Scot1458

so is Chris back, isn't he, did he re-join then get kicked out again?

the old Queensryche Campaign board now requires a fee, and it's heavly moderated, so i'm not even going to try.

Anybody have any news? One more bad album from these guys, and I don't think they will last much longer.

Aghama

Hell if I know, but I'm seeing them next month along with Dream Theater and Fates Warning. Should be a great show even if Queensryche just plays their recent crap.

cdollaz

They charge for their messageboard. That is really weak.

Hannibal

He won't be touring this summer or in Europe either with QR. But you won't hear that from the QR camp until most of the tx are sold. They are not denying it while using Chris' photo to promote the summer tour. I don't believe the album will be released on schedule also.

Giantrobo

QR is such a mess. Didn't he leave due to Tate's desire to go "POP" on the new album?


Man I used to LOVE this band

Scot1458

doesn't sound good, and Degarmo WAS pop, hell the last two albums all the pop crap was his.

This was one of my favorite bands, but they have been in disaray for quite some time (since Hear in the now) they release these solo albums that probally sell 500 copies. So fustrating.

DVDGUY1116

The Ryche was also one of my favorites but ever since Hear in the Now they have been crappy. I used hold them only below Dream Theater as my favorite band but now I don't feel as though they can even compete with bands like Spock's Beard, Flower Kings, Pain of Salvation, and Symphony X. Not only has the quality of the tunes by Queensryche gone down but they have really started to turn on their fans. That all started with the ripping they took for hiring Kelly Gray. Now paying for the message board...

Here is the latest on Queensryche:

Degarmo was "back" with the band and recording for their new album "Tribes." Apparently, he had some prior commitments that required him to back out of the tour...European at first but now I think the whole thing. Shortly after that the album was pushed back. The album has since been rescheduled for a July 22nd release. Here's hoping that everything turns out well.

Michael Corvin

After I got tix for the QR/DT/FW show this summer I thought i would check out QR past few releases. I have heard nothing but negative things about them both but I thought I would listen and judge on my own. So I picked up HitNF and Q2K at a used CD place ($4 for both!). Anyway. They are not that bad. If this was a new band it would be pretty good. But with each track that passed on the CD I longed to put in Empire or Mindcrime. Just knowing what these guys are capable of and hearing these 2 cds... ugh! I will probably stick to Empire and Mindcrime.

Scot1458

q2k has some nice stuff on there, with Right Side of My Mind being the best. It was great live when I saw it. HINT sucks pretty damn bad. There's like 3 songs that are worth anything.

No doubt they have slidden after PROMISELAND, I was hoping for some great stuff, but they have been in a slup, plus their output isn't to hot. They've allways been really slow, but they are getting worse. I call them Peter Gabriel the Second.

DVDGUY1116

You said it with Q2K's "Right Side of My Mind." That song is my favorite from that album and really brings back memories of the old Ryche. HITNF is also pretty bad but, just like Q2K's "Right Side of My Mind," the last track "Spool" is amazing! For me Queensryche doesn't get any better than Mindcrime. This may be surprising for sime but my second favorite is "Promised Land." I just love that really dark, moody, "Dark Side of the Moon" type vibe that album gives off. Actually, if I had to rank their albums this is how they would stand:

Operation: Mindcrime
Promised Land
Empire
Rage For Order
The Warning
Hear in the Now Frontier
the EP
Q2K

Scot1458

Yeah, Spool is the best off HITNF, and they never played it live. Go figure.

I too like Promisland, very good album. Tour was great, they did every song off of it.

I can't place their albums, as Mindcrime clearly is their best, but I have a strong feeling for Rage, I love the songs, the production, the costumes, the artwork.

it's just depressing to see so much talent left to nothing. Another band similar to them is MARILLION who are putting music out left and right, and very interactive with their fans. Queensryche on the other hand has always been very "hands offish".

Michael Corvin

They need a "Metropolis part 2" in a bad way. No, I don't mean a sequel to Mindcrime, I just mean a huge hit album that goes back to their roots and do something that the record company may not like. Something different.

DT came off Falling to infinity wanting to break up the band. But instead fought the record company 'til they allowed them to do what they want and now you have two albums that have revitalized the band. Not to mention fanbase.

DVDGUY1116

You are exactly right Michael Corvin, the Ryche do need a Metropolis 2. DT did the right thing...although I didn't think FII was that bad. Unfortunately, the Ryche doesn't feel the way their fans do. There is a clip of one of the new Ryche tunes called "Desert Dance" floating around the web. While Tate's voice sounds good the music is very Nu Metal and he "raps" during the chorus. While I am still looking forward to Tribes, you can't base whether an album will be good or bad on a few clips, it doesn't sound promising. I hope they prove me wrong and have actually listened to the plea of their dimishing fan base.

Scot1458

that's not good news. Man, they had some talent to...Wilson, Tate, Rockenfield, it's like they are the Orson Welles (a la Citizen Kane) of the music world.

Michael Corvin

So you heard the whole song DVDGUY? Or was it a clip? I only ask because 'The Glass Prison' by DT has some scratching(dj type thing), in it. Something that if I only heard in a clip, I would definitely be against. A new thing for them, but TGP is IMO of the best songs they have ever done.

DVDGUY1116

I did not hear the whole song. I only heard an extended clip of it. Like I said, nobody can judge an album just by a small piece of it, but what I did hear sounded very Nu-Metal with "rapping" in the chorus. I am not at all insinuating that this is what their whole album sounds like but it wasn't what I was expecting from a band that desperately needs an acclaimed album...by the fans standards.

To give an example of what I mean, from a purely PR standpoint, lets look at Dream Theater and Metallica as opposed to Queensryche.

Dream Theater:
Falling Into Infinity nearly broke up the band. The demos hit the web and the fans were excited but when the songs were changed, when the album was released, it created a huge negative outcry amongst the fans. DT, and especially band leader Portnoy, have stated on numerous occasions that they do it for the fans and that fan opinion is the best "judge" of their albums. Knowing what the fans wanted they did Scenes From A Memory which almost all the fans like. It was a bit easier for them to do, and the fans to hear, a more experimental album like 6 Degrees because it followed Scenes. Now if 6 Degrees followed Falling then their might have been trouble. I do love The Glass Prison and the "record scratching" has never really bothered me because it fit into the context and style of the song.

Metallica:
Many people will say their "sellout" album was the Black album, which was the first time they worked with Bob Rock. I disagree because there is some amazing stuff on that album and clearly fits quite nicely into the Metallica library. The first major negative point for them was Load and ReLoad. I like both but they are very different from their past stuff. We all know the story: short haircuts, mainstream music, music videos, suing Napster, etc. Metallica then fires the best fan link they have in Jason. Metallica desperately needs an album that the fans are happy with because their credibility is very fragile right now. These guys are not stupid so they say ALL the right things about St. Anger and release a preview, both on their site and MTV Icon, of the song "Frantic." This song is a kind of new twist on their old style and has generally been accepted with cautious optimism from their fans. Metallica has said, and done, almost all the right things for this album. Will it sell a gajillion copies...yes but will the fans accept it...for Metallica's sake I hope they do.

Queensryche:
The Ryche is in bad shape. They have lost almost their entire fan base that they worked so hard to build since Empire. Some people left after Promised Land, I didn't, others gave up on Hear in the Now Frontier, I didn't, and most of the remaining fans jumped ship after the debacle that was Q2K! I remember hearing stories from fans about how awesome these guys were to meet and hang out with but that now they are a bunch of jerks. A lot of it has to do with the situation over DeGarmo and Kelly Gray. To top it all off they back out of the tour in 2000 with DT, supposedly because they want to work on the new album, then jump onto the Maiden/Halford tour. This pissed off a lot of fans. These guys know they need to get into the fans good graces if they want their new album to be successful so they jump onto the tour with DT, great move, and bring back DeGarmo, an even better move. They also say, on numerous occasions, that this is the hardest album since Mindcrime and so on and so forth. They generated all these positive feelings towards them but have spoiled a lot of it because DeGarmo backed out of the tour, delayed their album numerous times, charge for their message board and allow the "Desert Dance" clip to get released.

The point of all this is simple: these bands know they need their fans to continue doing what they love to do...in this case make music. If you look at all the bands that have been around a long time: Aerosmith, Rush, U2, Tool, REM, Radiohead, Beastie Boys, the three mentioned above, etc, the one common link is that they all have seriously die-hard and hardcore fans! While some albums sell a lot and others don't the bottom line is none of these bands would still be around if it wasn't for the true fans! A casual fan, not that it is bad, will come and go based on popularity but a true fan will always be there...no matter how painful things may get. I really believe that artists like Britney, Limp Bizkit, Linkin Park, etc, will not last because there is not a core group of fans.

If it wasn't for the fans, DT would not be recording on a major label, Metallica would never have been as popular as they are, and Queensryche would not be around anymore. The difference between DT, Metallica and Queensryche, the focus of this monster post, is that both DT and Metallica realized that they need to keep their fans somewhat happy while the Ryche can't seem to understand that. For everyone thing they do right, they do 3 wrong. This is why I was expecting something different from the clip of "Desert Dance." I hope that song, and I will buy the album on day 1, is just an anomaly and not the norm for them. Here's to hope...

I do apologize for the length...I might have got a bit carried away.

Scot1458

HITNF and Q2K were'nt "horrible" albums on their own, they were horrible compared to Rage through Promiseland.

Plus their "solo albums" ...well they suck pretty bad. QR has always worked slow, but man DT and others put out product for their fans. QR takes it own sweet time. They have in the past done their own style, but HITNF and espeically Q2K were very "grundgeish"...and lacked that ealier delight in listening to their work.

Hopefully, they can deliver.