really bugs me about it is the awful math in the voice-overs.

[Samsara]

PC - I rank PL right behind Mindcrime. Look at things this way:

I tend to view Queensryche as the natural "middle ground" between Iron Maiden and Pink Floyd. If Mindcrime was Queensryche embracing its inner metal and Maiden-sound, then Promised Land is them giving Pink Floyd a bear hug.

The record had a much more atmospheric sound to it. The polar opposite of what Mindcrime was in sound. In fact, while the record is my second favorite Queensryche album, it took me awhile before I "got it." I was expecting another Mindcrime or Empire, and when I got hit with PL, other than "Damaged," I really didn't get it.

Then one day, I just said I'm going to relax, read the lyrics and listen to the album from end to end...and it hit me. The magnitude of what they were doing. It's almost autobiographical and in parts, it absolutely is, if you ask Tate. And the music just perfectly suits the emotion of what was going on in Tate's life (and some of the others) back then.

The song "Promised Land" is just a masterpiece, and is the crux of the theme. It starts with life and self-awakening, hits the middle age with the title track, and then at the end, one looks back over life not even believing that was him. Incredible record.

It gets better with time. But once it hits you, you'll sing its praises.

Some of the older metalheads (notice I said SOME) don't get it, and I can understand to a degree. Until that point, the lightest thing QR had done was Empire (the album). They were all metal, all the time until that record. So Promised Land ramps DOWN the aggressiveness (except on a few tracks) completely, so it can throw a fan who likes the aggressive QR material for a loop.

In the words of Geoff Tate (when he was still cool and not a parody of himself):

"My friends, the road to the promised land is a long one. Shall we...continue?"

[LudwigVan]

For some reason, I equate Promised Land with Rage For Order.   I find that both are very similar in spirit... quite proggy and adventurous, with a great deal of variety.  It's as if Queensryche hit some kind of crossroads with each of these 2 albums.  RFO came right after the straight-forward heavy metal of The Warning, while PL came right after the radio-friendly metal of Empire.    

[contest_sanity]

Promised Land is them giving Pink Floyd a bear hug.

Especially 'Out Of Mind.' 

[Perpetual Change]

For some reason, I equate Paradise Lost with Rage For Order. 

lol

[Samsara]

Promised Land is them giving Pink Floyd a bear hug.

Especially 'Out Of Mind.' 

yep, in particular, DeGarmo's guitar solo. The influence Gilmour had on him is on full display during that solo. One of Chris' best, IMO.

[contest_sanity]

For some reason, I equate Paradise Lost with Rage For Order.

lol

And I really enjoy that poem by John Milton -- Promised Land.  That song where Satan talks about having a bad relationship with his dad is very moving.

[LudwigVan]

For some reason, I equate Paradise Lost with Rage For Order. 

lol

Fixed     lol-worthy