EMPIRE

Queensryche was touring the European rock and metal festivals in July 2010. They got slots around the middle of the bills. They were not headliners, but not on the bottom of bills either. How times has changed since 1990.

Queensryche's stocks is though rising with a new album which is supposed to be a massive improvement on the mediocre albums they released at the end of the 1990s and the beginning of the nougtsies. I sincerely hope their stock is rising because a band who once released an album like Empire has proven that they are a truly great band.

Empire is one of these albums where almost everything is right. Yes, it has some naffness from the 1980s too. Yes, it also have too much AOR leanings to my liking. And I really detest AOR like I detest pest & plague. But the songs here also has this great Queensryche trademark stamp all over it too. Good guitar solos, fantastic vocals, twisted melody lines and this wonderful blend of heavy metal and symphonic prog nobody else has ever manage to copy.

Empire from 1990 is one of their two truly great albums. Maybe it is their best album too. Their other great album is Operation Mindcrime. An album with some fantastic songs and some not so fantastic songs. The follow up album Empire, the one I am supposed to review here, is a more balanced album with no fillers, but no fantastic tracks too. The quality is great throughout though. Silent Lucidity is close to be a fantastic song though and one of the best power ballads ever written. Other highlights here is the title track, Jet City Woman and the hypnotic Della Brown. The rest of the songs here is great too.

I rate this album very highly and I have no problems giving out a four star to it.