Queensryche (self-titled) (2013)
Lead vocals: Todd La Torre
Guitars: Michael Wilton
Guitars: Parker Lundgren
Bass: Eddie Jackson
Drums: Scott Rockenfield
The version of Queensryche that consisted of three original members of the band released their own new album in June 2013. Self-titled, and featuring Queensryche's distinctive tri-ryche symbol prominently on the cover, the album dropped on June 25, 2013 in the U.S., debuting at #23 on the Billboard chart.
Unlike Tate's Frequency Unknown, which relied on modern heavy metal riffing, the self-titled Queensryche album harkened back to the band's past melodic hard rock/metal style, being described as a bit of a Empire-meets-Operation: Mindcrime vibe, updated for 2013. The record was an unquestionable success, both with the critics and fans.
Featuring the lead track, “Redemption,” the album's emphasis on melody, big choruses and careful attention to that fine balance of commercial appeal and thought-provoking heavy rock was quickly embraced by both hardcore fans and casual followers of the group. For lack of a better term, the record sounded “more like Queensryche” in comparison to Frequency Unknown, giving Jackson-Rockenfield-Wilton an advantage in their ongoing public posturing feud with Tate, as their legal battle continued.
The MusicAs mentioned earlier, the 2013 self-titled album is very much styled after Empire and Operation: Mindcrime. For example, “In This Light” is a pseudo ballad very much in the same vein as “Another Rainy Night (Without You)” off of Empire. “Vindication” is a bold statement and calls back in vibe a bit to “The Needle Lies” off of Operation: Mindcrime.
The record also has good drama. It off with the cinematic instrumental cut “X2,” which bleeds into a dark mid-tempo opener in “Where Dreams Go to Die.” The track is actually Parker Lundgren's first writing credit as a member of Queensryche. Other highlights include the scorcher “Don't Look Back,” which showcases La Torre's high range, and the first proper single, “Fallout,” which is a bit of a modern hard rock cut with a killer guitar solo by Wilton. Pamela Moore also makes an appearance singing on the single “A World Without.”
A video was put together to highlight a few songs. “Redemption” was one of the videos. “Spore,” “Midnight Lullaby,” and “A World Without” were combined into a long-form video titled “Ad Lucem.” The piece illustrated the three tracks as a connected story.
"Ad Lucem" -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_34YZaER70 The self-titled album isn't without its flaws, however. As discussed at length on various message boards and social media platforms, it is dreadfully short, clocking in at just over 35 minutes. Like Tate and Frequency Unknown, Jackson-Rockenfield-Wilton recognized the necessity of having new music out in the market during their legal battle, and quickly put together a slate of songs. But while some were clearly complete, others are obviously not as fleshed-out and worked over as they likely should have been. This also gave the record a simplistic feel to a degree, as many of the songs lack bridges and more progressive song structures that classic Queensryhe was known for.
SongwritingThe self-titled record was written entirely by the band, with no outside writers (unlike Unlike Operation: Mindcrime II, American Soldier, and Dedicated to Chaos). The credits for the self-titled release (or Queensryche 2013, whichever you prefer) are openly published and accurate.
There are some writing tidbits that most people may not know, however. For example, “Don't Look Back,” which was the first song Wilton and La Torre wrote together, actually features a guitar solo written by Parker Lundgren (who writes solos isn't included in the credits). Wilton, however, wrote the solo for “Fallout,” even though he did not write the song itself.
On “Open Road,” La Torre composed the track, including a guitar solo. Wilton worked on and altered the arrangement, and changed the solo. However, he kept – but re-recorded – La Torre's original solo as the outro solo to the song.
Scott Rockenfield and Eddie Jackson were also heavily involved in the songwriting for the album. For Rockenfield, being credited on nine of 11 tracks was the most writing he had ever contributed to any Queensryche record. All five members collaborated together on every song, from the initial ideas to final arrangement and lyrics. Speaking of lyrics, I believe Todd La Torre remarked that “Vindication” featured lyrics from Rockenfield. Overall, the lyrics on the record deal with a variety of subjects, but many have an obvious call-out to overcoming adversity in various forms.
Production and MixingQueensryche brought in James “Jimbo” Barton, one of their classic era producers and engineers to record and mix the album. As a result, the record has a familiar depth and power to it that had been missing on Queensryche albums post-Promised Land (the record Barton last worked on with them). It also served as a public relations stunt, as Jackson-Rockenfield-Wilton now had their classic producer and “Sister Mary” Pamela Moore both working with them on an album.
Despite the positives of Barton's work and the overall sound of the record, the mix was criticized a bit. Fans noticed the the album was red-lined when the volume was turned up, resulting in some cracking and distortion. Typically, this is due to the mastering of an album. Tom Baker did the mastering on this release, but denied causing the issue, claiming Barton mix was the problem. To-date, it has not been resolved.
Support and PromotionQueensryche played a special album release show at the Crocodile in Seattle (where many of Seattle's grunge acts rose to fame) on June 26, 2013. It featured a short set, with the performance of “Where Dreams Go to Die,” and “Fallout” from the album. However, it also marked the first time Pamela Moore sang her part as Sister Mary on Suite Sister Mary with Todd La Torre.
Unfortunately, the event was also marked by some shady activities by some members of the Tate-fronted Queensryche lineup. Jason Ames (Susan Tate's ex-husband) and Kelly Gray came down to the release show with fliers for a Tate-Queensryche show happening the following week, engaging in shouting matches with some fans outside the venue.
Editor's Note: I was there, watching it happen from the bar. Honestly, it felt like a couple of dumb high school jocks trying to intimidate people. Not one of their finer moments.In regard to a tour, however, Queensryche somewhat disappointed. No proper tour was booked for the United States, with the band opting to do a lot of fly-in dates to various markets, and short two-week stretches. This was likely do to Tate having the upper hand in booking agents, and saturating various markets with his version of the band. In Europe, the band did do a headline tour that lasted for a few weeks.
La Torre also struggled somewhat as he got his tour legs and voice under him. Never a full-time singer (he was a drummer, and as Crimson Glory's singer, he only did festivals and a couple of short tours), the demands on La Torre were high. To La Torre's credit, he fought through difficulties (major sinus issues and colds) and improved, even as his clean range started to ebb a bit.
Vocal ComparisonI think it is important to be very fair to Todd La Torre when it comes to vocals. First, his live performances were being compared to prime era Geoff Tate's STUDIO performances. Given Tate's legendary status, particularly over the first decade of his career, it was completely unfair to try and draw those comparisons – but we all did. La Torre knew that, and handled it well, publicly.
From a purely singing perspective, Todd and Geoff are completely different, even if some of their tonal qualities in their upper registers are similar. Tate, back in his prime, was a classically trained operatic tenor with incredible range and power. His voice has a fullness to it that makes anything in his mid-range sound “warmer” and powerful. La Torre's voice is naturally thinner than Tate's, however, so as a result, while he hits a lot of high notes from the EP-Rage for Order, he sounds a bit weaker on the mid-range stuff from Empire through Promised Land, and some of Operation: Mindcrime. It's just the natural differences in their voices. Not much TLT can do about that.
Todd also prefers a more Dickinson-like delivery, where the high notes are a bit gritty, as opposed to Tate's more operatic approach. So, while even Tate himself has said it was uncanny to hear how similar his and La Torre's voices are, when you listen intently, the major differences become quite noticeable. The truth is, they both have very different strengths and weaknesses.
Set List DebatesIn addition, Queensryche did not perform a lot of its new material at these shows following the self-titled album's release. While “Where Dreams Go to Die” was a staple in the set, the band focused more on the “Return to History” tour songs from the back catalog in order to showcase Todd's ability to sing the old songs in the original key.
Ultimately, Queensryche ended up performing most of its 2013 album live, but it was often just one or two songs in what was becoming a typical 80-85-minute headline set (which was also a dramatic downturn from the Tate-fronted years through American Soldier where new albums were extensively highlighted). Although I don't have statistics to back it up, Queensryche primarily performed Where Dreams Go to Die, A World Without, and Fallout. Usually one or two of those three cuts.
Vindication, and Redemption were played extremely sporadically (just a few times each live since the album's release to-date), and Spore was performed just slightly more. In This Light was not played on the self-titled record's tour cycle, although it was featured on the band's 2016 tour quite extensively. To my knowledge, “Don't Look Back” and “Open Road” have never been performed.
Legal Wrap-Up and Continued TouringIn summer 2014, Jackson-Rockenfield-Wilton settled their lawsuit with Geoff Tate. As mentioned earlier, the former group got the name “Queensryche” in exchange for an undisclosed monetary sum, and Tate retaining the exclusive right to perform the Operation: Mindcrime and Operation: Mindcrime II albums in sequence, completely, from front-to-back.
Once the settlement was reached, Queensryche began touring more throughout the remainder of 2014, and set to work on a new record...
Samsara's top tracks from Queensryche (2013): Redemption, Fallout, Don't Look Back, Spore
Condition Human (2015)
Vocals – Todd La Torre
Guitars – Michael Wilton
Guitars – Parker Lundgren
Bass – Eddie Jackson
Drums – Scott Rockenfield
After spending 2013 and 2014 on the road, Queensryche spent a good part of early 2015 (in-between various fly-in dates around the country) writing and working on new material for what would become Condition Human. Released on Oct. 2, 2015, the record builds on the template established with the self-titled album of 2013.
Almost an hour-long, Queensryche addressed the minor criticisms from fans, writing songs that were longer and slightly more complex. The resulting 12 tracks (15 if you count the b-sides) were received positively by critics and fans, and Condition Human was seen as validation that Queensryche made the right choice in moving on from former singer Geoff Tate.
As with the self-titled record, Condition Human features a wide variety of styles, from ripping heavy metal anthems to mid-tempo moody epics and a couple of power ballads thrown in for good measure. Generally, Condition Human is best described as where Queensryche might have gone after the original Operation: Mindcrime, had they not opted for a warmer tone and more polished direction with Empire.
La Torre's influences and vocal preferences bleed through a bit more on Condition Human, as he establishes his own voice on the record. He doesn't sing quite as clean, working in some more aggressive vocals, reminiscent of Ray Alder's early performances on Fates Warning's No Exit and Perfect Symmetry. The album also is noticeably darker than the previous record.
Writing and ProductionCondition Human was written generally in the same manner as the self-titled release in 2013. The band shared ideas with one another, fleshed them out, and worked as a team. Eddie Jackson's contributions increased a bit, whereas Scott Rockenfield's decreased slightly. But in general, the songwriting formula remained the same. La Torre and Jackson handled much of the lyrics on Condition Human.
The biggest change was behind the glass – Queensryche decided to go with Chris “Zeuss” Harris to record and mix their record instead of James “Jimbo” Barton. The mix of each of the La Torre-fronted records sounds different, which I suppose can be attributed to the change production change. The red-lining issues of the self-titled album were also addressed with Condition Human.
A few singles and spotlighted tracks were released from Condition Human. These were Arrow of Time, Eye9, Guardian, Hellfire, and Bulletproof. Videos were also made for a few of the songs. The b-sides of the records are titled Mercury Rising, 46° North, and Espiritu Muerto (translates to “Dead Spirit”).
ReceptionCondition Human was praised thoroughly by both critics and fans as a nice step forward from the self-titled record, and another move helping re-establish Queensryche as a prominent creative force in hard rock.
One criticism I have seen of the record have mentioned that the title track leans too heavily on other “epic” cuts of Queensryche's past, specifically, “Suite Sister Mary” and “Roads to Madness.” That said, both La Torre-fronted Queensryche records do this to a degree. I believe most people just assume it is the band trying to re-affirm its style after so many years of constant change. The other criticism I've seen mentioned more frequently of Condition Human is that its songs lack hooks, which in retrospect, may be an accurate statement, albeit a subjective one.
TouringOver the past several years, touring had changed for Queensryche. Instead of lengthy, traditional headline tours, Queensryche adopted (both out of necessity and desire) a more financially practical approach. They played two headline tour legs in the United States in support of Condition Human, both of which lasted approximately six weeks. The first was at the beginning of 2016, and the second was at the latter end of 2016 with Armored Saint as direct support.
But in-between, they focused on weekend fly-in gigs at casinos, local festivals and other small venues. The reason for this (which in truth, Queensryche began doing heavily in 2012 after the split) is that it simply makes more sense, financially. By relying on rented gear, the band can fly anywhere for a weekend, play a show or two, get put up in casino/resort lodging, and fly home, making way more money than they would these days on a lengthy club tour as headliners. Generally speaking, Queensryche makes good profit on these fly-in dates, whereas they simply break even (maybe) doing their own traditional headline tours. They still did some of those headline runs (as mentioned above, twice), but on a limited basis.
Queensryche also played Europe, both festivals (a very popular appearance at Wacken), and a run of headline dates. They also opened for the Scorpions, both at a residency in Las Vegas, and on the road. Simply put, although bands such as Dream Theater, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, and a host of others could afford to do traditional headline treks, Queensryche opted for an approach used by a lot of 1980s acts these days that enable those bands to stay viable.
Samsara's top tracks from Condition Human: Hellfire, Eye9, Condition Human
Post-Condition Human
Following the Condition Human tour, 2017 found Queensryche continuing to perform many fly-in dates throughout the year. Scott Rockenfield took most of 2017 (to-date) off to be at home with his newborn son. Casey Grillo of Kamelot has filled in for Rockenfield on drums for most of the year, and as of September, stil is.
On an interesting note, while doing a festival in Europe, Queensryche ran into Geoff Tate, who was at the same festival performing with Avantasia. Five years after the Brazil Incident, and three years after settling, Tate, Wilton, and Jackson met backstage, and according to Tate, caught up and shook hands. Whether that leads to Tate reuniting with Queensryche is anybody's guess.
It has been reported that Queensryche also has 10-12 songs written for a new record, which the band is going to record again with Chris “Zeuss” Harris this fall and into the new year, with 2018 earmarked for a release.
Final ThoughtsThank you for allowing me to create this thread and tell the history of Queensryche. It has been great to see all the contributions to this discussion and commentary on the band. It made doing the write-ups a lot of fun. For most fans' tastes and wants at this stage of the game, I think Queensryche is in good hands with its current lineup featuring La Torre on vocals. The TLT-fronted group's best album is likely ahead of them, and as the years tick by, I encourage those who haven't seen Queensryche to go check them out, and/or give their two albums a listen.
For various reasons, however, my enjoyment of current Queensryche has waned a bit in the last three years. I've moved on to other bands, but still consider the original lineup of Queensryche as my favorite group of all time, and continue to listen to the records from classic Queensryche fairly regularly. For those that enjoy the original/classic version of Queensryche, check out my website,
www.AnybodyListening.net, from time to time. I put together a detailed history on the band's original lineup, discography, extensive tour date archive (including setlists and photos) and a scrapbook that contains articles and promotional material on the band from 1982-1997 (and some Tribe stuff where appropriate). It is a labor of love I try to update three or four times per year, as time allows.
Thanks again for all the compliments on the write-ups, and I am glad folks enjoyed them. It has been fun.
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Topic: The Queensr˙che Discography Thread (Read 107241 times)
