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Features, PiercingMetal Says

Double Your Pleasure, Double Your……Queensryche!!!

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I don’t want any of you Metal Legions to tell me that you didn’t see this one coming. What’s that? You didn’t? Well okay, I guess I should believe you when you tell me that you never expected that Geoff Tate would eventually announce the formation of his own Queensryche and start to map out his touring plans after being fired as the singer for the original Queensryche. Maybe I am just still shocked about that particular case scenario.


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Music, Reviews

“Sign Of The Times – The Best Of Queensryche” (Deluxe Edition) by Queensryche

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Artist: Queensryche
Title: “Sign Of The Times – The Best Of Queensryche” (Deluxe Edition)
Label: Capitol Records
Release Date: 8/28/2007
Genre: Progressive Metal
Rating: 4/5

“Sign Of The Times: The Very Best Of Queensryche” is a compilation CD that is quite similar to the original Greatest Hits piece that the band released in 2000 with a couple of exceptions. The original version covered all of the albums except for “Q2K” and offered sixteen of the bands most influential tracks. The new version comes with a snappy new title and changes this around a little bit in terms of a couple of the songs that are included as it now features music from all of the bands studio albums and some numbers from soundtracks that they appeared on. From the seventeen total songs on the first CD of the collector’s edition the listener is able to follow the bands progression into history as they released intelligent Metal that touched upon the Progressive end at times. Always a band that pushed the envelope and experimented with style and sound while other bands chose to remain content with delivering the same style again and again. As a result of this modus operandi the earliest fans of Queensryche found a band that was growing along with them and delivering musical colors that changed as often as the seasons. Some loved this and some didn’t because as is typical with fans of any group there are sides taken with each release and some defend it to the death. I remember originally hating “Rage For Order” myself and now find it a work of genius and later with the “Q2K” album which I refused to support on its release because of no Chris DeGarmo became an enjoyable listen when I heard the re-issue several years later. As expected CD1 for “Sign Of The Times” includes the standards from the self-titled EP, “Warning” and “Operation Mindcrime”, etc – but its really only a taste of the goods in my opinion. Legacy fans would enjoy this as something to put on for a great career overview while a new fan should make this required listening as Queensryche’s accomplishments for the heavy music genre have been pretty extraordinary.

The Collector’s Edition includes a second CD that makes the release all the more worthy of investigation based on what the listener will find on it. The disc begins with three demos by the band Myth – a group that Geoff Tate fronted before joining Queensryche. The titles of the songs might ring incredibly familiar but you would be surprised that the tunes themselves lean more towards the early years of European Power Metal. Tate describes them in the liner notes as “inclusions to show the metamorphosis of a song idea” and “discerning listeners will notice certain similarities to the Queensryche songs that came later”. They are really a treat to listen to and fans should know that guitarist Kelly Gray was also a part of this band. The other inclusions of note are the demos from “The Warning” as you can enjoy these great songs in their earliest stages to see how they started against that which was finally released as the bands official debut full length. Many of the other items presented here were available on the remastered versions of the bands back catalog, so if you have them already it might seem a bit repetitive. If not, it’s a good sampling of the additional tracks that were featured on these re-issues. The second CD closes with a new track entitled “Justified” and in review of it the song sounds like it could have been included on the latest studio release “Operation: Mindcrime II” even though it was supposed to appear on “Hear In The Now Frontier”. Fans would enjoy that former guitarist Chris DeGarmo had written this one. The CD comes in a beautiful deluxe packaging and includes a detailed history by Paul Gargano along with some interesting artwork and “reflections” by singer Tate. In late 2007 the band is planning on the release of an album of cover tunes which will feature their own take on some classic songs.

CD2: Take Hold Of The Flame (Myth demo), Walk In The Shadow (Myth demo), Before The Storm (Myth demo), Waiting For The Kill (demo), No Sanctuary (demo), Prophecy (demo), I Dream In Infrared (acoustic), Dirty Lil Secret, Last Time In Paris, Scarborough Fair, Dell Brown (MTV Unplugged), Someone Else?, Silent Lucidity (live), Chasing Blue Sky, Justified (new track).

Track Listing:
1. Queen Of The Reich
2. Warning
3. Walk In The Shadows
4. Take Hold Of The Flame
5. The Lady Wore Black
6. I Don’t Believe In Love
7. Eyes Of A Stranger
8. Silent Lucidity
9. Bridge
10. Jet City Woman
11. Another Rainy Night (Without You)
12. Sign Of The Times
13. I Am I
14. Real World
15. Some People Fly
16. Until There Was You
17. All The Promises

Official Website: www.queensryche.com

Music, Reviews

“Q2K” (remaster) by Queensryche

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Artist: Queensryche
Title: “Q2K” (remaster)
Label: Rhino Entertainment
Release Date: 8/29/2006
Genre: Progressive Rock
Rating: 3.5/5

In 1999 Queensryche would find themselves in a bit of a bind for not only did they lose the label they had for much of their career but co-founder Chris DeGarmo would also choose to move on and pursue other interests in life. Musically this would not be a release that many Queensryche fans would embrace very openly; but upon listening to the remastered and expanded edition some seven years – I can safely say that there is some enjoyable stuff on it and necessary as part of the complete Queensryche catalog. The best way to enjoy this one is to skate around the tracks and find the most acceptable ones such as “Sacred Ground” and “One Life” which show a different Queensryche from the band you grew up remembering. I think the initial problem fell in the expectations of the fan base as well as the bands quest to keep themselves relevant during a difficult musical point in time. They were no longer Progressive Metal and had instead become a style of harder Progressive Rock that used their typical strong melodic sense mixed in throughout their songs. Technically, they remained the same and sounded fine, as the band did not aim for high levels of avant-garde musical exploration as the bands that came after them (I speak especially of Dream Theater and Fates Warning). DeGarmo’s spot in the band would be temporarily filled by Kelly Gray (now of Slave To The System) while the rest remained the originals (Tate, Rockenfield, Wilton and Jackson). Gray was good but perhaps did not receive any level of compliment based on fans refusing to let go of the fact that Chris had left the lineup. The remaster includes several additional tracks and “Until there Was you” is a perfect ballad for the group while “Howl” is a rocker from top to bottom. Maybe their inclusion to the original release would have helped it along but now we have them on the re-issue so its no longer a problem. The original album tracks of “Breakdown”, “Right Side Of My Mind” and “Liquid Sky” are quite good as well and could have carried the release forward but perhaps its lack of an overall theme and instead just built as straight songs caused this additional grief. To be honest, I remember finding myself uninterested in it when it first hit the shelves but cannot recall what kept me from it back then.
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Music, Reviews

“Slave To The System” by Slave To The System

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Artist: Slave To The System
Title: “Slave To The System”
Label: Spitfire Records
Release Date: 2/21/2006
Genre: Hard Rock
Rating: 8/10

What do you get if you combine the forces of talent that have worked with both Queensryche and Brother Cane? Well, the answer is very simply “Slave To The System” a Hard Rock combo that brings drummer Scott Rockenfield together with Damon Johnson, Roman Glick and Kelly Gray. Gray worked in Queensryche for one album and tour while Johnson and Glick were members of the powerhouse Brother Cane. Two entirely different aspects of the musical spectrum with one being a Progressive Rock side while the other mainstream Hard Rock. The result is a very pleasing Hard Rock journey that has some serious radio potential on its debut and self-titled release. Damon Johnson has a great voice and it shows throughout the record that he has not lost his touch in the years since Brother Cane ended. Rockenfield is an established drumming presence, yet on this album he lays back a little and delivers solid Rock and Roll time, a nice change to see that he can adapt and make his level of play work with a totally different type of band.
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Music, Reviews

“Live Evolution” by Queensryche

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Artist: Queensryche
Title: “Live Evolution”
Label: Sanctuary Records
Release Date: 9/25/2001
Genre: Progressive Metal
Rating: 8/10

With “Live Evolution”, Queensryche has given their fans the type of album that other artists would be smart to release. The album is not only a killer live recording, it is also a career expansive journey into each of their albums and features songs from the self-titled EP all the way up until “Q2K”. A companion DVD was released at the same time, which offers you the full visual of being present at a Queensryche show. I admit, I preferred watching as opposed to listening, since The Ryche is such a great band in concert. As on the DVD, the group sets the album up in sections that cover specific ranges of their releases. CD1 is the better of the two, in my opinion, as that is the earliest stuff from the self-titled EP until “Operation Mindcrime”. Given that it includes nine tracks from that album alone, you’ll find a nice comparison of how the band sounds several years after the recording of “Operation: Live Crime”. By that point in Queensryche’s career, the band had lost guitarist Chris DeGarmo. He was replaced with Kelly Gray. who did a fine job on the material. The rest of the original lineup remained strong with Tate, Rockenfield, Wilton and Jackson. CD2 is only half strong, as it includes music from “Empire” and “Promised Land” (their last decent studio release, in my opinion). The remainder of the disc features tracks from “Hear In The Now Frontier” as well as the dismal “Q2K” which was met with critical lambasting.
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