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.

Chris DeGarmo had left the band before this album was started, meaning half of the majority writing team was now gone, as well as one of the band's accomplished guitarists. Kelly Gray was drafted in to replace him. As for the writing, all of the songs on this album are credited to the whole band rather than individuals. Whether than means 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.
Well, I'm afraid the verdict is not good. 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 Seattle sound rumbling throughout the album, but without the inspiration that came from the grunge scene a decade earlier. Everything here 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 chords. 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 you just can't get enthused by it. "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.
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 worse 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?

I think you get the idea, without me using similar such metaphors for the remainder of the songs on this album. There is noting 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.

Rating:  Terrible.  1.5/5