Queensryche

The divorce has been ugly. And frankly, the fans that were so blindly lobbying on behalf of this new incarnation were so obnoxious and so arrogant that I was a little turned off by the whole project. It was months before my curiosity got the best of me and I finally listened to it. Full disclosure: I was a HUGE fan from the Warning through Empire. Anyone that knows me, knows that Operation Mindcrime is my favorite album of all time, but it's been twenty years since this band made an album that had more than two songs that caught my interest. The fall from grace has been far and completely disenfranchising and now the split has lead to a lot of finger-pointing. This faction claims that Tate was a tyrant who dictated the musical direction of the band and refused to make music similar to the style that made them famous in the 80s and early 90s. Tate claims that he was only one-fifth of the band and didn't have the power to do that on his own and that his increase in writing was a result of the band's lack of interest in the writing process. Without being there, it would be hard to know who is telling the truth, but it's hard to believe Tate's version when you put these two new Queensryche albums side by side. Tate's version is going down the same self destructive course that Queensryche has been on for the last two decades, and this one has a modern day Warning sound. I had seen some of the live YouTube videos of the LaTorre fronted Queensryche playing the old songs and it was fun, but it's one thing to match a vocal style in a song that you've already heard and something else entirely to re-create that vocal delivery on new original songs … But damn if he didn't do it. A casual listener would be hard-pressed to tell that this was not Geoff Tate singing these songs. He EARNED his place in this band. And whether Tate would admit it or not, that has GOT to be disturbing to hear his voice, his phrasing, his once so-unique style, SO completely replaced. That being said, this album is pretty good, but it's not perfect as some are claiming. To be sure, it is WAY better than everything else Queensryche released in the last 20 years, but let's be honest, that wouldn't take much. There are a few noisy spots on here and nothing that ever rivals Mindcrime, but they are definitely back on the right track with some good songs. I think my favorites are In This Light and Open Road, but I like almost all of it and it's been a long time since I could say that about a Queensryche release. I will always respect Geoff Tate and what he did on those first four albums, but THIS is Queensryche. And for the first time in a long time, I can't wait to hear what they do next. Welcome home boys.-- Scott