806. Queensrÿche / Queensrÿche [EP]. 1983. 4/5

My first ever introduction to Queensrÿche was in 1986, when the weekend all-night music video show in Australia on Channel Ten (wittily titled "Music Video"), which ran from 11pm until 5am on Friday and Saturday nights, dedicated the whole weekend to playing heavy metal videos. So not only did I stay up both nights watching them all intently as I looked to increase my catalogue of such bands, I recorded them all on my VCR as well. On that weekend I first saw the video for the song "Queen of the Reich", and I was hooked. It was what made me go out and buy Operation: Mindcrime two years later, and the rest is history.

I didn't get a copy of this EP until some years later at a second hand record store, and eventually on remastered CD, but when I did I never regretted it. The starring role falls to "Queen of the Reich", the song that got me into Queensrÿche. Geoff Tate's piercing vocals was the first thing that drew me in, but was quickly followed by the great guitaring of DeGarmo, Wilton and Jackson, as well as the furious drumming of Scott Rockenfield. Terrific stuff. While the other three songs here may not be up to the undeniably brilliant standard set by the opening track, they are also not daunted by it either. Both "Nightrider" and "Blinded" are highlighted by great riffs, trademark solos and a metal speed that is reminiscent of early Helloween, whom they pre-date. Really impressive songs for a debut EP. This is topped of by "The Lady Wore Black", which comes across here as a mature track, where the more reminiscent side of the band comes across without compromising the roots that they have shown on the other three songs.

This is still a marvellous EP, showcasing the enormous skills of every individual in the band, and lighting up a promising future ahead.

Rating:  There is no escape, it's the ending of your precious life.  4/5

805. Queensrÿche / Mindcrime at the Moore. 2007. 3.5/5

Continuing on with the sequence of studio album followed by live album, Queensrÿche went forth with this in releasing Mindcrime at the Moore. Certainly it was a unique opportunity, in which the band could perform their seminal Operation: Mindcrime album in it's entirety, alongside its sequel Operation: Mindcrime II in its entirety, back to back. Well, it seems like a great idea and historical moment on paper, but is the reality really that awe inspiring? Besides the fact that if you got to see the entire performance live you would probably be happy, but is it a release that is worthy of genuine affection?

The biggest problem facing this is that Operation: Mindcrime had been performed and recorded live before, back in 1991 on the Empire tour when the band regularly did the entire album live. It was then released on both album and video as Operation:LIVEcrime, and that release shows the band at its peak giving the album the performance it deserved. Doing this once again, 15 years later, and missing a vital ingredient in Chris DeGarmo (whose place here is taken by Mike Stone), leaves it open to a rather harsh judgement. Perhaps that is a little unfair, because there is an effort to make this more than just a concert. They have added in actors to do the talk pieces in between songs and make it more of a stage show. And overall the musicianship is still good, and the vocals are close enough to the mark to not make a lot of difference. Yet there is no doubt this has been done before, and will forever be judged against that recorded performance. As good as it is here, I will always prefer to put on Operation:LIVEcrime than I will be to put on the first disc of Mindcrime at the Moore.
The next problem facing this album is that Mindcrime at the Moore is but a pale comparison to its prequel, and though the album is fine in its own setting, it never really had that excitement feel about it, that it would set the stage alight if it was played live. So I always felt they would have to tweak it to make it work live, make it faster and bigger and fuller if it was going to light up the crowd. Well, what appears to have been done is to slow down those initial faster songs at the start of the album, to keep the mood in a similar mid-range tempo. Why? I don't really know, because surely the crowd would have liked to have gotten into the performance more than was surely possible under those circumstances. Apart from "Signs Say Go" and "The Chase", the songs here are quite possibly less enthralling than they are on album, which is somewhat damning of any live performance. In my mind I guess the second half of the album had little to no chance anyway, as it is very dull and lifeless. Still I hoped for better.
The positive note is that this double live album extravaganza does NOT end with the fairly abysmal "All The Promises", which would have been a real downer for the crowd (and the listening audience). Instead, we are treated to terrific versions of "Walk in the Shadows" and "Jet City Woman", when you can really hear the crowd singing along and enjoying themselves immensely. This for me is the damning feature of the release. For the most part of this second CD you can't hear the crowd, but you sure can during these two songs. Pretty much says it all I think.

The DVD is probably more entertaining than the CD version, because at least you get to see a little of what is going on (though mostly it is focused on Geoff Tate, as in the cover of the album). And your enjoyment of this album is directly tied to how much you like the two albums which are played here in their entirety. All in all, it has probably been done better elsewhere, but as a moment in time it is something I can still pull out and listen to from time to time.

Rating:  By day we'll live in a dream, we'll walk in the shadows.  3.5/5

804. Queensrÿche / Operation: Mindcrime II. 2006. 3/5

You could argue that by the time 2004 rolled around Queensrÿche, or the controlling interests of the band at least, had run dry on ideas. The glory days of the late 1980's and early 1990's had well and truly passed, and the band's sound had done a complete 180 from progressive metal superstars to grunge/alternative humdrum. Fans such as myself had pretty much given up on them ever being able to, or wanting to, regain those early days and produce something that we wanted to hear. Of course, my friends and I had been joking for a decade, "why don't they just do a Mindcrime 2?" and then laughing ourselves into a stupor as to the ridiculousness of that idea. So, when it came to pass that it was announced that Queensrÿche's next album would in fact be Operation: Mindcrime II, there was the thought that perhaps this was the final straw, the last gasp, of a once great band. But there is always that small part of you that hopes, in all sincerity, that maybe... just maybe... it would be the kick start to a reboot, the start of a new era... the return of greatness...

Hindsight of course is a marvellous thing. Sometime after this was released, it became clear that the majority of the band, that being drummer Scott Rockenfield, guitarist Michael Wilton and bass guitarist Eddie Jackson had had little to no involvement in either the writing or recording of the album. It had all been through the mind set of Geoff Tate, recent guitar addition Mike Stone, and producer Jason Slater. Even initially the 'band' had a different sound on this, and as a very average drummer, it was pretty obvious to me that this was not Rockenfield drumming on the album. It was a completely different style and sound (and as it turned out, programming). Without delving into the politics of the band as it was at that time (again, with the hindsight of the recent split and ugliness), can this be considered a Queensrÿche album if there was really only one member pulling all the strings?
In the tradition of a sequel, this has been structured so that there are enough little resemblances within the music to make you not only remember the original but to hopefully then bring some of your love for that album into this one. The opening instrumental "Freiheit Ouvertüre" into "I'm American" hopes to invoke "Anarchy X" into "Revolution Calling" no doubt. The major positive of this is that at least it has in "I'm American" dragged out of the writers the most energetic and frenetic song the band has played in 15 years! What a pleasure it is to finally have a fast tempo Queensrÿche song back on the menu! This continues for the most part through the early part of the album, with "One Foot in Hell", "Hostage" and "The Hands" all move along reasonably well and connect both musically and within the framework of the story. "Speed of Light" halts this progress somewhat, though "Signs Say Go" and "Re-Arrange You" kick along again with the kind of energy and drive that has been missing from the band's music for a long, long time. Did it really take going back to see what made Operation: Mindcrime work to realise this is the kind of direction the fans wanted to see the band head?
I can't say I am overly enamored by the story. Nikki goes through a rather clichéd line of leave jail - angry confused - caught again - no 'justice' - escapes - plans to kill Dr X - chases Dr X - kills Dr X - still not satisfied - am I going insane? - suicide will help - commit suicide - live happily ever after in afterlife with murdered prostitute-nun. Really? The only part of that storyline that would really interest anyone would be the eventual confrontation with Dr X, so there is a lot of filler story before and after that.
That confrontation, as portrayed in the album's best track, "The Chase", truly comes to life with the appearance of Ronnie James Dio as Dr X, and his presence immediately brings the story and album to life. His duel with Geoff Tate as Dr X and Nikki here is the absolute highlight of this album. The problem that follows this is that nothing else can match this, and to be honest the remainder of the album slides away from this point. The excitement of this song overshadows everything else, and because the story becomes more reflective and tragic once Dr X has been disposed of, the music and songs move in that direction as well, and away from the hope of mirroring anything as brilliant as was found on the first edition of this story. "A Murderer" works okay, but after this we have songs like "Circles" and "If I Could Change It All" that fall into the morose style that might fit the story but don't befit an album sequence. By the time we get to the closing track, "All The Promises", the album slides away with a whimper rather than an impact, emphasising the difference in the two versions of the Mindcrime albums.

There is little doubt that is was a bold move to go ahead with this concept. It had the potential to not only be bad, but also damage the enormous reputation that the original album had built. I don't think anyone had grandiose visions of this being as good as the original (except maybe the writers and composers, but that's another story), but there was at least one positive. In trying to be faithful to the original album, the writers had to produce heavier and faster songs than they had been in recent years, or else it would not have worked at all as a 'rock opera', which surely was what Tate was after. Thus, we had some reasonable songs come our way closer in style to what the fans of Queensrÿche would have expected. The result of this is that this is certainly a more listenable album than anything they have produced in years previous to its release. Though it does not come close to the original, it at least showed some positive signs, and that maybe all was not lost after all.

Rating:  Without me, you would have learned, nothing!  3/5

803. Queensrÿche / The Art of Live. 2004. 2.5/5

You would have to start questioning a band's driving motivation when they have released a live album which comprehensively covers their entire career to that point in time, then release a new studio album which may or may not be well received... and then release yet another live album which focuses in the majority on the songs from that album. But then again, Iron Maiden has made a career of such a move over the past couple of decade, so perhaps that is an unfair statement.

Following on from Tribe, which was going to herald the glorious return of Chris DeGarmo to the fold and was instead a disappointment on that front, Queensrÿche recorded this during their 2003 tour with Dream Theater. The first half of the album consists entirely of songs lifted from the Tribe album, except for "Sign of the Times". Now, were you to be a fan of that album, this would be terrific for you. Hearing songs you love being played live - what could be better? Of course, were you to find the album dull, unimaginative and of a type musically that you just don't find particularly attractive, well you may have a slight problem with this release.

I have a slight problem with this release.

The good thing about a lot of live albums is that it can showcase songs in a different light, and sometimes songs that you may not particularly like suddenly find a new life when you hear how the band plays them in a live setting. And, to a certain (very small, miniscule) degree, that can be applied here. But to be honest, if you don't like the album, then you won't get anything from hearing half of it here, because it is just like listening to half of the Tribe album.
Following this we are treated to two songs in an acoustic setting. "My Global Mind" is as dull as it was on Promised Land, but to play "Roads to Madness" acoustically is just a travesty. I'd have felt short changed if I was at the gig. It's like listening to Metallica doing "The Four Horsemen" unplugged. It shouldn't be allowed to happen.
The final five songs on the album come from the band's most heralded albums, Operation: Mindcrime and Empire. One thing the band can be applauded for here is that none of these five songs featured on the previous live album Live Evolution, meaning they weren't doubling up in that way, giving us live versions of "Della Brown", "Anybody Listening?" and "Best I Can" from Empire that the fans can hold onto, as well as "Breaking the Silence" and "The Needle Lies" from Operation: Mindcrime.

It's hard to fault the musicianship on this album. the band sounds great, and plays with as much gusto as the material allows them to. What is hard is trying to get the most out of a live album when the majority of it just doesn't appeal to you. If I had bought this on vinyl I can pretty much guarantee there would only ever be one side of the album played, and not even all of that.

Rating:  I've gone too far to turn back now.  2.5/5

802. Queensrÿche / Tribe. 2003. 2/5

After an artistic and creative break and a long touring schedule, Queensrÿche returned to the studio to write and record their new album entitled Tribe. And in a way, the tribe was (almost) back together, with the return of Chris DeGarmo and the promise of a band putting aside any differences they may have had and getting back to what made them the band they once had been. Of course, as with many stories like this, the ending isn't quite a perfect as the initial picture is painted.

The fact that Chris DeGarmo had made a return was highly publicised and pushed when this album was released. In fact, it was what made me go out and buy it, having given the previous album Q2K a wide berth to that point of time. Of course, by the time the album was released, DeGarmo had already left the band again, apparently during the writing and recording process over 'differences of opinion' with Geoff Tate. That was somewhat disappointing, but I was encouraged enough to see if this album could salvage something from the wreck that Queensrÿche had become over recent years.
The long and the short of it is that it could be worse, but it could also be a lot better. In keeping with recent releases, there is little to none of the progressive metal element that drew people like me into becoming fans of the band in its initial stages, and while there are some places where some experimentation is done, and (thankfully) none of the sax and cello that had been prominent on other albums, the band has continued along in this alternative sound that was dead in some places, and where it was alive it was being done so much better by other bands.
"Losing Myself" is probably the most accessible song on the album. It has an better up-tempo feel to it, and though it feels commercially drifting I can still listen to it without completely cringing. "Desert Dance" moves along similar lines, with the end of the song almost imitating a hard core chant, yet still on an alternative level. It's not bad but still a little strange. Things fall apart a little from here. "Falling Behind" reminds me (terribly) of the songs that are contained on Helloween's abysmal Chameleon album, surely one of the harshest things someone could say about a song. "Great Divide" drags itself out of this complete mediocrity, but really only enough to get a nostril above the waterline. "Rhythm of Hope" follows the same bloodline, desperately deprived of some go-forward, but instead seems to drift along in an aimless circle. "Tribe" tries to rectify this, but on such a small scale it hardly feels worth it. The drift continues, through "Blood", to "The Art of Life" and finally into "Doing Fine". It's like being on a slow moving train, there is nothing to get you going, and all you are doing is filling in time until you reach your destination, with no way to get off.

Who can know how much the writing and recording of this album was disrupted by the reappearance, then disappearance, of DeGarmo. Who knows if the music direction of the album, which fluctuates within, was severely distorted through all of this, whether it was still maintain despite the changes. Only those in the band will truly know. Still, everyone has dipped their toe in if you go by the credits to the songs, which means that either everyone was in agreement with the direction, or the fluctuations here occur depending on who was involved on each song. What eventually comes out of this is that the trademark Queensrÿche guitars are pretty much non-existent again on this album, and the lethargic speed the majority of the songs have fallen into does nothing to inspire any love or joy of the album. After four studio albums in succession that I could barely bring myself to listen to again, it was time to start questioning whether this was ever going to change.

Rating:  We reach out for the sky, and we're never coming down.  2/5

801. Queensrÿche / Live Evolution. 2001. 4.5/5

After forcing their way through a series of highs and lows over the previous few years, which included having well-performing albums despite those albums being critically panned and spurned by the fans, and having to dip into their own pockets to conclude a tour after their record company went broke, Queensrÿche return here with a double live album that brings out all of the positives and negatives of their music history in one package.

To this point in the band's career, their music seems to have slipped into their own eras, based on the success or similarities of releases. This live retrospective was recorded over two nights, and then manoeuvred into 'suites' that correspond with the evolution of the band, thus the title of the album. As a result, there is a great coverage of the band's work, all set in a live setting which gives them all a different perspective from their original recordings. It also shows on one release how the story of Queensrÿche has surged and dipped through the style of songs as we move through the album.
The first half of the first disc is for songs from Queensrÿche, The Warning and Rage for Order. And not only is it great to hear these songs done live, but performed live brilliantly! "NM 156" into the brilliant "Walk in the Shadows" sounds sensational, and is brought to life live. So too are the versions of "Roads to Madness", "The Lady Wore Black" and "Screaming in Digital". Each of them are enhanced here, the strengths of each song shining through. And while "Queen of the Reich" may not live up to everything it could be, there has never been any doubt that to reproduce anything like the studio version in a live setting would be a monumental task. Don't get me wrong, it still sounds great, but with necessary compromises.
The second half of the first disc comprises a selection of songs from Operation: Mindcrime, and as will always occur when it comes to this album, it is the songs that are left out that are debated rather than the songs that are chosen to be performed. It simply doesn't matter which ones you choose to play, there will always be songs that everyone will be disappointed will be left out. For me, it would be "Speak" and "The Needle Lies". They should always be played! Anyway, by now the band is smooth and professional on all of these songs, so often must they have performed them. Pamela Moore again appears as Mary. Everything sounds extraordinary.
Disc Two covers the 1990's, the highlight of which is the selection of songs from the extraordinary Empire album. The four songs performed here - "Empire", "Silent Lucidity", "Another Rainy Night (Without You)" and "Jet City Woman" are not only terrific songs, but they sound absolutely amazing here. The music is so strong, and Tate's vocals here don't miss a beat. I know that YOU know that I don't like ballads, but there are exceptions, and "Silent Lucidity" has always been one of them. I love the version on Empire, but here it just soars. The musicianship is of the highest calibre, and proves that a song can be powerful with having to be excessive.
The remainder of the second disc contains songs from Promised Land, Hear in the Now Frontier and Q2K, albums that I have a difficult time listening to. To be fair, most of these tracks all sound better being played live than they did on the studio albums, but there is still not a lot of joy from them. This is where you can correspond the differences and changes that have occurred in Queensrÿche over the years. Sure, people will argue that a song such as "The Lady Wore Black" can be compared to a song such as "Liquid Sky". But it is here you hear the differences. Listen to Tate's vocals in "The Lady Wore Black", emoting as that song allows, and the power behind the guitars and drums in pushing that emotion through the song. Awesome. Then listen to the dullery that comes through on "Liquid Sky". It is unmistakable. And you can't use time as a factor. They may have been written 15 years apart and thus recorded as such on their respective albums, but these songs were recorded for this album on the same day. The change in the song writing is as plain and stark as what you hear on this album.

The first disc, with everything from the 1980's, I would probably rate as 4.5 or 5. All of the songs are great and they also sound magnificent in this live setting. The second disc I would probably go somewhere with a 3.5 or a 4. So in trying to rate the release as a whole I have had to compromise and take a factor somewhere in the middle of those two ratings. As a live release it is an excellent anthology of the band's progress to this point of their career, even if some of it is better off forgetting.

Rating:  Blind, you search for the truth.  4.5/5

800. Queensrÿche / Q2K. 1999. 1.5/5

As we approached the new millennium, I guess a lot of the Queensrÿche faithful must have been wondering what was next for the band. It had certainly been a mixed bag during the 1990's, most of it had been either so unlike Queensrÿche you didn't know what to think anymore or had been so bad that you couldn't face listening to another album for fear it would get worse. More than anything else, did the band itself know what direction its music was heading in? And if it did, was it aware that for the most part they were alienating their core fan base with their choices? In the long run you can only make the music you enjoy making and hope that it appeals to your market, but there were serious questions coming forth before “Q2K” was released.
Following the release of their previous album “Hear in the Now Frontier”, the episode on which you can find on Season 2 of this podcast, things had begun to be on a downturn for the band. That album had featured a very stripped back sound that resembled the grunge movement, but given it was well after that scene had moved on it had a lot of trouble resonating with the fan base, who had been used to their progressive metal, twin guitar, hard and heavy attack in previous years. A month into that tour, lead vocalist Geoff Tate had fallen seriously ill, and many concerts had to be cancelled as a result. At the same time, their record company went broke, which meant that the band had to self-fund the remainder of their tour to get it completed. And then, to top it all off, as the tour came to its conclusion, guitarist Chris DeGarmo announced that he was leaving the band. This was the final blow. DeGarmo was a highly regarded member of the group by the fan base and was a heavy contributor to the writing of all of the albums to this point of the band’s career. Burnout was cited as a reason for his departure, as well as a desire to do something else away from the music scene, which he did by becoming a professional airline pilot. His replacement was Kelly Gray, who had been the guitarist in Geoff Tate’s pre-Queensryche band Myth. Gray had also worked as a producer, a role he along with the rest of the band filled for their first album together. We also had a situation where, for the first time, all of the songs written and composed for the album were collectively credited to the band as a whole. Was this to avoid any pressure on the writers of each track, to compare them against the efforts of the songwriter who had just left the band? Whether everyone contributed equally to the process could be questioned given events some years in the future, but the result is that the band lived and died together on the basis of these songs, and their success or otherwise.

From the outset this appears to be a continuation of what was served up for us on “Hear in the Now Frontier”. There is a healthy dose of a revamped or upgraded grunge sound rumbling throughout the album, but without the true inspiration that came from that scene a decade earlier. And given that Queensrÿche the band hails from Seattle you can understand how that has eventually developed into the music that they have created here. For the first half of the album, everything is of a mid-to-slow tempo, lacking any real fire or attitude. There are no scorching guitar solos, there are no breakout drum rolls, there is no real stretching of the vocal cords. There are touches of Pearl Jam, Sonic Youth and Soundgarden through the opening tracks like "Falling Down" and "Sacred Ground", along with repeated chorus lines that fail to ignite any passion or determination to sing along because the songs are so structured and similar all the way through that it is difficult to get enthused by it. Even without DeGarmo at the helm, the songwriting here sticks to the direction taken by the previous album. "One Life" bumbles along at a morbid pace with a morbid sound, sucking all the joy out of life as it plods along. Where is the motivation? There is barely any discernible difference between this song and "When the Rain Comes". Same tempo, same dull lifelessness, with only a barely energetic solo to break up the boredom. Whereas the opening two tracks could be considered to have an alt-rock sound, these follow ups have little to offer the fan of this band.
The Soundgarden-esque "How Could I" follows this, though comparing this washed out lacklustre song to one of a band whose energy never subsided would be an aberration. You really have to ask yourself where it all goes from here. But there is more to come, as "Beside You" almost brings the album to a complete halt. How many songs can you write and perform that simply have his slow, mournful backbeat of guitars, and sad drum beat and the vocals moaning over the top in an indulgent faux-angst tone that does nothing more than bore the listeners slowly to death?
Into the second half of the album, and there is a spark of energy that comes to the fore and finds a way to bring some enthusiasm back into some of the tracks. “Liquid Sky” is lifted by Tate’s vocals and a slightly more positive musical output. “Breakdown” and “Burning Man” both suffer from the whiny guitar riff throughout the song like a poor man’s Stone Temple Pilots or Soundgarden, driven by the perpetual motion of Scott Rockenfield’s drumming. I mean, are they average songs, or just monotonously dull? Take your choice. At least they move forward rather than stagnate. “Wot Kinda Man” and the album closer “The Right Side of My Mind” all sit in a similar mode. And that is something that is not only difficult to explain because it feels and sounds as though I am portraying this album to be a collection of songs that all sound the same and in a less than entertaining way, but also because that is EXACTLY what it is!

I think you get the idea, without me using similar such metaphors for the songs on this album. There is nothing here to grab you, to hook you, to move you. Everything is so similar throughout, without any interesting lyrics or vocals, or guitar riffs or drum rolls. It is yet another massively disappointing release from a band that I had so much respect and admiration for a decade earlier.
I have talked at length on this podcast over a dozen episodes or more about the path taken by once great metal bands of all genres, and how they change and try to adapt to the 1990’s, for the most part without success. Cue Queensryche for another spiel on this matter. Their first four albums are all different and yet retain the basis of the sound that the band became famous for. Their next three albums, to the release of this album, all head down a completely different path, directed by the musical trends of the 1990’s, and for me at least, suffer immensely for it. I’m sure there are fans out there who disagree with this sentiment, but you cannot argue the vast difference in sonics from those first albums to these albums, and “Q2K” in particular.
I hesitated to buy “Q2K” when it came out, because I had splashed out my hard-earned money on the previous two albums for little reward, and at that point in my life money was tight, not something I could just throw at an album that may not cut the mustard. About 12 months after its release, I decided to take the plunge and check it out. Suffice to say it was a major disappointment, another album of the age that the band had changed their style to fit a perception of what they felt was required to continue to be relevant, and it did the opposite. Then came the time to do this anniversary episode. When I did my episode on “Hear in the Now Frontier” I found that I actually could find some good in that album that I had not had before, so I was hoping that when I came to “Q2K” I would find something similar. Well, the past two weeks has seen me listen to this album over a dozen times, for the first time since I reviewed it for my blog sometime in the past decade. And all it did was reinforce what I thought then, and definitely thought 25 years ago – that this album really doesn’t have a lot going for it.
This was the only album that Kelly Gray was involved in. He probably thinks that is a good thing overall. Without wanting to give the plot away, the next decade for Queensryche became even murkier than it had already become, and a once great and popular band found that they were unable to reconnect to their fan base with the direction the ship was steering. In effect, this is not Queensryche’s worst album. That horrific effort is still yet to come.

799. Queensrÿche / Hear in the Now Frontier. 1997. 2.5/5

Hear in the Now Frontier indeed. The fact that Queensrÿche's previous album sold so well despite the steaming pile of rubbish it turned out to be was obviously only contributed to by the brilliance of the previous two albums. I am guessing that if most of us had heard Promised Land before plonking down our hard earned to purchase it, there would have been a hell of a lot of people who would have reversed that decision. And yet, most of us still went out when this album was released, and paid our money again for another Queensrÿche album. What is it that drew us all back again for another instalment? The belief, or hope, that Promised Land had been an aberration, and that the real Queensrÿche would return bigger and better than ever on this album? Of course it was!

Put the CD on the stereo. Press Play. Well, there's a guitar riff! Already this album has points over its predecessor. OK, it may be a simple riff, but a riff is what it is. Perhaps the fact that it tends to trend throughout the whole song without a change is a cause for concern. Could the title of the song, "Sign of the Times" be an omen as well? Is it a sign of this album that they will produce a guitar riff, but it won't change throughout? The possibility of this remains as we move into "Cuckoo's Nest", because it does seem to be similar again. And what about those vocals? Does it sound to you like Tate and DeGarmo are trying to imitate some other kind of bands? They just sound similar to something else, but I can't quite place it...
Oh, and then it hits you right between the eyes as "Get a Life" starts, and moves through the remainder of the album. This is a bloody GRUNGE album!!! How the hell did that happen?! How did we get from what the band released three years ago, to what we have here? I'm just totally blown away. I clearly remember picking up the CD case and making sure I had the new Queensrÿche album on, and hadn't mistaken it for another album. It becomes so obvious as we move along. "The Voice Inside" is pure Alice in Chains-like, even the vocals in the chorus are trying to mimic Layne and Jerry. The guitar solo is almost country/western though, or perhaps just so stripped back with slide guitar I don't know the difference. Wow. "Some People Fly" is more of the same, slower and less energised, but still unmistakeably of this same genre. The vocals are harmonising in that way. The main difference here though between this and those high profile grunge bands is that the guitar rhythms here are very bland and uninteresting, not really producing anything memorable in themselves.
"Saved" comes along with a harder element infused in the mix, allowing Rockenfield's drums and Wilton and DeGarmo's guitars to light up for a brief moment, though not with enough panache to really hold the interest long. "You" tries to continue in that vein, containing a closer mix of drums, riff and vocals that can showcase the better side of the band. This is probably the best song on the album for me. Unfortunately we delve back into the depths of despair from here. "Hero" is dreadfully dull, acoustically driven slow slop, with Geoff crooning as he is wont to do more and more often. There is no power here, no progressive nature in the music. It continues what seems to be a cross between slow unadulterated grunge and country which is bereft of any redeeming qualities. It could almost be catagorised as easy listening, because it can send you to sleep listening to it. "Miles Away" goes with a combination grunge/AOR sound. Now there's something to keep the punters wondering what the hell is going on. I'd have thought it almost impossible to combine those two genres of music until I heard this song. Remarkable.
"Reach", like "You", tries to be the up tempo track on the album. Still it's closer to a soft rock song with a solid but not memorable riff throughout. "Hit the Black" starts off well, but stutters to a slightly unsatisfying conclusion. "Anytime / Anywhere" is in a similar category. There are good moments in the song, but the way it segues through rock to grunge makes it difficult to enjoy completely. The album concludes with "sp00L", for which the previous comments can be added along with this song.
So it's basically a Seattle grunge album in 1997. But did we really need this in 1997? By this time Nirvana had folded after Kurt Cobain's suicide, and from this had been born Dave Grohl's hard rock phenomenon Foo Fighters. Ditto with Alice in Chains, who were hamstrung by Layne Staley's drug issues. Soundgarden had split up. Grunge was basically over, and yet here was a successful progressive metal band deciding now was the time to embrace their hometown's traditions by stripping everything back and recording a grunge album! It's not as if you can throw all of the blame for this at the feet of Geoff Tate either, something which evidence suggests you could do from this release onwards. Chris DeGarmo is the chief contributor in writing to almost every track on this album, which theoretically should mean he was happy with the direction the music went here.

It is fair to say that Hear in the Now Frontier is a vastly superior album than Promised Land was. Here we once again don't have what most fans would have considered to be the band's natural sound. It certainly isn't a progressive metal album. And it really doesn't stack up to their early albums. When you go looking for a Queensrÿche album to play it is highly unlikely you would reach for this album, because if you want the kind of music that you find on this album, you would go for Alice in Chain's Dirt or Soundgarden's Superunknown, because they are superb examples of Seattle sound, whereas this resembles a cheap knock off. It isn't a total loss, but it also isn't Queensrÿche.

Rating:  No matter what goes down, I'll still be there for you.  I'm beginning to believe otherwise.  2.5/5

798. Queensrÿche / Promised Land. 1994. 1.5/5

Over their first decade in existence, Queensryche had dabbled and manoeuvred and reinvented their image and their music. Each album that they had released - “The Warning”, “Rage for Order”, “Operation: Mindcrime” and “Empire” - was different in some way. There may have been a thread of essence that connected some of the music on each, but overall, each album had changes that didn't corrupt the fans enjoyment of those albums. There is no distinct pathway between one album to the next apart from the familiarity of Geoff Tate’s vocals, the guitars of Chris de Garmo and Michael Wilton, and the hummed in rhythm of Eddie Jackon’s bass guitar and Scott Rockenfield’s drumming.
“Operation: Mindcrime” of course had been a hit, in many people’s eyes the zenith of the band’s career. The follow up “Empire” was not as bombastic overall but infused the maturity the band was progressing towards to create a collection of songs that somehow combined the quiet introspective with the hard and heavy outbursts into the one collective album. The tours to promote both of those albums continued to sell, and so it was some time before the band truly worked on the follow up. Writing and preparing had begun as far back as August 1992, but with burn out being a factor after almost ten years on the road and in the studio, the process took longer than expected.
Having had so much success with their heavier faster music, but also the success of the single “Silent Lucidity” from the “Empire” album, an acoustic and strings dominated song that reached top 10 in the US, the diection of this new album was always going to be of interest. Add to this the changing landscape of music in the early 1990’s and the fact that Queensryche WAS a Seattle band, along with the continual evolving of the band’s sound over their first four albums, and the most likely result was going to be an album that again changed course slightly from where they had been before. The end result was something more than probably anyone could have predicted.

"9:28 A.M." is a concoction of sounds and noises used as an intro to the album, recorded by drummer Scott Rockenfield to create an atmospheric opening into the first song proper. Most will have their own opinion as to whether it works or whether it just sucks a minute out before you finally move into that following track "I Am I". Perhaps that was necessary to prepare you, because this isn't the most interesting song Queensrÿche has ever recorded. Vocally it comes across fine, but as a song it still seems to be lacking something. The fact that Chris DeGarmo is using a cello and even a sitar during this song gives it a very middle eastern sound, the first inference that a change in the band’s musical stylising is underway. It’s a middling beginning. This segues immediately into "Damaged", which is by a long shot the best song on the album, though at this stage of the album that may be a talking point. It is the closest by far to a traditional Queensrÿche song, and really should have been a springboard for the rest of the album, the lead off to be followed by the strong middle section of up-tempo songs. Instead, we get "Out of Mind" which is a soft acoustically based ballad, with the lack of power immediately noticeable. This song is solely composed by de Garmo, who perhaps was looking for another “Silent Lucidity”, which this definitely isn’t. Then it is on to "Bridge" which provides more of the same, once again composed by de Garmo, with lyrics that are about his relationship with his father who passed away during the recording sessions for the album.
"Promised Land" and "Disconnected" are almost a throw back to the past, to the 1960's and 1970's when the progressive rock movement was taking shape, and was all about songs like this. It was once mentioned to me that the music here is reminiscent of Pink Floyd, with the big musical expanses with little occurring except the progressive-like freeform instrumental extensions. No doubt some members of this band use Pink Floyd as an inspiration. I am not a big fan of that band or those types of passages. Geoff Tate even contributes saxophone on both of these songs. At almost 8 minutes in length the title track feels far too long, while “Disconnected” is an apt title. It’s more about a collection of sounds like those gathered for the opening instrumental track, with that freeform style and Tate’s saxophone taking over. These are difficult songs to get on board with.
"Lady Jane" reintroduces the piano element and still misses the mark by a long way. It’s another de Garmo solo composition, and by this stage it is plainly obvious that he is heading in a different direction than what he had written for previous albums.
The closest the band comes to producing anything remotely interesting and like their earlier work (apart from "Damaged") is on a song such as "My Global Mind", where Tate's doubled harmony vocals are joined with a slightly more noticeable solid rhythm and then a brief spurt of the harmonic guitars. But even here we move along in a stagnant mood, hardly getting out of first gear, before having the reflecting middle section again. "One More Time" ends that journey as well, delving back into places that have some familiarity with past glories. Then we have "Someone Else" which is the album closer and is performed only by Tate on vocals and DeGarmo on piano. It is a hundred miles away from what you would expect. Compare it to the closer on the previous album, "Anybody Listening?" That had everything, and was such an uplifting song that you couldn't wait to play the album again. Here, with no band backing, only the piano, it is almost like signifying the end of a funeral. In many ways, looking back from this distance, perhaps that is exactly what it was doing.

By the time 1994 had arrived, Queensrÿche had made an indelible impression upon my music loves. Their first three albums had improved on each other, the latter of those which by now had reached legendary status, whilst its follow up had taken a little more time to grow on me, but before too long had also reached a status of invincibility. It had been four years since the release of “Empire”, and now finally the follow up was being released. Aware that I had put too much pressure on the last album early, expecting it to be a masterpiece like the album that had preceded it, I was adamant that “Promised Land” would not be judged too quickly or harshly by myself, that I would give it the time required to grow on me and no doubt become as indispensable as those other Queensrÿche albums had become.
To be honest, I am glad that I took this approach with this album, because on those first couple of listens when I first put the CD in my stereo, I could easily have taken it out, put it back in its cover and thrown it out the window, never to listen to it again. If not for Geoff Tate's distinctive vocals, I would barely have believed that this was a Queensrÿche album. To say it was a shock would be understating the disbelief that I had while first listening to the album. It wasn't a shock, it was SHOCKING! Where were the drums?! Where were the duelling guitars?! Where was ANYTHING that resembled the Queensrÿche I had come to love? Surely this was a mistake, that I had been given the wrong CD in the wrong cover? Yes, I could easily have put this back on the shelf never to be pulled out again, but I recalled my promise, my need to give this album time to grow on me like “Empire” had, and to then become as beloved to me as that album is. So, I kept giving it every chance - at work, in the car, at home. I gave it my best, and for a period of about two weeks I listened to this album at least once a day, more often at least three times a day. The result was that, despite my best efforts, I could find nothing on here that could draw me back to this album.
The power of the music has been eradicated from every song on this album. There is little to nothing remaining of the metal element that made their previous albums so enlightening, so unique and so listenable. Yes, they are a Seattle band, a city that harboured the majority of the grunge movement that had become so popularised over the past five years, but they pre-dated this movement, and had had success with what they were doing, so surely there is no point in trying to use this as a reason why the band's sound has changed so significantly on this release. It can only be surmised that the writing team of Tate and DeGarmo had decided this was the direction they had wanted to go in.
The production of this album is also credited to the band, along with James Barton, which means that they had the hands on the wheel in the way the album was recorded, the final proof if any was needed that this is exactly what the band wanted when it came to this album.
I have been through the painful and difficult task over the last two weeks of having this album on again, hoping against hope that this time around I would find something – ANYTHING – that would make this a joy to listen to. I have suffered for my art once again, as I have listened to this all the way through almost a dozen times, and each time it has been like being force fed a plateful of Brussel sprouts and cauliflower. This album reeks, and it always has. I can join the dots and see how this album eventuated, with the combination already discussed of writers changing their desire, of the music scene flipping on its head, and the changing nature of the band from album to album. It’s all there for you to see – in hindsight.
There must be fans out there who love this album, and I am happy for them for that to be the case. Personally, if I never have to listen to this album again, then I will be a slightly happier person overall.

797. Savatage / Hall of the Mountain King. 1987. 4/5

1987 was one hell of a year for music. Take a look at the list of best rated albums for that year on Rate Your Music and shake your head at the awesome content of that list. Not just heavy metal either. There are great albums from all genres of music. Most of them I either bought or heard at the time. Some gems did slip through however, and it wasn't until a few years later that I came upon the band Savatage, and in particular this album, Hall of the Mountain King.

What I liked most about this album from the start was that it was immediately impressive on all levels. Jon Oliva's vocals are uniquely his own, moving between a conversational lyrical tone to a higher register with ease, and despite the gruffness about his vocals it is a higher and tuneful voice than a growl, before then throwing in a real scream and what is a trademark cry every now and then. It helps to typify the Savatage sound. This is cross purposed with his brother Criss and his wonderful guitaring. His riffs and solos on this album are just sensational, and though parts of them may remind you of some other past songs of other bands, (there's a bit of Yes' "Owner of a Lonely Heart" in the riff of "Strange Wings" and a bit of Black Sabbath's "Hole in the Sky" in the riff of "Devastation") they are on a whole brilliant. In some places they are breathtaking, and he has an amazing flair in his playing. Check out especially "Beyond the Doors of the Dark", "Legions" and "Devastation" for his solos. Something special. Backing all of this up are Johnny Lee Middleton on bass guitar and Steve Wacholz on drums, who do their job so well that you probably don't even notice their excellent contributions while you listen to the Oliva brothers - but the album couldn't be this good without that solid rhythm section pounding away in the background.
The album itself flows almost perfectly from song to song, not losing any momentum from a change in style or radical changes in song structure. "24 Hours Ago" and "Beyond the Doors of the Dark" are both dominated by a heavy guitar riff and Jon's vocals, punctuated by those amazing guitar solos from Criss. "Beyond the Doors of the Dark" is just brilliant. "Legions" follows and is dominated by Criss' amazing guitaring, which is the highlight here. "Strange Wings", perhaps because of the aforementioned riff similarity, comes across as almost a mainstream sounding song especially after the opening tracks.
"Prelude to Madness" is an instrumental that incorporates Edvard Grieg's theme from his "In the Hall of the Mountain King". In combining a well known music piece to this instrumental intro to Side 2 of the album, it not only deepens the anticipation as to what will follow, it increases the interest of those that do not know the album as well, and opens the second half in style. This segues beautifully into the title track "Hall of the Mountain King", with a great riff that immediately generates that feeling that a great song is about to follow. This is the track that can sell you the album.  "The Price You Pay" has touches of Accept in both vocals and music which is amusing when Jon hits his high screams. Following the second instrumental of the album, the reflective "Last Dawn" leads into the final track "Devastation", which ends the album on a high note.

I'm not a fanatic about either this band or this album. That comes from not having found them earlier or having grown up with them. When it comes time to throw on a album at home or in the car or at work, Savatage is not one of those bands that immediately jumps into my mind to find. But that doesn't detract from the fact that I like the band, and I think this is a really good album. And when I do run my fingers along and they come to rest on this album and I pout it on, I am never disappointed. In fact I am constantly reminded about how good an album this actually is, and wonder why it doesn't get recalled by me in that way often enough. It has all of the hallmarks of the albums that I rate as my all time favourites, it just doesn't have that unconditional love that those albums have from me. Despite this, Hall of the Mountain King is a terrific album and worthy of your attention.

Rating:  Hell is eternity, Hell is your destiny.  4/5