Rhino
2006
1. Freiheit Ouvertüre
2. Convict (Interlude)
3. I'm American
4. One Foot in Hell
5. Hostage
6. The Hands
7. Speed of Light
8. Signs Say Go
9. Re-Arrange You
10. The Chase
11. A Murderer?
12. Circles
13. If I Could Change It All
14. An Intentional Confrontation
15. A Junkie's Blues
16. Fear City Slide
17. All the Promises
Anyone who's familiar with me knows that I think the first Mindcrime was overrated to the nth degree, but for those who don't, there it is. I've never gotten the hype that surrounded the last album so I wasn't nearly as moved by the name of the album, in either direction, as some. For me, the band's earlier releases are far more metal and interesting, with the debut EP being their best work.
That aside, pretty much all of us realize and acknowledge how Queensryche have 'progressively' moved away from metal and that has left a lot of fans cold. This album bares the title of a time when Queensryche were considered a benchmark for progressive METAL. So how does this one live up you ask?
The album starts off a little rocky in my opinion with I'm American which sounds lyrically, vocally, and in title, like a Rage Against The Machine song. It features fast talking and some rather modern sounding music that doesn't appeal to me at all. From there it gets a little better with the hard rock oriented One Foot In Hell and the next few tracks which are more atmospheric. They wouldn't be wholey out of place on newer Queensryche in style, but The Hands is a rare QR song that I can honestly say is pretty killer. There are some Mindcrime reminders in sound even if it is fairly mellow and atmospheric.
The moment when everything changes is about mid-album with the track Signs Say Go which starts off with a riff that sounds more metal than they have since the first Mindcrime. From there on, but particularly through the song, A Murder?, the band really revisits it's metal roots with some heavy riffing worthy of their early material. This middle peak of the album should please fans who have become disillusioned with the band, at the very least I would say. Also, while the band heavily overstated and promoted Dio's involvement, the song The Chase is a very metal highlight and the duet between Tate and Dio comes off extremely well. This is the only song that features Dio doing his part as Dr. X. After that middle section of heaviness it pretty well settles into a blend of atmosphere and some harder riffs intermixed.
Is this one a complete return to the way they were and will it live up to the first in the eyes of fans? No I wouldn't say so. But this album is a certain improvement and manages to make the band sound more metal than they have in years. The newer Queensryche is still there, but it's blended with the old in a way that will please fans who don't get their hopes up unrealistically high.
Highlights: The Hands, Re-Arrange You, The Chase
Rating - 3.0/5
2. Convict (Interlude)
3. I'm American
4. One Foot in Hell
5. Hostage
6. The Hands
7. Speed of Light
8. Signs Say Go
9. Re-Arrange You
10. The Chase
11. A Murderer?
12. Circles
13. If I Could Change It All
14. An Intentional Confrontation
15. A Junkie's Blues
16. Fear City Slide
17. All the Promises
Anyone who's familiar with me knows that I think the first Mindcrime was overrated to the nth degree, but for those who don't, there it is. I've never gotten the hype that surrounded the last album so I wasn't nearly as moved by the name of the album, in either direction, as some. For me, the band's earlier releases are far more metal and interesting, with the debut EP being their best work.
That aside, pretty much all of us realize and acknowledge how Queensryche have 'progressively' moved away from metal and that has left a lot of fans cold. This album bares the title of a time when Queensryche were considered a benchmark for progressive METAL. So how does this one live up you ask?
The album starts off a little rocky in my opinion with I'm American which sounds lyrically, vocally, and in title, like a Rage Against The Machine song. It features fast talking and some rather modern sounding music that doesn't appeal to me at all. From there it gets a little better with the hard rock oriented One Foot In Hell and the next few tracks which are more atmospheric. They wouldn't be wholey out of place on newer Queensryche in style, but The Hands is a rare QR song that I can honestly say is pretty killer. There are some Mindcrime reminders in sound even if it is fairly mellow and atmospheric.
The moment when everything changes is about mid-album with the track Signs Say Go which starts off with a riff that sounds more metal than they have since the first Mindcrime. From there on, but particularly through the song, A Murder?, the band really revisits it's metal roots with some heavy riffing worthy of their early material. This middle peak of the album should please fans who have become disillusioned with the band, at the very least I would say. Also, while the band heavily overstated and promoted Dio's involvement, the song The Chase is a very metal highlight and the duet between Tate and Dio comes off extremely well. This is the only song that features Dio doing his part as Dr. X. After that middle section of heaviness it pretty well settles into a blend of atmosphere and some harder riffs intermixed.
Is this one a complete return to the way they were and will it live up to the first in the eyes of fans? No I wouldn't say so. But this album is a certain improvement and manages to make the band sound more metal than they have in years. The newer Queensryche is still there, but it's blended with the old in a way that will please fans who don't get their hopes up unrealistically high.
Highlights: The Hands, Re-Arrange You, The Chase
Rating - 3.0/5
No comments:
Post a Comment