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On disc: Queensrÿche



Live Evolution - Claudia Ehrhardt - 9 stars
The Art Of Live - Claudia Ehrhardt - 8 stars
American Soldier - Claudia Ehrhardt - 9 stars


www.queensryche.com







American Soldier

American Soldier
(Rhino Entertainment - 2009)


Seattle's finest are back with a concept album called American Soldier. The foursome wanted to present a soldier's story from recruitment to his death, telling the story from the soldier's point of view. When Geoff Tate started preparing the album he talked to his father - who served in Korea and Vietnam - and many other soldiers. He listened to the stories of their lives and developed the story of American Soldier based on what he heard. Geoff Tate wrote the album together with producer Jason Slater who also produced this album while former Ryche guitarist Kelly Grey engineered it.
The opener is called Sliver and shows them with a modern touch and full of anger, but also the song has the typical Queensrÿche trademarks. Bassist Eddie Jackson is very present here, but it also seems that guitarist Michael Wilton is freed. No track you easily gets you into this concept album. You hear copters passing by, spoken words and slowly they head into Unafraid. Using excerpts from the one-on-one interviews with the soldiers make it sound very authentic. Listening to the words is somehow disturbing, but then the chorus is hooking you up. Sure, some songs need time to grow on you, but it's worth spending time listening - not just in honor of the people in the military services! Very touching is At 30,000 Ft., Geoff Tate's vocals are very intense. Not a catchy one, but moving! A heavy, but catchy one is The Killer! One of my favorites is Middle Of Hell which is a mid-paced track where you can feel the sadness which seems to cumlinate in the saxophone part. Spoken words lead into If I Were King and slowly the song develops from a balladesque beginning to a heavy, riff-based rocker - and back again. Great lead guitar part! Again spoken words, but this time the song is based on a heavy groove and somehow Man Down! seems to carry a spark of hope. The samples from the interviews are used again at Remember Me, a melancholy tune. You can feel the longing of the soldier Geoff Tate is speaking for, to get back home to his family and to get remembered. And I think he really knows this feeling, even if from a different experience. Balladesque and with a symphonic touch they present Home Again. At this one you also hear Tate's daughter Emily sing, her vocals can't transport the emotions well... It feels like she had give up hope, but at the other hand its quite authentic, coz a child in that kind of situation is often incapable to show feelings. Its not that the kids of soldiers don't have feelings, but they keep them hidden. The Voice is the closer and shows Queensrÿche heavy again, Geoff Tate adds emotional vocals and if this one don't get you, then you turned numb already!
For me the best Queensrÿche album since Empire! In my opinion the album has the special something, coz it's a story Geoff Tate was longing to tell - and because Michael Wilton wasn't limited and could express himself playing guitars without another guitarist at his side. The songs need time to grow, so give them a few spins! Take your headphones and listen to the words, let the emotions get at you. The album is dark, melancholy and intense. I highly recommend this album to all fans of the old Queensrÿche!


9 stars

Claudia Ehrhardt
 

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The Art Of Live

The Art Of Live
(Sanctuary - 2004)


The band from Seattle is around for more then 20 years and this isn't their first live album. The Art Of Live was recorded during the Tribe World tour 2003 and was also recorded for a DVD which will be released soon. Kicking off the album / show with Tribe. The tribal drums lead into the heavy rocker and in a way also reflect Queensrÿche these days - not that all new songs have the tribal character - but the sound of the Seattle fiver changed during the last years. The first half of the 14-track disc is more or less dedicated to the younger past - mostly the current album Tribe - but 'til the end they present some older tunes - partly in a different version. Live the track Open is even closer the band's Empire. It's more the atmosphere and the arrangement which let you think of Empire... Again the Seattle-based band is presenting an almost perfect live experience. Perhaps it would have been a good idea to mix old and new stuff a little more... Anyway, they haven't forgot their past. From their new ones most interesting is Desert Dance. A very intense song which is based on guitar riffing - partly distorted - and the unique vocals of master Geoff Tate. Not a typical song for them, but a good possibility for long-time fans to get more into the last studio album. With the ballad Rhythm Of Hope they slow down a little. A ballad in the tradition of Silent Lucidity. Followed by My Global Mind. Here they combine hard-hitting drums, pounding bass and partly acoustic guitars which make this track outstanding. Partly it has a heavy groove, partly it sounds almost fragile. The acoustic version of Roads To Madness is showing this tune in a different light. And the bands talent, not easy to re-arrange a track like this one in a way that it works out acoustic. Back to Empire... Della Brown sounds familiar, the guitar sound is a little different, but that's it. Then Anybody Listening. Some stuff from Operation Mindcrime. A kind of trip to their past which ends with Best I Can, also from Empire.


8 stars

Claudia Ehrhardt
 

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Live Evolution

Live Evolution
(Sanctuary - 2001)


The Seattle based band was founded by their guitarists back 1981. What happened after the release of their debut, the EP Queensrÿche is known by every fan of metal / prog metal. Now two decades later the band release a live album which is a kind of 'best of' album. Recorded last July in Seattle this is a kind of chronicle journey through their history, starting with songs from their early days. Singer Geoff Tate & Co. opened with NM 156, Walking In The Shadows and shows the highlights of their career. This almost chronicle trip offers 30 Queensrÿche tracks on 2 CDs. Luckily the band concentrates on their first 5 releases and less on the last ones which were more rock and not as successful.
It ain't necessary to talk about their musical skills or to describe their sound, coz that would be like carrying coals to Newcastle to every metal fan. The only negative point for me personally is that this was recorded without their long-time guitarist Chris DeGarmo who was also one of their main songwriters.
Anyway, a great collection of songs which sounds even 15 years later fresh and let me hope that the Seattle progster will return to their old, more progressive sound and continue with what should have followed Empire. Btw, there will also be a video and a DVD, but unfortunately I can't give any details about this.


? stars

Claudia Ehrhardt
 

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           ©2008-2013 by Claudia Ehrhardt • E-Mail: contact@ice-vajal.com


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