OK........my thoughts on Queensryche. This band was an easy inclusion in my Top 5 when it came time for my DTF Top 50 of all time and arguably could've been a lot higher ,all depending on how you grade things. Looking back I have no issue with having Images and Words higher than Mindcrime on that list (slightly different degrees of perfection) ,however if I had not had the one album per band rule then Queensryche would've been more heavily represented in that list than Dream Theater. My top 10 DT songs are basically Images and Words and a couple of stragglers
In fact I think I could say that , outside perhaps Ozzy Osbourne and the various incarnations of his band , I don't think any other genuine metal band has more songs that I really love than Queensryche - all achieved in 3 or 4 albums and that's why all the wasted time grates so much
. I also have a hard time thinking of any 3 album run that I like better than Rage For Order , Operation Mindcrime , Empire. They also take out the title for my favourite metal concept ever by some distance - Streets and The Crimson Idol being the other two big ones. So they're right up there in contention for my favourite metal band ever.
Unfortunately in that shocker of a year 1997 , 2 of my top 5 bands released Hear In The Now Frontier and Falling Into Infinity and Van Halen were also just about to poop out VH 3 ,all of which resulted in me needing bigger and bigger "swear jars" and the world demand for ouzo going crazy. HINTF confirmed well and truly the sense of foreboding that Promised Land had given me. My interest in new material from both Queensryche and DT never got back to anywhere near the old highs until the last few years. I've actually been surprised that most of you guys can rank the latter half of the Queensryche discography in so much detail. I was so pissed off by the way they went with HITNF onwards that ,aside from knowing the best track or two from each now , I really wouldn't have a clue how I would rank them and I have no desire to listen now and find out. HITNF was the last album of theirs that I bought on CD until Mindcrime II (seems like we treaded a similar path Paul) and then my poor sister , with the best of intentions, bought me that glorified beer coaster Dedicated To Cabaret for Christmas one year
So here's my attempt at a ranking - just a top 5 for me.
Albums
1) Operation: Mindcrime
2) Rage for Order
2) Empire (TIE)
4) EP
5) The Warning
Aside from the recent s/t and Promised land (in that order) which are both decent , I'm happy enough with Paul's executive summary
The rest is complete shite.
Top 10 SongsQueen Of The Reich
Walk In The Shadows
I Dream In Infrared
Whisper
Speak
I Don't Believe In Love
Breaking The Silence
Eyes Of A Stranger
Silent Lucidity
One More Time
Serious apologies to Empire, Surgical Strike and Take Hold of the Flame.