FREQUENCY UNKNOWN

So, to an album that seems to have been hated as soon as it was announced, even before a note was heard, by the rock and metal community. All that hate I guess was the result of Tate leaving Queensryche on the note that he did. I must admit that Queensryche haven't impressed me much since the release of the Empire album. What do I think of this album? Let's get down to it -

"Cold" - A track that I find interesting and enjoyable. Tate still sounds like Tate vocally and that isn't a bad thing at all. Bodes well for the rest of the album.

"Dare" - A straight ahead rocker that isn't amazing but it isn't bad by any means.

"Give it to You" - slower driving bluesy track. I enjoy this - especially the lead guitar work throughout.

"Slave" - Metal. hard rocking number which isn't anything special however again it isn't bad.

"In the hands of God" - One of the highlights of the album - I really like this track. Harkens back to the Queensryche sound of Empire.

"Running Backwards" - Unfortunately it's nothing special and it doesn't hold my attention for long.

"Life without you" - I like this more emotive track but it's missing something that could have made it special.

"Everything" - Now we're talking. From the opening piano to the driving rock music that follows. Another album highlight.

"Fallen" - The ballad of the album. I enjoy this track well enough.

"The weight of the World" - Softer track to close the new content on the album. I'm a sucker for emotive tracks and this holds a lot of emotion.

"I don't believe in Love" - Re-recording. It's obvious on this that Tate's voice has lost the power that it once had however this is an ok by-the-numbers reworking of the track.

"Empire" - Re-recording. Again by-the-numbers. It does serve to remind how powerful the Queensryche sound once was.

"Jet City Woman" - Re-recording. By-the-numbers.

"Silent Lucidity" - Beautiful track irrelevantly of who does it.

For goodness sake people, this album has an average rating thus far of 1,72 here and that is a blatant lie. This is not one of the Metallica mess ups. Certainly this isn't the sound of Tate and Queensryche at their most powerful however it isn't a bad album by any means. I do think that the metal and rock community has been very unfair to Tate in their reception of this album. Forget about the politics involved relating to Tate and the original band and listen to the music. Had this been released directly after Empire by the original band it would never have the rating suggested here on PA. It is not prog by any stretch of the imagination however it isn't a purile release at all. Tate has lost some of his vocal power but not embarrasingly so. I personally go for 3 and a half stars rated down to 3 as this is a prog site and this isn't prog music.