ALBUM OF THE WEEK # 128 QUEENSRYCHE - EMPIRE (1990)

[RJhog (Admin)]

 

"All eyes were staring you floated through the room/armed with

your razor smile cutting to the bone"

 

Artist: Queensryche

Genre: Progressive Heavy Metal

Country Of Origin: United States

Rock And Roll Hall Of Fame Member: No

Album: Empire

Released: August 20, 1990

Producer: Peter Collins

Singles: Jet City Woman/Another Rainy Night (Without You)/Silent Lucidity/Empire/Best I Can/Anybody Listening?

Song Of The Week: Hand On Heart

RIAA Certification: Triple Platinum

Album Cover: 8/10

 

I've been doing this AOTW for over 2 years now and I noticed I hadn't featured Queensryche.  You remember them, they used to be killer.  Despite the mess that they are right now, this album is my favorite from them.  The album hit the Top 10 (number 7) in the U.S. with the single Silent Lucidity also reaching Top 10 status (number 9).  The album has been certified Triple Platinum and has now been re-released twice.  The re-issue from 2003 contained 3 bonus tracks, while the 20th Anniversary release in 2010 contained the same 2003 14 track remaster along with a 10 track bonus disc of live material.

 

I had lost this disc for a while.  I don't know where, but a few weeks ago I picked up the 2003 remaster at Best Buy.  This album is fantastic from top to bottom.  Not a bad song in the bunch.  It's full of hooks and melodies and some really good guitar work.  As good as the guitar playing is on this, what stands out even more to me are the bass playing and the drumming.  How come nobody ever brings those two things up when talking about this album?  And, the bonus is that at the time this album was released, Geoff Tate still actually sang his lyrics.  And I never realized that so many singles were released.  I guess it was Def Leppard syndrome.

 

I had a hard time picking the Song Of The Week 'cause there are so many dynamic songs here, but I finally decided on a tremendously underrated tune from the band in Hand On Heart.  And one other thing.  If a band is gonna remaster and re-release an album, I believe this is the way to do it (the 2003 remaster that is).  The three bonus tracks are actually quite good.  They aren't live tracks or demos.  They are fully studio recorded b-sides or singles from a movie soundtrack that weren't on a proper Queensryche album.  

 

What do you think of Empire?

 

1. Best I Can

2. The Thin Line

3. Jet City Woman

4. Della Brown

5. Another Rainy Night (Without You)

6. Empire

7. Resistance

8. Silent Lucidity

9. Hand On Heart

10. One And Only

11. Anybody Listening?

 

 

[Niels (Mod)]

After "Rage" and "Mindcrime" I had hoped, that this album would be EVEN better, or at least as good as those two, and the first minute or so of the album, sounded like it was going to be, but then it went a bit wrong. The only track on this album, that is as good as the best stuff from "Rage" and "Mindcrime", is the title-track. Kind of weird, that this album was going to be the populare one, at least here in Denmark, probably because of "Silent Lucidity". It might just be the third best Queensrÿche-album ever, but where "Rage" and "Mindcrime" are two "6 out of 6"-albums, I would only give this one 4.

[Scott]

I'm pretty much an Operation Mindcrime fan.  I bought Warning on vinyl when it came because of the title track but never really got the rest of the album so I totally missed Rage but it gets load sof favorable comments so Im gonna check it out soon.

As for Empire I immediately bought upon its release because of Mindcrime, and I immediately loved it.  But it didnt take long to set it aside and forget about it either.  Not sure why, overplayed?  Or just not as good as Mindcrime.  Both are true for me.  So to this day my Queensryche love starts and stops at Operation Mindcrime (although I will admit to owning Mindcrime II and liking it also) but thats it.

So hearing this again was a cool renaissance of sorts, I liked it as it sounded fresh (except for the still overplayed Silent Lucidity) but I cant shake the notion that this fresh listen was likely enough to hold me over for another 20-something years.