Music: New label and releases for Seattle's Queensryche
- By David Knight
- Published 08/29/2010
- Music
- Unrated
David Knight
A published poet with prior credits reviewing books and film for the small press, I hope to close the gap between high and low culture definitions in film, or any media for that matter (I won't avoid throwing in old pulps and comics with talk of serious literature). I have always enjoyed the Martial Arts films of the 70s, the "Spaghetti" Westerns, and drive-in B-Movies -- I admit it without shame. Among the assembly-line churn out of these there are gems to be found.
View all articles by David KnightInternationally acclaimed Seattle band, Queensryche, known in their twenty five year history for utilizing elements of heavy metal, progressive rock, and occasionally power balladry has apparently left Rhino Records for Roadrunner / Loud & Proud Records. Queensryche’s first studio album for Roadrunner will be their twelfth. The as yet untitled album is expected to be released in Spring 2011.
In heavy metal circles, Queensryche is most widely known for their landmark 1988 concept album, Operation: Mindcrime which told the story of a disillusioned youth, Nikki, who fell in love with a nun turned prostitute, Mary, and became an assassin under the thrall of the megalomaniacal Dr. X. Dr. X used revolutionary rhetoric to manipulate the disenfranchised drug addict into killing targets which really only furthered Dr. X’s corporate interests. Often compared to The Who’s Tommy, much of the social observations in the song lyrics are far nearer to the Who’s Quadrophenia, and of course there are obvious comparisons to Pink Floyd’s The Wall, as well. Adam Pascal, star of Broadway productions of Rent and Aida has expressed interest in bringing the album to Broadway as a musical, with himself in the role of Nikki.
It was Queensryche’s 1990 album Empire which brought the band greater success and more mainstream popularity, with the Grammy nominated, #1 single, Silent Lucidity with Michael Kamen, and the album itself hitting #7 on Billboard. The album led to an eighteen month tour, as well as further hit singles with Jet City Woman and Another Rainy Night making Billboard’s Top 10, the introspective Anybody Listening making the Top 20, while Best I Can and the socially analytical rock of the title track Empire cracking the Top 30.
The band’s 1994 album, Promised Land initially charted high but may have suffered from the four year wait as well as the ‘grunge’ obsessed musical landscape at the time. Initially "I AM I" received a lot of airplay and drew critical appreciation. The video for the song DisConNecTed startlingly broke ‘the fourth wall’ by having cockroaches appearing to skitter across the screen. Their 1997 album, Sign Of The Times charted lower while the title track incongruously yet experienced a fair amount of radio play despite fickle music trends. Label troubles at the time hampered promotion of the album.
The band released Q2K in 1999 on Atlantic records without Chris DeGarmo, and with producer Kelly Gray on guitar: despite mixed reviews for the album, Right Side Of My Mind continues to be a fan favourite song. Chris DeGarmo re-joined Queensryche for a few songs on the Tribe album which was released on Sanctuary. Lead singer and primary song-writer, Geoff Tate also released his first solo album on Santuary.