Led by new lead vocalist Todd Le Torre, a man whose own voice lends itself almost remarkably to his predecessor, this is the first album released by the Queensrÿche band in their new era. The lead break on the opening song makes it clear immediately that this is the real deal. This is just a part of what has been missing for so many years, and here on "Where Dreams Go to Die" you immediately open your eyes and say to yourself "There it is... THAT'S Queensrÿche!". There is more urgency in all of the songs, each one different from the next, but none allows the album to drift into an ineffective sleep, which has been a real bugbear of mine over recent releases. The strength comes from guitaring that exudes more energy, a drumkit that appears to have rejuvenated itself and begun to emit the kind of power drumming that it was once renown for, and a vocal capacity that is at the forefront of every song, be it slower and melodic or faster and powerful, and not reedy or seeping into the background.
In comparison to the album released by Geoff Tate under the Queensrÿche moniker, Frequency Unknown, it really is no contest. Put more succinctly, that album headed in the same direction as the previous three or four full Queensrÿche albums, albums that were written by Geoff and others outside the band, and are almost universally shunned by the majority of Queensrÿche fans. This album, written entirely by the band members including Le Torre, is much closer to what most Queensrÿche fans would relate to as a Queensrÿche album. The band SOUNDS like Queensrÿche again, and Le Torre's vocals are driving the songs, not halting them in their tracks. Want to really notice the difference? Play this back-to-back with Frequency Unknown or Dedicated to Chaos or American Soldier. The music doesn't lie. This album has energy bursting throughout, and compared to the dull and lifeless example of the other three albums mentioned there is no contest.
But here's the bottom line. This is a major recovery of sorts, and it is enjoyable to listen to and to realise that this band still has more to offer than the past decade or so has shown. But even having said that, there are no songs here that really make you sit forward in your chair when you hear them begin, ones that snap you to attention in anticipation of what is to come. From a personal point of view, this album is faithful to the progressive style of music that the band played on their early albums, but I think the opportunity for some more firepower in some of the songs was missed. That may well have been what the band was looking for. A song like "Vindication" is probably the fastest song on the album, but to me could have had a bit more grunt in it. Still, this is a small, personal taste conclusion. The song is still great, and is one of the pointers towards the two halves of the Queensrÿche play that has been going on. Another is "A World Without", one of the slower songs on the album, but executed with the real Queensrÿche presence so that it doesn't become a dreary ballad-type.
The more you listen to the album, the better it gets. I don't want to sound like a broken record (no pun intended) but this is the first time in a generation when I can honestly say I love listening to a Queensrÿche album. I didn't have to try hard to love it, and then failed. If anything, I was as hard on this during my first listens as any new album release in recent years, because to me the band had to prove that they really could produce something to show that the past twelve months, the past five years, the past fifteen years, was really worth it. And they HAVE done it. They have produced an album that not only shows they can still be a force in the music world, but that the future may even be brighter.
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