Queensryche

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One Drew Remains
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Queensryche

Post by One Drew Remains »

(aka, the Greg and Drew freakout thread)

The new album The Verdict is out today. So far I love it. Light Years and Portrait are my favorites after the first few hours. Thoughts?
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Re: Queensryche

Post by gbruin »

Oh hell yes, Drew!! I love it, too. It is loyal to the original 5 albums (EP through Empire) and the classic QR style while still showing a bit of modern evolution and diversity. This is the kind of sound they built their brand on but started losing after DeGarmo left, and particularly when Tate primarily took over the direction and song writing of the band. Thank goodness they moved on with new singer Todd La Torre and reestablished what made them both unique and great: thought provoking and intelligent lyrics, catchy melodies, soaring solos, and outrageous vocals. I love it all but the early favorites are Blood Of The Levant, Light Years, Dark Reverie, & Bent.

They are headlining Freedom Fest here in June and I'll be up front for that one.
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Re: Queensryche

Post by One Drew Remains »

Awesome. Yeah, a month in, and I still enjoy it a lot. My favorite release so far ( as Last In Line was kind of underwhelming ) in 2019.
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Re: Queensryche

Post by gbruin »

Queensrÿche headlined Freedom Fest Colorado 2019 last week and they were brilliant. The outdoor festival is a fundraiser for military veterans and families of fallen first responders, and this year's lineup included several local bands followed by Vixen, Steelheart, Great White, Extreme, and QR closed. It might be the very best show I've seen from them. I've been a fan of QR since 1984 and first saw them live in 1991, so I have more than a few shows to compare. Whip's guitars sounded perfect. Todd La Torre's vocals were perfect. Even the usually stoic Eddie Jackson was smiling and hopping around on stage. The set list stretched from their 1981 EP to their next 6 studio albums to their 3 most recent releases including 4 off their latest album, the Verdict. The band looked happy and vibrant and proud of what they are doing and the sound reflected it. Every song was played and sung note for note in its original key. It was freaking beautiful.

I absolutely love that a band that has been one of my 3 or 4 favorites in my life is sounding as good as they ever have and are still getting better and better with each release.

For those who do not know the band's history, Queensrÿche was one of the original prog/power metal bands (before prog or power was a thing) of the 80s and consistently filled arenas and recorded hits for over a decade. Their 1988 concept album Operation: Mindcrime is considered an all-time masterpiece of the genre. They began to plateau in the mid 90s and then really began to decline in the late 90s/2000s after the departure of one of their original guitarist/songwriters, Chris DeGarmo. The band persisted for another decade until they went through a pretty nasty and very public split with their iconic singer, Geoff Tate. Never mind that Tate could no longer hit the notes that signified the band's famous sound, his progressively controlling and subsequently physically abusive behavior, complicated by the fact that his wife was the band's manager, led to the band firing him in 2012. It was a pretty bold (or desperate, or fatalistic) move for a band which was middling at best to fire their most distinctive sound, but that's how bad things had gotten. Fortunately, the musicians kept the name Queensrÿche (Tate sued to keep it but lost) and initially went forward under a different name altogether, but then hired Todd La Torre, a singer/drummer from a band called Crimson Glory, who just happened to be able to sing all those amazing notes from the early QR classics (there's a video on youtube of Todd recalling going to meet one Myles Kennedy after an AB show but before he could say anything, Myles recognized Todd and greeted him by saying, "You, sir, are a badass!"). The band was able to play live the early QR classics that the fans were craving without having to down tune or acousticize to accommodate for what Tate could no longer do, and they began writing new material. La Torre's addition revitalized the band and they have released 3 new albums, each true to the Queensrÿche sound while still sounding modern and original and fresh, and each getting progressive better. Their most recent album The Verdict was released in March this year and is as good as any QR album not named Operation: Mindcrime.

There are still some comments around social media that QR is not really QR without Tate. I'm happy to say that there were a few of those people around me in the crowd last Saturday who absolutely and very happily changed their minds. Anybody listening (get it?) will recognize that Queensrÿche today is as good as ever and getting even better. And thank goodness for that.
Last edited by gbruin on Tue Jul 30, 2019 1:46 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Queensryche

Post by Skywalker »

I've seen Queensryche 36 times. The original band is my favorite group of all time.

Eight of those shows I saw have been with the current lineup. They are good, but they are very different. There is much, much more to Queensryche than hitting high notes. La Torre screams a lot of those high notes, as opposed to singing them like Tate did back in the day before his voice started to go. There's a difference. And musically, the band is much different as well. (I am comparing the original lineup to this version). There's a subtlety to classic Queensryche that just isn't in the current lineup's DNA. And that's OK. They've become their own group. Not quite free of expectation, but they've really set their era apart from the classic original one, and the Tateryche years. That's a good thing.

But I wouldn't say that they are as good today as ever. They are good, but DeGarmo and Tate were the heart and soul of the band. There has been a successful transplant, and the band has recovered, but they aren't quite the same. But they endure. And those fans who still enjoy them absolutely should.
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Re: Queensryche

Post by gbruin »

36 times?! I salute you, sir! :bow

I'll definitely give you DeGarmo. He was a special talent and his playing and his songwriting can't be replaced. But Tate trailed off so much both as a singer and a songwriter (and as a bandmate) that it taints his legacy and replacing him allowed the band its renaissance. Yeah, OM for sure, and probably even Warning and Rage are never going to be duplicated, and that era will stand as their pinnacle. But I feel and hear where QR is now is as connected to those three masterpieces as they've ever been since, and that includes Empire.
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Re: Queensryche

Post by gbruin »

Here are the videos from The Verdict:


Blood of the Levant


Man The Machine


Light Years


Dark Reverie


Bent
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Re: Queensryche

Post by Skywalker »

I saw the tour earlier this month. Reviewed it. New songs came off very well.

http://anybodylistening.net/theverdicttour-2020.html
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Re: Queensryche

Post by gbruin »

Skywalker wrote:I saw the tour earlier this month. Reviewed it. New songs came off very well.

http://anybodylistening.net/theverdicttour-2020.html
Love the review!! And I'm glad you gave the current lineup a fresh listen. I know you're a stalwart for the original lineup (and, who really isn't?) but that version - for me - ran its course. I'm so glad the current lineup is all in, both by creating new music that is unique while maintaining the classic Queensrÿche vibe, and still paying homage to the great legacy of this band when they play live. There are still some people who say No Geoff, no QR, which is too bad. They're really missing out. I kind of look at bands the way I look at sports teams. I'm a huge Broncos fan, but I don't want Elway or Manning still playing QB. Their legacies were spectacular, but now they're old and they can't throw anymore, and I'm open to someone new and vibrant who can take over the reins. Todd has done that respectfully and seamlessly in my mind. He's also never been anything less than kind and pleasant and open when I've met him, and I'm grateful this band is making fantastic new music to enjoy.

I'm a huge Kamelot fan, so while I do miss Scott for sentimental reasons and respect his decision to lead his own life these days, I really like what Casey brings to the band as well.
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Re: Queensryche

Post by Skywalker »

For me, I very much revere that original lineup, and honestly, I never thought they ran their course. I'm big on sonic evolution (a reason I love AB so much as well), and the songwriting arc of Queensryche's original lineup (which as time went on was mostly DeGarmo) was fascinating to me, Hear in the Now Frontier included (which has grown on me more and more over the last 23 years). His sense of melody and style of playing is just bar none, and I believe he had a lot more left to do. He's said in the last six or seven years that he has a ton of material, as he continually writes. Sometimes for his daughter (if you listen to her stuff, it sounds like PL era QR written with some more pop arrangements and his daughter's voice), but unreleased stuff that I'm sure sounds like the Chris we all know and enjoy.

As I've said elsewhere, I'm not overly fond of how the classic material (particularly stuff from the late 80s and 90s) are performed by the band now. The metal stuff from the early 80s, sure. But the Mindcrime, Empire, PL stuff -- not so much. In fact, I'd really prefer if they'd just play the TLT-era material, with a bunch of tracks from the classic metal years.

They do a good job. It's difficult material, more difficult than most non-musicians think. People who sing and play -- we know. That shit can be tough to get right. LOL. I give TLT credit for going out there and making it his own these days. Even Tate had to modify as the years went on. People talk about his legendary range, but then forget that even during the band's hey day of 1989-1992, he had to modify things live. Todd has done the same thing, to make it fit him. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't, but what it shows is just how damn difficult those vocals are. And like I said, musically, it is deceptively hard. :)
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Re: Queensryche

Post by Skywalker »

BTW - the first time I met AB on the Fortress tour, I asked Mark and Myles if the solo in Fortress was inspired by the one in "Screaming in Digital," as my wife and I, along with numerous folks, really hear that. They both said no, with Myles being more familiar with Queensryche, and Mark not really having been big into them as he learned to play guitar, etc. But the solos def sound similar.

I find it amazing that Mark wasn't into them because there are so many stylistic similarities between the original Queensryche and Alter Bridge. Particularly from Blackbird forward. Myles is sort of a hybrid of DeGarmo and Tate, while Tremonti is Wilton, but with a bigger role in terms of the band's songwriting. I realize its a two-guitar thing, and some of that familiarity is because of that, but it's more. The way each guy approaches playing is uncanny. Myles is a more melodic, play for the song soloist, very much like DeGarmo, whereas Tremonti and Wilton shred a ton.

Queensryche's original band was always known (specifically Chris and Michael) for their very unique way of each playing separate parts that when combined were these larger than life chord structures. I'd love to hear Myles and Mark take that step together. I mean, this isn't the 80s or early 90s, but their chemistry is obviously there, and I'd love to hear them do more trade off stuff in actual songs. Anyway, sorry about the tangent. Just excited about the AB shows this weekend.
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Re: Queensryche

Post by gbruin »

That's a really interesting comparison, and I see and hear what you're saying. I assume that Chris and Whip wrote together a lot because they lived close to each other, that's how bands worked back in our day, and the technology wasn't there to record and share files like it is now. As a result, the collaboration between the two produced magic. They are probably my favorite guitar duo of all time, right next to Dave Murray and Adrian Smith. I often wonder how AB would sound if Myles and Mark shelved their solo stuff and locked themselves away together for a month or two with nothing to do but build stuff together. I know they wrote songs separately for this record, and I realize they are constantly sharing ideas anyway, but the immediate feedback and spontaneity of working together is impossible to simulate. I think the dual solos in Blackbird, and possibly Fortress, may be as close as we get to that, and those examples stand head and shoulders above their already great catalog for me. What Myles and Mark have done so far has been fantastic, but there will always be that...what if...

Going off to play SID and Fortress back to back right now.

Also, I didn't know DeGarmo's daughter was performing. I'll go looking for that stuff too. Thanks for the heads up on that. And if it gets Chris back in the game at any level, oh yes!
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Re: Queensryche

Post by Skywalker »

You'll tell immediately when you hit preview, that the guitar is unmistakably Chris. :)

https://www.theruemusic.com/ep

:cheers
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Re: Queensryche

Post by gbruin »

Oh yeah. That was very nice. You can sure see his face in hers. Great to hear those guitar stylings again.
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