Official Queensryche Thread - NEW ALBUM INFO. p. 30

[MoraWintersoul]

There's a couple of things in the track that I don't like, sonically speaking (I feel like a pretentious twat saying this), but it makes me feel pretty good. And I always go by what I feel. Sweet stuff.

[Zook]

New song is pretty good I guess.

[The King in Crimson]

Decent song.

Todd should sing more and spend less time trying to emulate Tate.

Also is it just me or is the sound quality awful? Like, far beyond typical Youtube badness?

[fibreoptix]

Wow. He really does sound like Geoff, doesn't he?

I'm a little disappointed by this. I mean, don't get me wrong, it's a damn sight better than most of the material on AS and D2C and it's a promising return to form in terms of style and technique but... I just don't really like the song. I'm still excited about the album and I have every faith that they'll release a real beauty but nothing really excites me about Redemption.

I think I was expecting an amazing 'blaze-of-glory' kind of return with the song. My expectations were too high.

[Nick]

I'm kinda like you, and I think you'll agree with this sentiment.

The heaviness is there, the voice is there, but I just don't know if the quality is all there. This song certainly isn't an indicator of an album falling short or anything, but it's not raising my hopes for the full force awesomeness I was hoping for.

[jjrock88]

Great follow-up to Promised Land.

[Nick]

Hey now, as much as we wish we could blame Hear in the Now on Geoff unfortunately we have to acknowledge it as a classic QR record.

[abydos]

The song is better than I expected. Strong, up-beat rocking opener of an album (I assume it's the opener at least). I like.

[pogoowner]

Also is it just me or is the sound quality awful? Like, far beyond typical Youtube badness?

Sure seems that way to me. I was listening on my awful laptop speakers, but they sounded even more atrocious than usual.

[Phoenix87x]

The heaviness is there, the voice is there, but I just don't know if the quality is all there.

This.

Regardless though, I'm still interested to hear the rest of the album.

[Nick]

And just to help put what may seem overly critical from me going forward in perspective, this song already blows away pretty much any bit of music on Dedicated to Chaos.

[wolfking]

Will listen when I get home.  I think it's normal to be a bit let down by something that has so much expectations.  It always happen with my for my favourite bands.  You always expect something that isn't there, but in time it shows it beauty.  I predict before listening to this song, I want it to be one of the best things they have ever done, but due to the hype and expectations, my recation will be something like 'meh, not bad at all.'

[wolfking]

Okay, after my listen, I think this exceeded what I thought I would think from my last post.  I think it's simply not bad at all.  I don't really hear a problem with the production.  It's a little muddy but we will wait to hear the cd.  Todd sounds so much like Tate it's scary.  The thing is, this sounds like Queensryche, when the chorus hit I it instantly reminded me of Promised Land which is a good thing.  I do hope there are a lot better songs on the album, but it's a good start nevertheless.

[WebRaider]

I enjoyed it. Sounded very solid and it seems like a song for me that will kind of grow as I get used to the new makeup of the band. Familiar yet different....

[Nel]

I liked the chorus. There were some parts of the song that kind of made me go "um... what are they doing?" but it's still far, far better than anything they've been putting out recently.

Acceptable! 

[bosk1]

My thoughts:

Keep in mind that this is a VERY compressed YouTube stream.  But that aside, this is, in my opinion, a really, really good song.  This has everything I would want a Queensryche song to have.  The only issues I have with it at all are production issues, namely:  (1) The vocal effects, whatever they are, are a bit distracting.  They may be more blatant here just because of the YouTube compression.  And I may get used to them after several listens either way.  But they feel a bit too heavy-handed to me.  (2) The brick wall mastering.  I am reminded of the Band Redemption's most recent album, This Mortal Coil, in that regard.  I LOVE that album, but don't listen to it nearly as often as I otherwise might because the "loudness" of that album makes an otherwise great album a not-so-enjoyable listening experience.  I hope this album doesn't end up the same.

But, again, those issues aside, this is an outstanding song.  One thing I will mention that I haven't seen explicitly referenced elsewhere:  I love the ATTITUDE in the vocals.  Whether it is the normal verses, the spoken word part, or the soaring chorus, there is a ton of attitude in the way Todd is singing.  Completely apart from the notes, he is selling what he is singing.  Unfortuntely, with a few exceptions here and there, I have not heard that from anything that band has put out in a long time.  I am not trying to fling undeserved criticism Tate's way (goodness knows a lot of criticism is deserved, but I also want to be mindful of just piling on for the sake of piling on), but the majority of his vocals for the past decade have really just sounded phoned in with no commitment or attitude, and I do not mean that merely with regard to the notes that are being sung.  It is all about how they are being sung.  Even aside from the notes, Todd delivers the attitude this song needs.  This, to me, is crucial to why I like this.  Yeah, I know the guys can play.  And I've heard enough of what they have written through the years to know they can put decent song structures together.  And I know Todd can hit the notes.  But could they really bring the swagger and attitude to sell the music?  That was my question.  And it has been answered.  If the reast of the album is remotely like this, I am definitely sold.

[jingle.boy]

Liked the song well enough.  I'm not gonna sweat the sound or production issues whatsoever ... let's all remember the first release of Storytime late in 2011 - Annette sounded like a 12 year old boy before hitting puberty.  By the time the album came out, it was cleaned up and much better.

Like Nick and other's have said, I fear I may have my expectations too high for this album.  Based on this song, I'm trying to take those expectations down a notch.  I bailed on QR after HITNF, so really have nothing to compare this against whether it's a vast improvement or not.  I do think it's an improvement over anything on HITNF, but can't say whether it's a return to all their original glory or not.

[KevShmev]

   I bailed on QR after HITNF, so really have nothing to compare this against whether it's a vast improvement or not.  I do think it's an improvement over anything on HITNF, but can't say whether it's a return to all their original glory or not.

Change HITNF to Q2K, and this is pretty much me.  It sounds good compared to the QR songs I have heard here and there from the last 10+ years, and the vocals definitely sound like vintage Tate, but I am just not sure how good or interesting it really is.  Based on this, I would absolutely not buy the forthcoming album, but we'll see.

[bosk1]

...can't say whether it's a return to all their original glory or not.

Not trying to be pedantic, but I just don't think "return to all their original glory" is the proper standard for a band that has been around 20 or 30 years.  Not that they can't release something that is of equal or greater quality at that stage in their careers.  A lot of bands can and do.  But band's do change.  And while this song reminds me in a lot of ways of things from Rage, Mindcrime, and Empire, and I may eventually decide that it is as good as the material from those albums, it is also different.  To me, it's less about "returning to former glory" than it is about building on that original formula for success, but doing so in a way that sounds relevant and good by today's standards. 

[jingle.boy]

...can't say whether it's a return to all their original glory or not.

Not trying to be pedantic, but I just don't think "return to all their original glory" is the proper standard for a band that has been around 20 or 30 years.  Not that they can't release something that is of equal or greater quality at that stage in their careers.  A lot of bands can and do.  But band's do change.  And while this song reminds me in a lot of ways of things from Rage, Mindcrime, and Empire, and I may eventually decide that it is as good as the material from those albums, it is also different.  To me, it's less about "returning to former glory" than it is about building on that original formula for success, but doing so in a way that sounds relevant and good by today's standards.

Fair enough.  Perhaps I worded it inaccurately, but I guess I look at it a little like DT and ADTOE.  Depending on who you talk to, the four releases up to ADTOE were/are generally considered weak efforts - clearly, nowhere near as weak as what QR went through.  With ADTOE, I believe most feel it was a 'return' to a much higher level of quality - on par (almost) with some of their best albums.  I think that's what I was trying to say about my expectations with QR... I'm hoping for something that comes closer to what they put out on their first 5-6 albums.

[abydos]

The more I listen to the song, the more it grows on me. As bosk pointed out - I love the attitude of Todd's vocals and the song itself. They are all selling it quite well and it's been quite some time since a Ryche song has made me just want to fucking rock out and enjoy the song.
Todd does sound like Tate a lot in here most of the time, but I never actually picture GT singing this in my mind. Hell, the next time I hear one of the old Ryche songs I'll probably visualize Todd instead and to me that says quite a lot.
We all saw how they look like they are having fun and want to be on stage in live shows, but this to me sounds like they want to write music again - I can just picture them in the studio brainstorming ideas back and forth, interrupting themselves and so on from excitement. Whereas before it felt like "Oh well, we have a contract, we better put out another album next year...sigh". Love the riffage, love the pounding drums and the mixture from "classic" floating melodies to some more odd ones that seem to be more Todd's thing. Maybe all this is in my head, but if one single song can do that to a fan who's only reason to listening to the band's new albums was to see just how far that train wreck can go... they did their job very, very well.

I really hope it's the YT clip, but the production is the only minus in the song so far. It makes my speakers hiss when I increase the volume a bit, which they very rarely do - only when I'm really pushing them.

[Lowdz]

Oh yes indeedy. That's a great start. Best thing QR have done since PL without a 2nd thought. That's not saying alot but I'm finally looking forward to a QR album instead of dreading it like I have for the last 20 years.

nine more songs of this quality (at least one epic) and I'll be a happy boy. Thanks for being a tool recently Geoff because without that we'd be stuck with shitty Tateryche churning out Jason Slater written pap with you meeowing over it.

[Cruithne]

Sounds pretty damn good to me

I don't for a minute think they'll manage to put out an album as good as when Wilton-DeGarmo-Tate were all working coherently as a team of writers as they did for the first few albums, but Wilton was a big part of that team and he's barely been involved in the writing since Empire, so if this is the kind of stuff he's capable of without Tate there to block him then it'll do me.

For the first time since Q2Krap I'm genuinely looking forward to a Queensryche album.

[Samsara]

I wouldn't worry about the quality. A fan illegally ripped the Sirius broadcast and put that up on YouTube. Sounds light years better and is not brickwalled. There are comparison images of the wave forums on The Breakdown Room forum in the thread about "Redemption."

The short of it is -- CM compressed the shit out of it before uploading to YouTube. The actual recording seems like it will be fine.

I dig the song. It sounds like Queensryche...with a modern twist. Exactly what I was hoping. LOVE the huge chorus and love the honesty and grit in Todd's delivery.

I could nitpick a couple things (and mentioned them over at The Breakdown Room), but overall a big thumbs up. Great things ahead for the one and only Queensryche.

[Mebert78]

I'm digging the new track more and more.  The CenturyMedia YouTube version is too loud and distorted though.  I wasn't fully digging the song until I heard the proper version played on the radio.  I'm beyond psyched to see what the rest of the album has in store for us.  This is a great start!

[MoraWintersoul]

I've found myself frequently humming the new track too in the past couple of days.

[ColdFireYYZ]

I was afraid that the new song would suck, but it has far exceeded my expectations. 
Can't wait until the album's released!

[abydos]

And here's the TateRyche single, Cold (which is rather good, but the rest of the samples from the album are abysmal, imo)

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

Nice melodies, OK lyrics, meh singing, a bit too long and radio-friendly but not bad by any means. Pleasantly surprised by the tune. Still, I prefer the direction of Redemption by a light year. I bet if Todd covers "Cold" he will nail it so much better than Tate.

[wolfking]

And here's the TateRyche single, Cold (which is rather good, but the rest of the samples from the album are abysmal, imo)

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

You're a bit late bro.

[abydos]

Oh. Sorry then. Well, bump? xD

[abydos]

Take Hold from Belguim: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTYgprxgRxk

It doesn't have microphone licking but still worth the watch, imo.

[bosk1]

Outstanding!

So, it looks like they are doing a piece of info or art a day from here on out, according the official QR facebook page - www.facebook.com/queensrycheofficial



Cool, fun way to promote the album and generate interest in their Facebook page.

[Nel]

I hope the middle of the cover is a fist with rings that spell out LOL on them.

[wolfking]

Yeah it should say 'lol Tate'

[Lynxo]

I hope the middle of the cover is a fist with rings that spell out LOL on them.