Century Media
2013
1. X2
2. Where Dreams Go To Die
3. Spore
4. In This Light
5. Redemption
6. Vindication
7. Midnight Lullaby
8. A World Without
9. Don't Look Back
10. Fallout
11. Open Road
In the world of music this album is sort of a bizarre concept for a band. Most bands have the opportunity to become relevant again when they regain a classic frontman, not fire his ass. This is kind of like the bizarro version of Bruce Dickinson coming back to Iron Maiden. I'm not sure I've ever seen a situation quite like this band's, but like a lot of metal fans I couldn't help rooting for them. It was a ballsy move kicking Tate to the curb, and the guy is such a huge douche, how could you not cheer them on? Not to mention I heard what Geoff Tate's version of Queensryche had to offer and it was made entirely clear his musical ideas for Queensryche are terrible and nowhere near what the fans want.
After listening to this album I get the impression most of the members of Queensryche knew what the fans wanted. They knew that their fans wanted passionate, heavy music and they knew that what fans didn't want was pretentiousness and cabaret shows. This is an album that absolutely deserves to be self titled because it is Queensryche rediscovering themselves and being reborn.
I'm not sure the band could have picked a better replacement for Tate than Todd La Torre. The guy sounds like a young Tate vocally, but one who loves Queensryche's metal music and has the passion to make it. This is just a complete rebirth and the band sounds young and hungry. This is heavy and this is metal. In losing Tate the band has lost nothing and gained everything. The vocals are a perfect fit for early Queensryche and every bit as good as Tate ever was and the music has improved immensely. Gone are the flavors of alt rock and unnecessary attempts at artsy nonsense. This just sounds more genuine and heavy than the band has been since Empire at minimum. Honestly, I think this is probably the best thing the band has done since Mindcrime. The vocal power here and heaviness is enough to convince even the biggest Tate fan doubter if they're willing to give it half a chance in my opinion. The band just sounds like they love metal again. Maybe they always did, but Tate sure wasn't interested.
Awesome. Just awesome. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not the biggest Queensryche fan ever. They've never been among my favorite bands, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy some of their stuff. I just kinda came into the band after they'd tanked and could hear in retrospect each slow step away from the more traditional metal they started as. I'm a 30 year old guy, born in 1982. I wasn't around/old enough to know the band when they had fire and heaviness to be really excited about it. I never got to experience that. I liked Operation Mindcrime 2 when that came out and the band actively tried to be metal again, but it didn't last. This though is about a band really refinding themselves and most of all it's a passionate metal album. This S/T album is not trying to be progressive first, but simply a heavy metal album with powerful, soaring vocals. Good going guys and welcome to the fold Todd La Torre. Even if by some chance this band doesn't legally win the Queensryche name, they are the band who gets it.
Highlights: Where Dreams Go To Die, Spore, A World Without, Fallout
Rating - 4.0/5
2. Where Dreams Go To Die
3. Spore
4. In This Light
5. Redemption
6. Vindication
7. Midnight Lullaby
8. A World Without
9. Don't Look Back
10. Fallout
11. Open Road
In the world of music this album is sort of a bizarre concept for a band. Most bands have the opportunity to become relevant again when they regain a classic frontman, not fire his ass. This is kind of like the bizarro version of Bruce Dickinson coming back to Iron Maiden. I'm not sure I've ever seen a situation quite like this band's, but like a lot of metal fans I couldn't help rooting for them. It was a ballsy move kicking Tate to the curb, and the guy is such a huge douche, how could you not cheer them on? Not to mention I heard what Geoff Tate's version of Queensryche had to offer and it was made entirely clear his musical ideas for Queensryche are terrible and nowhere near what the fans want.
After listening to this album I get the impression most of the members of Queensryche knew what the fans wanted. They knew that their fans wanted passionate, heavy music and they knew that what fans didn't want was pretentiousness and cabaret shows. This is an album that absolutely deserves to be self titled because it is Queensryche rediscovering themselves and being reborn.
I'm not sure the band could have picked a better replacement for Tate than Todd La Torre. The guy sounds like a young Tate vocally, but one who loves Queensryche's metal music and has the passion to make it. This is just a complete rebirth and the band sounds young and hungry. This is heavy and this is metal. In losing Tate the band has lost nothing and gained everything. The vocals are a perfect fit for early Queensryche and every bit as good as Tate ever was and the music has improved immensely. Gone are the flavors of alt rock and unnecessary attempts at artsy nonsense. This just sounds more genuine and heavy than the band has been since Empire at minimum. Honestly, I think this is probably the best thing the band has done since Mindcrime. The vocal power here and heaviness is enough to convince even the biggest Tate fan doubter if they're willing to give it half a chance in my opinion. The band just sounds like they love metal again. Maybe they always did, but Tate sure wasn't interested.
Awesome. Just awesome. Anyone who knows me knows that I'm not the biggest Queensryche fan ever. They've never been among my favorite bands, but that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy some of their stuff. I just kinda came into the band after they'd tanked and could hear in retrospect each slow step away from the more traditional metal they started as. I'm a 30 year old guy, born in 1982. I wasn't around/old enough to know the band when they had fire and heaviness to be really excited about it. I never got to experience that. I liked Operation Mindcrime 2 when that came out and the band actively tried to be metal again, but it didn't last. This though is about a band really refinding themselves and most of all it's a passionate metal album. This S/T album is not trying to be progressive first, but simply a heavy metal album with powerful, soaring vocals. Good going guys and welcome to the fold Todd La Torre. Even if by some chance this band doesn't legally win the Queensryche name, they are the band who gets it.
Highlights: Where Dreams Go To Die, Spore, A World Without, Fallout
Rating - 4.0/5
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