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Chronicling the History of Queensryche's Original Lineup
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Last Updated: July 8, 2020
July 18, 2020
Revisiting Queensryche's Road to the Promised Land Tour
It's hard to believe that a quarter-century has passed since I first saw Queensryche in concert. It was July 18, 1995, at the Jones Beach Amphitheater, in Wantagh, N.Y., on the Road to the Promised Land Tour. It was like Christmas Day for this kid from Long Island. I had been a diehard Queensryche fan for seven or eight years, and after all that time, I finally had the opportunity to see my favorite band live—and they didn't disappoint.
From the opening cries in "9:28 a.m." to the haunting non-album rendition of the closing song, "Someone Else?" the performance was grandiose in every regard, as Queensryche combined elements of heavy metal, progressive rock, and theater into a spectacle few bands of the day would dare attempt. The show was comprised of tracks from the band's five full-length studio albums, set to an overarching theme of self-reflection. In short, the two-hour journey to Queensryche's promised land was complete sensory overload...
June 4, 2020
Queensryche Sings the Queen City Blues [Album Review]
Like many Queensryche fans, particularly us "old schoolers" from the 1980s and early 1990s, I'm an avid collector of the original lineup's live shows. Because the quality and recording sources of these bootlegs vary greatly, however, I haven't been inspired to write reviews of any new ones that have surfaced over the last few years. Until now, that is.
Queensryche's performance at the Cincinnati Gardens, in Cincinnati, Ohio, on November 13, 1991, has been issued by Zodiac 360 on silver CD. Simply titled Operation: LIVEcrime November 1991 DAT Master, I can't validate the claim of it being sourced straight from the show's official digital audio tape recording, but I can say the music and vocals sound crystal clear and the release is wonderful snapshot of the last few months of the band's legendary Building Empires world tour...
May 11, 2020
MindMaze Adds Some Signature Twists to Queensryche's 'Roads to Madness'
When's the last time you heard a band cover "Roads to Madness" by Queensryche? If you can't recall, don't worry—I couldn't either. Let's face it, most groups aren't likely to spend the time learning a nine-minute opus, much less put their own spin on it and record it for posterity.
But that's just what MindMaze have done, crafting a version of "Roads to Madness" that strikes a perfect balance between being faithful to Queensryche's original arrangement, but adding enough unique flourishes to make it distinctly their own...
April 2, 2020
Queensryche's Empire Demos Give Fascinating Listen into the Album's Development
Before file-sharing became the norm, bands that came up in the 1970s, 1980s, and early 1990s typically had cassette tapes of the songs they were writing in various stages of completion. Queensryche was certainly no exception and leaked demo tracks of their tunes have been circulating among collectors for years.
One of the most captivating sets of these demos is from Empire. With the album celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, AnybodyListening.net takes a listen back to Empire's "work in progress" recordings and how they differ from the album versions...
March 26, 2020
The Story of 'Justified,' the Swan Song(?) of Queensryche's Original Lineup
When Capitol Records released Sign of the Times: The Best of Queensryche in 2007, the crown jewel of the multi-disc career retrospective set (at least for this writer) was "Justified," a song written by former guitarist Chris DeGarmo. The track served as the set's promotional single and was touted as a new recording by the band.
The description wasn't entirely accurate, however, as "Justified" likely goes back a few years to the Tribe sessions. For those of you unfamiliar with the song, this blog will discuss its origin and take a closer look at the tune that may ultimately close the book on the catalog of Queensryche's original lineup...