880. Queensrÿche / Condition Hüman. 2015. 3.5/5

With the dust having settled on the split in the Queensrÿche ranks, and with each party having released on album in the interim, in a lot of ways the future direction of both bands was going to come down to their next release, and what direction the music went in and how it would be accepted by fans on either side and those somewhere in the middle. As with the 2013 releases of Queensrÿche's eponymous album and Geoff Tate's Frequency Unknown, Tate got in early and had his album out first, no doubt a ploy to ensure his name was well and truly in the headlines. What mattered more was always going to be what the album sounded like. The so-called Operation: Mindcrime's The Key I have recently given my opinion on. This one is most definitely different in many ways.

Queensrÿche's members, Michael Wilton, Eddie Jackson, Scott Rockenfield, Parker Lundgren and Todd La Torre, have consistently spoken of wanted to go back to the sound the band had in its earliest days, to a time that the majority of the fans remember them most fondly. It wasn't about reproducing what they had done in that time, but finding their roots and rediscovering their mojo, and using that to produce their new songs. Given the recent history it was no mean feat and Queensrÿche was a solid start to that path, showing enough promise is what was written to have fans thinking they may just be able to do what they promised. In essence, as a fan, I was looking for a tempo, I was looking for an attitude and a direction, and I was looking for a commitment. To me, there had to be a significant movement away from what the band had produced in the last twenty years if they were going to regain my faith in them. It was as simple as that. I have a shelf of Queensrÿche releases rotting away because I could never bring myself to listen to them again. Forking out hard earned cash for albums that were so far away from what I wanted to hear that I may as well have just burned the money instead was something I was not willing to sign up for any longer.
What Queensrÿche has produced here with Condition Hüman is perhaps as close as they can ever come to reproducing the same vibe and aura that came with albums such as Rage for Order, Operation: Mindcrime and Empire. Nothing they do can (likely) come close to what they released on those albums. But what they have done is moved forward, and put together a variety of material that bets serves to showcase Queensrÿche in 2015. Indeed, unlike their erstwhile former lead singer, the music has crawled out of the slow paced grunge-like material that had been prevalent and infused some energy back into the mix. Most certainly, the vocals alone can be pinpointed for this. La Torre's vocals may ring like Geoff Tate from the 1980's, but his power behind them is what is driving this new frontier. While the guitar harmonies have returned, and Rockenfield's drumming is as precise and powerful as it has been, it is the vocals that help drive these songs into your consciousness.
None of the songs here are particularly fast, if that is what you are looking for. Over the course of this album and the previous album, it doesn't appear that excess speed is a part of the band's writing process. The progressive nature of the music however has returned, with plenty of melody from the guitars and vocals. Songs such as "Arrow of Time" and "Guardian" are the most upbeat of the selection here, and they start the album off on the right foot. "Hellfire" sits back into a heavier riff, mid-tempo song with Todd hitting those scream notes throughout to drive it along. It has been a long time since I've heard a Queensrÿche riff like this. "Eye9" is similar, with its unique guitar and bass chords settling on a heavier scale, with those amazing guitar harmonies through the middle of the song. Songs like "Selfish Lies" and "Bulletproof" and "Just Us" are more of the real comfort nature, settled back in tempo and sliding along without the big riffs or standout solo breaks - not power ballads, but tending in that direction. The closing track "Condition Hüman" has touches of Dream Theater to it, and moves through many different acts in a similar way, almost like a four seasons song.

Like a few other bands of their vintage, this is easy listening heavy metal, very much more in the direction of progressive metal than anything on the heavy scale. Queensrÿche was always of this inkling, but this continues that direction. It is a massive step forward from just about everything they have done this century previous to this, and while fans of the band will no doubt breathe a sigh of relief that some order has been restored in the House of Queensrÿche, you may still be left with that nagging feeling that there is still something that would make it better than it is. The time for that may well have passed. Nevertheless, we can be thankful that we can again have an album that isn't just taking up space on the shelves.

Rating:  Do we take for granted what some may dream to have?  3.5/5