cdollaz

How is it. Not sure whether or not to take a chance on this one.

Michael Corvin

I'm wondering as well. I think I might take the plunge. They are overdue for a good album, plus with Tate's renewed vigor for the band it may translate into a good album.

There was an ad for Tribe in the new Blender, but no review.

JestersTear

Can't be worse than Q2k.

Of course, I'm one of the few that enjoyed "Hear in the Now Frontier," so take my opinion with a grain of salt.

cdollaz

Well I took a chance on it and....

It sounds like they still have vaginas instead of cocks and is a continuation of the avenue they have taken since Hear In The Now Frontier. In other words, this doesn't rock. And Tate's vocal style is really annoying on this album. DeGarmo's return has nothing to do with how good QR is. Remember, he was around during Hear In The Now Frontier.

Damn, what happened to one of my favorite bands.

Mordred

I liked a portion of HitNF, but I was very unimpressed with Tribe. To me, it sounds similar to Geoff Tate's solo album. Just in case you haven't heard that one, the best song on it was a song I can only describe as a dance music.

Scot1458

q2K was ok...HITNF sucked really bad.

Too bad about this one.....I'll get it anyway.

Mistafadedglory

You have it backwards Scot1458. HITNF wasn't too bad. It probably had about 6 songs on it that i liked. ONly thing on Q2K that I came close to enjoying was Right Side of My Mind.

Rogue588

downloaded it a while back. didn't care for it. promptly deleted it.

i guess i can't get past Operation: Mindcrime & Empire for some reason..

edclem

haven't picked it up yet, but i like the samples on queensryche.com

HATED HITNF and Q2k, btw.

JestersTear

If Tribe is anything like Tate's solo CD, then it's going to be spectacular.

Sadly, I don't expect it to be that good.

Mordred

Shouldn't Queensryche be rocking though? Tate's solo CD was about as far from Rock music as you can get.

JestersTear

I like it when bands like Queensryche experiment with different things.

And I didn't mean that their new CD had to sound exactly like Tate's (he did have a couple harder songs at the end), what I shoud have said was that the level of creativity on that CD was unlike anything we've seen from Queensryche in a looooong time.

Ever since the first time I heard Geoff Tate sing, I've said that you could tell that there was so much more he could (and probably wanted) to do that his band couldn't or wouldn't. A lot how Glenn Danzig's "Black Aria" was.

But I digress...

The band's been in a bad rut. They tried to blame it on Chris DeGarmo, saying that he had written most of HitNF, but then they put out an even worse CD in Q2K.

I viewed Q2K as the "Star Wars: Attack of the Clones" of music. Good if it were coming from any other band, but very bland / average coming from one of the top progressive rock acts.

But once again, I guess people need to take my view with a grain of salt... most people rank HitNF as the worst, I rank Q2K as the worst. :-)

Michael Corvin

tate seriously needs to follow Portnoy's lead. If he wants to mess around and create some different styles of music, put together a side project group. Don't force it on the fans that have stuck around. Give the fans what they want. You want to tool around on some new styles put it out under a different name. Don't sacrifice the band you spent a dozen years building.

Just read on another site www.whokilledmary.com

Anyway, picked it up today. Not bad. The first track rocks, and the title track rocks but the rest is kinda mellow. It is not bad by any means. But Empire it is not.

It should be noted that in the linear notes that Tate says this album is a response to 9/11. Which I think explains the mellow, somber tone.

Scot1458

If this album is as bad as word is going around, they are sunk. I know many fans were allready on the brink of leaving...

very sad. They were the kings of what they did, just like KINS'X X. A great band that just lost it.

cdollaz

I amend my review above to include the following:

Not only does this album suck, this has got the be the worst, most bland piece of dreck and rock crap to come out in years. They can't even write a good ballad anymore. This album is total ****.

DVDGUY1116

I can't say I totally agree with this statement but I understand where it is coming from and do agree with most of it. To me the Ryche started "losing it" on HITNF and just got worse with Q2K. It wasn't just those albums that soured a lot of people though. It was also the rapid and steady decline between the band and their fans after HINTF and Q2K. They cancel tours, like the DT one in 2000, to take another show but lie about it, hire a guitar player that totally disrespects the fans and changes the music they like. I am talking about changing solos and such.

Coming into this album I was really encouraged because they were on a new label, Chris was back, they were doing the right thing and touring with DT and slowly repairing the relationship with their fans. After hearing it though...nothing has changed. Up until HITNF the Ryche was 2nd on my mind only to DT but now they are not even one of my 10 favorites. I am all for bands trying different stuff: DT, Spock's Beard, Metallica, etc but not the new Ryche stuff. So sad.

boc4ever

I haven't heard the new album, but based on these posts, I won't be running to the store anytime soon. I was HIGHLY disappointed when I saw them on the HITNF tour at the Mann Music Center. They completely avoided "Rage For Order" material and put on a very flat performance. They sounded like they were going through the motions during the Mindcrime material on that tour.

On a brighter note, I thought the Promised Land concert was one of my all time favorite shows, hands down. Not only did they delve into the Rage album, but they really put on a stellar performance. The songs flowed together well, and they played material from all albums.

Kelly Gray's quote was really interesting. I think he hit the nail on the head. You want to please the fans but also grow. However, you also need to identify your strengths and draw from the time period that put you on the map. Queensryche is so worried about re-inventing themselves, they have alienated fans from all stages of their career.

I had a chance to meet them a few years back, and spent about 15-20 mins chatting with Eddie Jackson. He had to be one of the coolest musicians I have ever talked to. The other would be Bill Gould from FNM. Anyway, I was trying to find out what the "hidden lyrics" were in the Killing Words. He suggested asking Geoff Tate. I went over and waited patiently for the opportunity to ask him, but his pomposity was too much to bear. He was completely unapproachable and was not socializing with the fans. However, he did sign some merchandise, which I did appreciate. My Rage For Order LP with the blue ring hangs proudly in my office with all five signatures.

Degarmo, Rockenfield and Wilton were also very cool. I was very glad I got to meet them after listening to them for so long. It is a shame that they thought Tribes would reel in the old fans. I appreciate the reviews because you seemed to confirm my suspicions...

rmorgan

What's even more perplexing to me is that on the recent tour w/DT, QR played exactly what the fans wanted to hear (at the Atlanta show anyway). Only one song from the new record, the a heavy dose of Rage, Mindcrime, and Empire. And a pretty good perfromance, too. I wonder if the new album would have been better had it been recorded after the DT tour?

Michael Corvin

That is a good question. But you can only string your fans along for so long before they abandon you. They wait patiently for you to realize that the old days are where it is at, but by the time you realize it the fans think you are only doing it to get back what you already lost. Ahem... metallica.

cdollaz

I'm don't even care if they start doing old sounding stuff again. I just want them to rock hard, instead of being *******.

Scot1458

I agree on the Promiseland tour. I saw it twice, in Detorit and Green Bay, and it was the best time I saw the out of 6 concerts. Great tour, great album.

DVDGUY1116

I was also at the HITNF show at the Mann and I thought it was horrible as well. At first I thought it was just me cause I had a bad case of Bronchitis. When I thought about it later I suspected that the lack of a crowd had something to do with it. Alas, I know know that they just sucked. I was also at the Promised Land tour which was incredible! I started worrying about the Ryche when I saw a pic of the in Metal Edge wearing suits and holding expensive wine glasses! How the mighy have fallen...although Tribe does have a few good tunes on it.