QUEENSRYCHE

Queensr�che

Progressive Metal

3.49 | 164 ratings

From Progarchives.com, the ultimate progressive rock music website

Negoba
Prog Reviewer

Essential metal, Good Prog

I put Queensryche's debut EP back on for this review, fully expecting to give it 3 stars as I had Metallica's Garage Days, another essential metal EP. But I had forgotten how good this disc is. Queen of the Reich has to be one of the best metal songs of all time. The intensity, the dual guitar interplay (including perhaps the best early 80's guitar solo), and Geoff Tate's otherworldly vocals are what metal is all about. And while all the classic metal elements are here, there are also some nice little nuances that foreshadow that Queensryche is going to be a band that will push the envelope of the genre.

All five songs are quite good. The third song, Blinded, with its circular lyric falling and falling and falling and.. is perhaps the most progressive on the album though it's usually forgotten behind Lady Wore Black (a fairly straightforward rainy night slow metal that will become a Queensryche staple) and Nightrider as the "other songs" on the disc. The closer, Prophecy, is a good metal song added from the Rage for Order sessions for the CD, and is typical of that album.

There is a heapin' helpin' of cheese in these lyrics and the presentation is over the top in grand metal tradition. Watch the video for QOTR which is one of the worst, cheapest jokes of all time. Then find the video of the band playing the song live, and you realize just how powerful they were, pulling off the acrobatics seamlessly and if anything ratcheting the energy even higher.

As metal albums go, this is the second album of Queensryche to obtain, and I would give it 5/5 if this were a metal-only site. If you're looking for prog, Promised Land is probably a better choice for QR #2. This one showcases a talented band exploding with youthful energy, playing their metal anthem at full tilt. 3.5 stars rounded up.

Negoba | 4/5 | 2009-3-30

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