Submitted by: ASTRO CHIMP
Astro Chimp, one of Lord Chimp's allies in the fight for justice, has provided Lord Chimp's Revenge with a comprehensive overview of all Queensryche's albums since Promised Land, which we regard as their last really great album. So is everything since then as bad as some people say? The answer is: probably not! Read on to find out more.
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I little while back I kinda ripped on Queensrcyhe, and I think I want to moderate that opinion a bit. Now, Queensrcyhe was clearly at their best up to Promised Land. But I think that if one gets over expecting them to be a progressive metal band (which they only really were on a couple of albums anyway), and just take them as being a hard rock/metal band that will always keep you on your toes, then there's been some good stuff since. I'm going to take the time to go through their albums since Promised Land, since many people have not given them much attention due to a more-or-less knee-jerk reaction.
Hear in the Now Frontier
Ok, this one is not that great, There's a couple of songs on it that are nice ("Sign of the Times", "Some People Fly"), but mostly it's blah. And not because it's not metal (remember, I'm disposing of the metal requirement here), but just because it's not very inspired. Maybe there's a few other decent songs in there, but I can never get through it from start to finish (although I do like those songs I mentioned).
Q2K
Well, I know this one gets a bad rap as being "Q2Gay", but I actually dig a fair amount of it. There are some blah songs, and some bad lyrics (typically the ones where Geoff lusts after his wife, which reappears in uncomfortable fashion at times on Dedicated to Chaos), but songs like "Liquid Sky" and "Falling Down" are decent rockers, When the Rain Comes is quite wicked, and "Right Side of My Mind" is a bonafide QR classic. Maybe it's the rock fan in me, but Q2Gay is not all that gay. I do listen all the way through from time to time and enjoy myself.
Tribe
I actually dug this one a lot when it first came out, although now I find it a bit depressing. It has DeGarmo back on it (although he didn't rejoin as a member), and it has some cool songs...but like I said, it's got an overall dark vibe and production that rather than setting a mood gets rather depressing at times. Still, not bad. Not great, but not terrible.
Mindcrime II
This one is actually quite wicked. It has the exact same sound as the first one (they went to great lengths to get the same equipment and relearn tunings, etc...and they did a good job). The one thing that is not so good, especially considering how the original built and built and built to an amazing end...is that there is a substantial section after the middle part, or a few songs, that is just kinda blah...not much happens musically, and I'm not sure what is going on story wise. The disc ends decently, but its the first half that really kicks ass. "I'm American", "Hostage", "One Foot in Hell", "Signs Say Go"...all kickass straight up metal tunes that fit well in a MC sequel. It would be an decent album for old school QR, but it's pretty wicked for new QR. Worth a listen, and goes good back to back with the original. Cannot come close to that original Perfect Masterpiece, though.
American Soldier
Ok, this one is actually wicked. Not like their old stuff (not much in the way of solos and stuff), but it is just wicked. Concept story about the affect of war on people from the view of actual military members and their families (interspersed with actual interviews that the band made), the album claims no bias whatsoever and just lets the people tell their story. Really awesome stuff that totally maintains the spirit of QR from the day, if not the sound. I think this on is really really good, even though it took me years to get around to picking it up.
Dedicated to Chaos
A strange one. The band is afflicted by some wish to be popular again, and is falling into the trap of saying 'people just listen to their iPods on shuffle, so there's no need to make a structured album' and 'groups like Lady Gaga are huge these days, which rely on rhythm rather than guitar riffs and solos, etc...', so that's the approach that we need to try (these are paraphrases, but are admissions that the band made on numerous occasions). There are actually some good songs on it. Get Started is a decent rocker to open up, even if the lyrics are a bit lame, Around the World is actually a sweet ballad that reflects the Beatles calls of "All you need is love" that is actually quite moving, and album closers "The Lie" and "Big Noize" have that QR spirit. And the album sounds great (really nice production). But most of he rest of the songs are kinda blah (I don't claim to know the middle songs very well yet), and some of the songs go back into the Geoff-trap of drooling over his wife...which is just awkward. Nothing wrong with being turned on by your wife...but man, keep it out of the lyrics, dude. Yeesh. I break this disc out every now and then, but its a case of tune in to the good stuff, tune out during most of it.
They're already working on their new one (prolific!), so hopefully Wilton has his way and they put guitar melodies and riffs back in...it doesn't have to be metal, just more inspired and less lame lyrics! There's so much fucked in the world now, socially and politically, that this should be QRs time to shine!!!
So yeah, as a rock fan I don't mind Q2K, MC2 is pretty wicked for about half of it, and I actually dig American Soldier a lot. Maybe also because I come from a family with lots of military service, my wife is in the military, I have a strong interest in military history, and have long considered joining (I know, that clashes hard with libertarian views...what can I say), but I don't think so...it's just a really cool album.
Anyway, thanks for reading my thoughts! Love QR.
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