MUSIC REVIEW: Power of Metal [compilation]

"Awesome live Conception tracks."

I am a sick, sick Conception fan, evidenced by the fact that I paid an insane amount of money just to get the five Conception songs on this disc. Now this release is totally obscure and out of print. But if you can get lucky enough to find it, AND you are a mad Conception fiend, you need it. Hearing Conception live just affirms their stature as one of my favorite bands. Vocalist Khan doesn't seem like the kind of guy who'd be powerful in the live forum, but he rocks. All of these overt metal tracks are from the band's CD, Parallel Minds, which rocks, although the studio versions seem tepid in comparison to the awesome live ones. I know nothing about the other bands, so I won't comment, but I don't listen to them anyway. If you're a sick, twisted Conception fan like myself, get this. I will use the argument of intimidation: If you don't this, you aren't a *real* Conception fan (hehe).

MUSIC REVIEW: Queensryche - Empire

"Empire is commercial, and darn good too."

Many of the Queensryche fans who loved the band for their heavy metal days despise this album, but that doesn't change the fact that one of the most listenable rock albums of the 90s. Yes, Queensryche went commercial, but they maintained their high standard of excellence that made them so distinguished when they were a brash heavy metal band. Other metal bands went commercial, and they turned into crap. Queensryche remained excellent... at least at first. Geoff Tate sings in lower ranges this time around (making the band's music more accessible to those outside of the heavy metal crowd), and his emotional clarity and skill that made him one of the best metal singers carries over and makes him one of the best rock vocalists. The band shows tremendous versatility in crossing over to the mainstream. Chris DeGarmo, the group's principal writer, has a keen sense of balancing commercial appeal with quality. It really shows here.

"Anybody Listening?" is my favorite song here. Slow and heavy, it is an introspective examination of the loneliness and sadness that accompanies life in the spotlight. It ranks "up there" with my other favorite 'Ryche songs, "Roads to Madness" and "Eyes of a Stranger." "Silent Lucidity" (about dream control, of all things) is the group's best-known song, and it resonates emotion with simple yet exquisite musicianship, validating the fact that a band smacked into the "heavy metal" genre can still write beautiful music. In fact, all the songs here evince astute emotional expression. Although I've never liked "One and Only" due to cheese-factor, the rest of this album is truly some of the best hard rock you'll ever hear.

MUSIC REVIEW: Conception - Parallel Minds

"Great, but less ingenious than other Conception albums."

I didn't discover Conception until recently, and it was quite a discovery. The Last Sunset, Conception's impressive debut, featured many typical characteristics of a band's first record. While it shows a bit of youthful naiveté and enthusiasm, sometimes an imbalance between ambition and songwriting, but nonetheless, it is an excellent, distinctive release. Parallel Minds, Conception's second release, shows the band's budding maturity that would come to full bloom on the subsequent In Your Multitude and especially Flow.

Parallel Minds' rhythms are fairly straightforward, and song diversity is a slight problem, but it's still a great metal album. It has a solid punch of insatiable riffing, fiery tempos, and impassioned vocals (Roy Khan is one of the best voices in metal, in my opinion). The progressive tendencies demonstrated in the debut are more interesting this time around, especially in the 9-minute piece "Soliloquy," which offers a ferocious mix of ardent guitars, piano, and a mix of loud and quiet passages. Other than the largely acoustic ballad "Silent Crying," most of the tracks are carnivorous metal cuts. Check out the menacing riffs of "Wolf's Lair," the chugging viciousness of "Roll the Fire," or the crushing title track. You'll see what I mean.

I believe all Conception albums are now out of print. Even if it takes a bit more work than normal, I recommend hunting down all four of their releases.