Deadline
2013
1. Cold
2. Dare
3. Give It To You
4. Slave
5. in The Hands Of God
6. Running Backwards
7. Life Without You
8. Everything
9. Fallen
10. The Weight Of The World
I'm gonna come right out and say I went into listening to this album with basically no hope for anything good. There's no use in denying it. I absolutely hate Geoff Tate and every time he opens his mouth for an interview I wish I was there to punch him in the face. If there has ever been a frontman who was a cancer to a band than it is this guy. From the classic "I'm really not a metal guy, I like jazz." quotes to the direction he led the band and the way he treated the other members to cabaret shows this guy is a disease. I really try my best to give every album it's fair listen(s) and I did that here, but it would be a lie to say I didn't go into this expecting crap. Perhaps the only reason I listened to Frequency Unknown is because of all the drama and hilarity surrounding the two camps using the Queensryche name. That has been some quality entertainment and I had to hear the end result from Geoff. Note that I will not be basing this review on the bonus tracks that are redos of old material. Frankly, I don't think an album should be weighed on any past glories.
I guess the first thing that struck me as soon as the music started was the terrible sound. The mix on this just sounds muffled and amateur. I know there are plans to remix this and re-release this, which was demanded by fans in hilarious fashion, but for now I'm going off of what I hear and it sounds pretty bad. Then again as I got deeper into the album I really didn't see what good polishing a turd would do anyways.
Musically, this pretty much reminds me of Geoff Tate's solo stuff because that is what it is. This is his vision of the band and most Queensryche fans know what that means... Alternative rock terribleness. On Frequency Unknown any metal influence the other band members kept in the band despite the douche in chief is pretty much gone and replaced by hired gun yes men. While this influence being gone from the rest of Queensryche is certainly a good thing, letting this dog off it's leash completely has lead to this musical horror that is even worse than even I could have expected. This seriously might even be bad in terms of his solo offerings though at that point it's like comparing diarrhea from different spoiled foods. If you can listen to the alternative/funk nonsense in Dare and not vomit than you sir are a stronger man than I. By the time I hit this, the second track, I was questioning why I do things like this to myself. And it only gets worse.
You'd think since Geoff is basically just trying to make money off the Queensryche name at this point this would at least keep a pretense of metal, but then again I'm not sure Geoff has ever really known anything about metal. I also don't think Tate would ever back off his ego enough to realize the direction he was taking Queensryche in was not working with the fans who actually buy/have bought his music. I guess Slave is about what someone like Mr. Leather-Vest-Hipster thinks metal is though. It's sorta heavy I guess in a modern and discordant way, but really it resembles awful grunge more than anything metal. That's basically what this is... someone who's a self professed metal outsider trying to figure out what metal is. And for help the guy has writing input from Jason Slater, a producer and musician involved with such awesome music as Snake River Conspiracy, Earshot, and Slaves On Dope. He did produce some of the Queensryche stuff as well, but that just goes further to show Geoff Tate left the band and took everything terrible associated with later Queensryche with him. Let me not forget to mention that Lukas Rossi, the guy who won the reality tv nonsense of Rockstar Supernova, also contributed to the songwriting. Are you scared yet? You should be.
I feel like I've already spent more time writing about this album than it deserves so I'm not going to indulge in total track by track or any of that. I'll basically just say that it gets no better. Geoff Tate mewls lifelessly over poorly constructed, poorly mixed, mid to low tempo, alt rock garbage for what seems like forever and then you get some bonus tracks to remind you of what Queensryche really is/was. Don't expect any big epic screams, emotional power, or anything of that sort and certainly don't think for a second you're going to get the progressive metal of Queensryche's glory days. This album can only be loosely connected to metal in the way that Geoff once fronted a big name metal band. He has never been the soul of Queensryche though. Really his only use to Queesryche was his voice and that has faded with time. All you're left with here is the terrible influence Geoff had on Queensryche unfiltered.
There really is no reason to waste your time with this barring curiosity Remember though that curiosity killed the cat and killing a cat is exactly what this album sounds like. I had to suffer through this, but maybe you can still be saved. An F U right back at ya Geoff Tate. I know I've probably spent a bunch of this review just ripping into Geoff Tate but he deserves it. He deserves it ever so much.
Highlights: Just no
Rating - 0/5
2. Dare
3. Give It To You
4. Slave
5. in The Hands Of God
6. Running Backwards
7. Life Without You
8. Everything
9. Fallen
10. The Weight Of The World
I'm gonna come right out and say I went into listening to this album with basically no hope for anything good. There's no use in denying it. I absolutely hate Geoff Tate and every time he opens his mouth for an interview I wish I was there to punch him in the face. If there has ever been a frontman who was a cancer to a band than it is this guy. From the classic "I'm really not a metal guy, I like jazz." quotes to the direction he led the band and the way he treated the other members to cabaret shows this guy is a disease. I really try my best to give every album it's fair listen(s) and I did that here, but it would be a lie to say I didn't go into this expecting crap. Perhaps the only reason I listened to Frequency Unknown is because of all the drama and hilarity surrounding the two camps using the Queensryche name. That has been some quality entertainment and I had to hear the end result from Geoff. Note that I will not be basing this review on the bonus tracks that are redos of old material. Frankly, I don't think an album should be weighed on any past glories.
I guess the first thing that struck me as soon as the music started was the terrible sound. The mix on this just sounds muffled and amateur. I know there are plans to remix this and re-release this, which was demanded by fans in hilarious fashion, but for now I'm going off of what I hear and it sounds pretty bad. Then again as I got deeper into the album I really didn't see what good polishing a turd would do anyways.
Musically, this pretty much reminds me of Geoff Tate's solo stuff because that is what it is. This is his vision of the band and most Queensryche fans know what that means... Alternative rock terribleness. On Frequency Unknown any metal influence the other band members kept in the band despite the douche in chief is pretty much gone and replaced by hired gun yes men. While this influence being gone from the rest of Queensryche is certainly a good thing, letting this dog off it's leash completely has lead to this musical horror that is even worse than even I could have expected. This seriously might even be bad in terms of his solo offerings though at that point it's like comparing diarrhea from different spoiled foods. If you can listen to the alternative/funk nonsense in Dare and not vomit than you sir are a stronger man than I. By the time I hit this, the second track, I was questioning why I do things like this to myself. And it only gets worse.
You'd think since Geoff is basically just trying to make money off the Queensryche name at this point this would at least keep a pretense of metal, but then again I'm not sure Geoff has ever really known anything about metal. I also don't think Tate would ever back off his ego enough to realize the direction he was taking Queensryche in was not working with the fans who actually buy/have bought his music. I guess Slave is about what someone like Mr. Leather-Vest-Hipster thinks metal is though. It's sorta heavy I guess in a modern and discordant way, but really it resembles awful grunge more than anything metal. That's basically what this is... someone who's a self professed metal outsider trying to figure out what metal is. And for help the guy has writing input from Jason Slater, a producer and musician involved with such awesome music as Snake River Conspiracy, Earshot, and Slaves On Dope. He did produce some of the Queensryche stuff as well, but that just goes further to show Geoff Tate left the band and took everything terrible associated with later Queensryche with him. Let me not forget to mention that Lukas Rossi, the guy who won the reality tv nonsense of Rockstar Supernova, also contributed to the songwriting. Are you scared yet? You should be.
I feel like I've already spent more time writing about this album than it deserves so I'm not going to indulge in total track by track or any of that. I'll basically just say that it gets no better. Geoff Tate mewls lifelessly over poorly constructed, poorly mixed, mid to low tempo, alt rock garbage for what seems like forever and then you get some bonus tracks to remind you of what Queensryche really is/was. Don't expect any big epic screams, emotional power, or anything of that sort and certainly don't think for a second you're going to get the progressive metal of Queensryche's glory days. This album can only be loosely connected to metal in the way that Geoff once fronted a big name metal band. He has never been the soul of Queensryche though. Really his only use to Queesryche was his voice and that has faded with time. All you're left with here is the terrible influence Geoff had on Queensryche unfiltered.
There really is no reason to waste your time with this barring curiosity Remember though that curiosity killed the cat and killing a cat is exactly what this album sounds like. I had to suffer through this, but maybe you can still be saved. An F U right back at ya Geoff Tate. I know I've probably spent a bunch of this review just ripping into Geoff Tate but he deserves it. He deserves it ever so much.
Highlights: Just no
Rating - 0/5
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