Official Queensryche thread: Kickstart the next album

[bosk1]

You could argue that they haven't done enough publicity but IMO they haven't been inactive at all.   They're gigging all through April (incl.MOR Cruise) and have been providing at least weekly studio updates/outtakes on the new album to their Pledgers.  Two Facebook updates in the last 24 hrs.  There's a lot worse out there.

Okay, fair enough.  But publicity is a HUGE part of the equation.  If enough people don't know what a band is doing, it doesn't really matter what the band is doing.  And notwithstanding the gigs in April and the MOR cruises (they did last year as well), there really hasn't been the type of constant, sustained touring that they need to get the word out that they are a viable entity.  And that's not even mentioning that, after Tateryche's Dedicated Chaos in 2011, the existing band has put out the sum total of half an album's worth of material since that time.

[bl5150]

I'm prepared to cut them a bit more slack ..........given all the legal wranglings and the stress involved in all that - to have done the 2011 album , the Dedicated To Cabaret tour/joke , break up in 2012 ,get out their admittedly short and rushed album in 2013 and be on track for what they must view as their most important album in ages in 2015  ......to me that's not too bad an effort.    I think they'll take a bit more time with this one to try and make sure it's what the fans expect.

I don't have a feel for the publicity side of things as we certainly don't get any in Australia but being a long time fan (and I don't see them getting too many new ones) I just check their Facebook page where they are quite active.  Any extra publicity outside of touring and social media may not deliver great bang for buck I'd have thought.

[bosk1]

I hear you, and you are right to an extent.  But I was cutting them a lot of slack for a long time, and I guess I have just moved on to "show me!" mode.  I just feel like too much time has gone by for me to just assume they will get back on track without actually seeing anything.

[TAC]

I hear you, and you are right to an extent.  But I was cutting them a lot of slack for a long time, and I guess I have just moved on to "show me!" mode.  I just feel like too much time has gone by for me to just assume they will get back on track without actually seeing anything.

I've always felt that the "band" has a lot to prove. I hold them equally responsible for their decline as I do Tate. The first album with Todd was OK, but it was short, rushed, and while in the right direction, it was no means the masterpiece that a lot of people were making it out to be. I basically liken it to a long EP introducing their new singer.

[King Postwhore]

So you fixed the word "hold" so I could not razz you eh Tim?!

[TAC]

So you fixed the word "hold" so I could not razz you eh Tim?!

I posted that from home, and while I was waiting for my son at school I re-read it and noticed the mistake. I literally thought I better fix that before King sees it!

Here's the vision that I had!

I old

You sure are! 

[Mebert78]

For fun, I just went to queensryche.com, and I realized that it forwards to Tate's new OperationMindcrime band (operationmindcrime.com).  I'm surprised the queensryche.com domain didn't go to the real QR guys. 

https://queensrycheofficial.com/

Sorry I never followed up on my comment.  I did realize they have queensrycheofficial.com, but  I'm shocked that the court settlement did not include something as simple as forwarding the queensryche.com domain to queensrycheofficial.com.  To me, that would've been one of the more obvious and prominent things I would've wanted out of the settlement if I were the QR guys.  It was the first time I typed in queensryche.com in a while and it just took me by surprise.  That's a nice win for the Tate camp, in my opinion.  He also got to keep Facebook page that has much more likes and just changed it to "Operation Mindcrime," I see. 

Listening to the self-titled release for the first time in a while.  The lackluster production quality prevented me from listening to it much in the past.  It's solid, but like TAC said it feels more like an long EP introducing TLT.  I hope they really knock it out of the park on their upcoming album. 

[King Postwhore]

So you fixed the word "hold" so I could not razz you eh Tim?!

I posted that from home, and while I was waiting for my son at school I re-read it and noticed the mistake. I literally thought I better fix that before King sees it!

Here's the vision that I had!

I old

You sure are! 

I was at work.  Closing up and thought, "Should I mock him?  Nah, I'll wait."  Then you fixed it!

[KevShmev]

I'm prepared to cut them a bit more slack ..........given all the legal wranglings and the stress involved in all that - to have done the 2011 album , the Dedicated To Cabaret tour/joke , break up in 2012 ,get out their admittedly short and rushed album in 2013 and be on track for what they must view as their most important album in ages in 2015  ......to me that's not too bad an effort.    I think they'll take a bit more time with this one to try and make sure it's what the fans expect.

I don't have a feel for the publicity side of things as we certainly don't get any in Australia but being a long time fan (and I don't see them getting too many new ones) I just check their Facebook page where they are quite active.  Any extra publicity outside of touring and social media may not deliver great bang for buck I'd have thought.

What the fans expect?  If they are worried about making sure that would they do lines up with the fans expect, then it has failure written all over it.

I just remember hearing how much Tate had stifled their creativity for years, and here we are, several years later, still wondering where it is?

Granted, I am not defending Tate, who is a Grade A A-Hole who had to go, but if the existing members really had so much bottled up inside them, where is it??

[jjrock88]

I'm cutting the band major slack with everything.  After DTC and the cabaret debacle, I lost major interest in the band and couldn't have cared less if they never released anything again.   So at this point, anything they release with Todd, that rocks hard, is pure bonus for me and icing on the cake

[Nick]

The fact that this thread has languished for so long and was bumped only, basically, because of a mistake is a good indication of this band's trajectory.  Sad to say that any bump in goodwill and popularity the band saw when they released their last album is a faded memory that has been squandered by them sitting on their hands and doing pretty much nothing.  As much as I hate to say it, it looks like Geoff was right about the band's lack of motivation and business savvy. 

For the most part I agree. And as I have said over and over, I really had hoped they wouldn't have become a nostalgia act, but at this point it seems to be the inevitable. They had all that pent up creativity, and they managed a short album that frankly wasn't even in the same discussion as the classic material. Good? Sure. Better than Dedicated to Earrape? Absolutely. But the quality (in both songwriting and engineering) was not there, and so the album served as nothing more than a stylistic change, with no indication that change would ultimately be worth something. I would have cut them some slack, if they could have followed that up with live performances that included more than what, two(?) songs from the album, or another new album that improved upon it... but neither has come. And now they really have squandered a good bit of time.

Edit: All that said, as I've said before, they still are fantastic live, and if they just continually tour cycling material from the first 5 albums I will continue to go see them. I was hoping they might resurrect as a creative force, but that definitely does not seem to be the case.

[bl5150]

I'm cutting the band major slack with everything.  After DTC and the cabaret debacle, I lost major interest in the band and couldn't have cared less if they never released anything again.   So at this point, anything they release with Todd, that rocks hard, is pure bonus for me and icing on the cake

I can relate to that although I'm hoping for a lot more

What the fans expect?  If they are worried about making sure that would they do lines up with the fans expect, then it has failure written all over it.

Right on they should try and please what's left of their old fan base and "meet expectations".  And by expectations I mean very generally something that has the same strengths as albums like Rage For Order .  Concise yet progressive , melodic yet heavy and plenty of boundary pushing. 

Queensryche are in a far weaker position than DT were when Portnoy left as they alienated their old fanbase and produced nothing to attract new ones.   DT disappointed some old fans - me included - but did a much better job of retaining a fair share and adding a younger fanbase , as is evident on DTF.

So to me Queensryche MUST produce something that meets the expectations of the diehards that remain before they can attract a decent number of new ones by word of mouth etc.......  I'm not talking about the housewives who bought Empire to hear Silent Lucidity - they're long gone.   I am talking in general terms and - perhaps I'm giving them too much credit - but I think the band have a fair idea of what's expected and I can see a plan there.

If I was in their shoes I may have done the same.   Rush out a new album that's written and recorded quickly , but is decent enough to let fans know that the band are back in terms of rocking .  If they hadn't done that then I probably would've lost interest by now.  Then work through their best ideas and try to come up with something special to follow .  I'll be the first to say the next album is shit if that's the case but I can see why they might be doing what they're doing , so we'll see.   Hopefully I'm right.

And I can see a few similarities in the way DT went about things after MP left - although clearly ADTOE is a far better effort than Queensryche S/t.

[emtee]

For the people that bought the latest QR album with Todd on vocals...how is this holding up for you guys? Are you still spinning it?

I decided not to buy it because the whole thing seemed like a rush job to get something out there. I heard lots of complaints about
the sonic quality but most people liked the songs. I guess I'm asking if you are glad you bought it or not?

I'm on the fence. Patiently waiting on the new one which I will buy for sure as long as the production is good.

Thanks.

[Mladen]

Rarely do I have an issue with the production, but this album is certainly an example of bad sound making me not want to play an album. Even though some songs on it (Redemption, Where dreams go to die, In this light) are pretty great.

[Deathless]

For the people that bought the latest QR album with Todd on vocals...how is this holding up for you guys? Are you still spinning it?

I decided not to buy it because the whole thing seemed like a rush job to get something out there. I heard lots of complaints about
the sonic quality but most people liked the songs. I guess I'm asking if you are glad you bought it or not?

I'm on the fence. Patiently waiting on the new one which I will buy for sure as long as the production is good.

Thanks.

I think the production will be much better on this one. They brought on Chris "Zeuss" Harris to produce and engineer the album. He did the Sanctuary record last year, which sounded fantastic.

Plus, the guys had a really short timeline to record the last one and it showed. This time they're releasing it at their leisure.

[bosk1]

For the people that bought the latest QR album with Todd on vocals...how is this holding up for you guys? Are you still spinning it?

I decided not to buy it because the whole thing seemed like a rush job to get something out there. I heard lots of complaints about
the sonic quality but most people liked the songs. I guess I'm asking if you are glad you bought it or not?

I'm on the fence. Patiently waiting on the new one which I will buy for sure as long as the production is good.

Thanks.

I still like it A LOT.  I pretty much feel the way I did when it came out:  Overall, good effort.  But some of the songs are just too short, and so is the album length overall, due to short songs and not enough songs.  Only 9 full songs, and the track lengths are mostly about 3:30 minutes, with one coming in at 2:46.  But that is the only criticism I have.  Really solid effort overall. 

As far as the production, yeah, it is brickwalled.  If that is a deal breaker for you, you will hate this album.  If you can look past that and deal with it, there is a lot to like about this album.  I am definitely glad I bought it.

[Zydar]

Some great songs, bad production. It makes my ears hurt after a few songs in.

[emtee]

Thanks for the replies. I think I'll wait and hope that it might get remastered some day.

[jjrock88]

I really like it and listen to it often. I have both the regular and deluxe edition. The mastering doesn't bother me at all actually. Recommended!!

[wolfking]

I think it sounds fine.  Yes, it's mastered a little loud, but I have no issue with it at all.

[Nick]

it's mastered a little loud

In the same way an air raid siren is a little loud.

[Dublagent66]

For the people that bought the latest QR album with Todd on vocals...how is this holding up for you guys? Are you still spinning it?

I decided not to buy it because the whole thing seemed like a rush job to get something out there. I heard lots of complaints about
the sonic quality but most people liked the songs. I guess I'm asking if you are glad you bought it or not?

I'm on the fence. Patiently waiting on the new one which I will buy for sure as long as the production is good.

Thanks.

I have the iTunes download version with the 2 bonus tracks, En Force and Queen of the Reich Live.  They are my favorite tracks, but the album is pretty good as rock albums go, but relatively short.  The new Queensryche will never match the original line up, but I'm cool with it.  Great things never last and must end sometime.  I have all the old classic stuff and that's good enough for me.  Listened to Promised Land earlier today.  What a treat that was.  Love it. 

[bosk1]

I have the iTunes download version with the 2 bonus tracks, En Force and Queen of the Reich Live. 

There were three, actually.  You don't have The Prophecy?

The new Queensryche will never match the original line up...

True, but IMO this album comes REALLY close. 

[TAC]

I'd take it over Promised Land, that's for sure.

[bl5150]

I'd take it over Promised Land, that's for sure.

I probably would too - although Promised LAnd has a gem on it that's one of my all time faves and ranks higher for me than anything on QR s/t (One More Time) . Other than that I rate Promised Land lower than most.

[TAC]

I'd take it over Promised Land, that's for sure.

I probably would too - although Promised LAnd has a gem on it that's one of my all time faves and ranks higher for me than anything on QR s/t (One More Time) . Other than that I rate Promised Land lower than most.

I think you and I are the only two here that think this. Personally I love Damaged, but that album is pretty terrible IMO.

I will say though, that the songs were all much better live as that tour was freaking incredible.

[jjrock88]

I love Promised Land and I think that the title track is one of the greatest songs that the band has ever released.

[bosk1]

Same here.

[jjrock88]

bosk knows his QR!

[Dublagent66]

I have the iTunes download version with the 2 bonus tracks, En Force and Queen of the Reich Live. 

There were three, actually.  You don't have The Prophecy?

Unfortunately I don't.  Maybe a later version of the download had it?  Not sure.  I have the original bonus track on CD though.   

[TAC]

bosk knows his QR!

Yeah, Quiet Riot maybe..

[bl5150]

 

[bosk1]

SLIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIICK BLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK CADILLAC! 

[Dublagent66]

I don't see where the iTunes version of the self-titled album includes The Prophecy as a bonus track.  You must've been talking about another album Bosk.

[bosk1]

Not sure about iTunes.  I have a hard copy (CD) that includes all three.  That sucks that it is apparently only available if you buy a hard copy of the album.