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Apr. 12th, 2006
Queensryche?
Apr. 12th, 2006 06:51 pmOkay, so my last post gave me a wake-up call that more people on my friends list like my style of music than I thought. So with that in mind... anybody picked up or plan on picking up Queensryche's "Operation: Mindcrime II?"
I didn't realize it was finally out. And when they played a song from it at last year's concert, I was rather stoked but... the reviews on Amazon are overwhelmingly negative, and they're saying the same things which I have thought about every Queensryche album since "Promised Land": dull, unmemorable songs which don't go anywhere and never really seem to get going.
I don't know what happened to Queensryche, I honestly don't. People blame it on Chris DeGarmo leaving, but they were tanking long before he left. First of all, I've said it before but I'd like to say it here for posterity. I have NEVER forgiven Queensryche for recording "Empire." Never. And I never will. The original "Mindcrime" is one of the best metal albums ever recorded. This is an inarguable fact. Fire burns, water is wet, and "Mindcrime" is one of the best metal albums ever. Then they release "Empire" and promptly turn into the Phil Collins of metal. In fact, on "Empire" there is a track called "Della Brown" about homeless people. That same year, Phil Collins released a song about homeless people called "Another Day In Paradise" and it is HEAVIER than Queensryche's offering on the topic.
I'm sorry Queensryche. You just can't expect people who've spent their adolesences in their bedrooms shouting the phrases "REVOLUTION CALLING!" and "I DON'T BELIEVE IN LOVE!" along with your music to understand when you come out softly warbling "Jet City woooooooomaaaaaannn...." Yes, "Empire" did have some good songs. The title track was good, but it was a leftover "Mindcrime" song. "Another Rainy Night (Without You)" was a good hard rock song despite the title. But the rest... nada. And I'm sorry, but no one who's ever heard "The Lady Wore Black" could EVER recognize the vaunted and exalted "Silent Lucidity" for anything other than the second-rate power ballad that it was.
I wanted to keep believing in Queensryche. I kept buying their albums after "Empire" even though they were unlistenable. What really pisses me off is that I know they can do better. They proved it when I saw them live last year. But if "Mindcrime II" turns out to be another "Hear In the Now Frontier" I might just enter a schizoid fantasy world in which the band completely ceased to exist after 1988.
BTW, seeing V For Vendetta has REALLY put me in the mood for the original "Mindcrime." I might just have to give it a whirl tonight.
I didn't realize it was finally out. And when they played a song from it at last year's concert, I was rather stoked but... the reviews on Amazon are overwhelmingly negative, and they're saying the same things which I have thought about every Queensryche album since "Promised Land": dull, unmemorable songs which don't go anywhere and never really seem to get going.
I don't know what happened to Queensryche, I honestly don't. People blame it on Chris DeGarmo leaving, but they were tanking long before he left. First of all, I've said it before but I'd like to say it here for posterity. I have NEVER forgiven Queensryche for recording "Empire." Never. And I never will. The original "Mindcrime" is one of the best metal albums ever recorded. This is an inarguable fact. Fire burns, water is wet, and "Mindcrime" is one of the best metal albums ever. Then they release "Empire" and promptly turn into the Phil Collins of metal. In fact, on "Empire" there is a track called "Della Brown" about homeless people. That same year, Phil Collins released a song about homeless people called "Another Day In Paradise" and it is HEAVIER than Queensryche's offering on the topic.
I'm sorry Queensryche. You just can't expect people who've spent their adolesences in their bedrooms shouting the phrases "REVOLUTION CALLING!" and "I DON'T BELIEVE IN LOVE!" along with your music to understand when you come out softly warbling "Jet City woooooooomaaaaaannn...." Yes, "Empire" did have some good songs. The title track was good, but it was a leftover "Mindcrime" song. "Another Rainy Night (Without You)" was a good hard rock song despite the title. But the rest... nada. And I'm sorry, but no one who's ever heard "The Lady Wore Black" could EVER recognize the vaunted and exalted "Silent Lucidity" for anything other than the second-rate power ballad that it was.
I wanted to keep believing in Queensryche. I kept buying their albums after "Empire" even though they were unlistenable. What really pisses me off is that I know they can do better. They proved it when I saw them live last year. But if "Mindcrime II" turns out to be another "Hear In the Now Frontier" I might just enter a schizoid fantasy world in which the band completely ceased to exist after 1988.
BTW, seeing V For Vendetta has REALLY put me in the mood for the original "Mindcrime." I might just have to give it a whirl tonight.