SPIN IT BACK: QUEENSRYCHE -- EMPIRE

By: Philip Sayblack | Phil's Picks

The early 1990s was a watershed moment for the music industry.  The big, bombastic sounds, styles and fashions of the 1980s were at their end and audiences were looking desperately for something new.  Enter Nirvana and the whole grunge movement.  When that movement hit, the eyes and ears of the world were centered on Seattle, Washington.  While Nirvana and its fellow grunge acts – Alice in Chains, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden – rose to fame in that age, they were not the only bands from the great Pacific Northwest that were making music at that time.  As a matter of fact, there was another band from Washington state (Bellevue, WA to be exact) that had been making music and earning fans well before the grunge movement’s launch.  That band is Queensryche.  In 1990, a year before Nirvana launched the grunge movement, Queensryche released one of its most successful and important albums in the form of Empire.  Spanning 11 tracks (14 in its 2003 re-issue), the 63-minute record played a big part in making Queensryche one of the “Big 3” progressive metal acts alongside Dream Theater and Fates Warning.  To this day, it has gone on to become not only one of Queensryche’s most important records but also one of the most important in modern rock history as will be explained here.

Queensryche’s 1990 album, Empire, is one of the most notable of records in the history of prog-metal.  The band’s best-selling and one of its most memorable albums, it is of note in part because of its musical arrangements.  Unlike the record’s predecessors listeners will note that this record moves more in the direction of, believe it or not, Dream Theater’s Images & Words in its approach.  Interestingly enough, that record’s release was still a couple of years away at the time.  The Warning, Rage For Order, and Operation: Mindcrime, by comparison were more influenced by the big hair sounds of the bands that were so big in the 19980s.  In other words, what audiences hear from this record is a clear stylistic change from the band that would continue to evolve with each record that followed.  That is not to say that Queensryche’s lineup at the time – Geoff Tate (vocals), Chris DeGarmo (guitar), Michael Wilton (guitar), Eddie Jackson (bass) and Scott Rockenfield (drums) – had completely abandoned those metal leanings in this record.  Those sounds and styles are still evident throughout the album but they are balanced will alongside the noted change in sound.  That whole is evident right from the album’s outset, ‘Best I Can’ what with the addition of the keyboards alongside Tate’s vocal delivery and Jackson’s prominent bass line in the verses.  The overall structure combines those performances with the rest of the band’s work to make the whole a clear change that is a solid opener for this record.

‘Della Brown,’ another entry in the record’s first half, is another example of the stylistic change exhibited throughout the record.  Again, Jackson and Tate take the lead in this song.  The subtle touch of the guitars from Wilton and DeGarmo works with the bass and vocals (and even Rockenfield’s controlled time keeping) to make the whole a strong contemplative work that is so much unlike anything else that the band had composed to that point.  The mood set in this arrangement pairs well with the song’s lyrical theme, which will be discussed a little later.

‘Dirty Little Secret,’ which is included in the album’s noted 2003 re-issue is yet another example of how much Empire had exhibited Queensryche’s change.  It is easily the most radio friendly composition what with its blues-rock approach.  Not included in the album’s original 1990 release, it was actually recorded during the recording sessions for that record.  Why the band would have allowed it to just be used as a b-side instead of being added to the record is anyone’s guess.  Either way, it is good that it finally received the attention that it deserved in that noted 2003 re-issue.
Between the songs examined here and the rest of the entries, each of which do their own part to continue exhibiting the band’s more hard rock/80s metal sound, the whole of Empire’s musical body makes for a strong foundation for this record.

Adding to the album’s engagement and entertainment is its lyrical content.  Audiences get plenty of familiar content throughout the record in romance-themed songs, such as ‘Hand on Heart,’ ‘Another Rainy Night (Without You),’ ‘Jet City Woman,’ and ‘One and Only.’  Thankfully that is not the only content that the record offers.  Right from the album’s outset, the band presents a thoughtful commentary centering on overcoming adversity.  It could also be argued to be a commentary about the dangers of unattended weapons, considering how the story opens herein.  According to Tate himself, the whole of the song was meant to be a rallying cry of sorts, encouraging anyone with disabilities to not let those issues hold them back, but rather to fight and overcome them and be “the best they can.”  That is pretty cool.  That cannot be argued.  To that end, this uplifting message and the song’s unique musical arrangement work together to make it such a strong presentation in its own right.

On another note, the album’s title track is another commentary, this time about the illegal drug trade and its tie to crime right here in America.  The message is told as Tate sings about a boy named “Johnny” who “Used to work after school/At the cinema show/Gotta hustle if he wants an education/Now he’s out on the streets all day/Selling crack to the people who pay/Business the American way.”  In other words, here is a young man trying to pay for his education, working so hard at a low-paying job.  He gets to desperate to make some money to pay for his education that he ends up selling drugs (which would make him far more money).  The irony herein, of a person trying to make ends meet and pay those bills the legal way versus the illegal way, makes for its own hard-hitting commentary that is just as relevant today as it was way back in 1990.  To that end, it is another example of the role of the album’s lyrical content.  This as ultimately, it is a discussion on how such matters, if they continue, will lead to the fall of the American empire.

Yet one more example of the importance of the album’s lyrical content comes in the form of the album’s closer, ‘Is Anybody Listening?’  This song is yet another work that is fully relevant today.  Tate and DeGarmo have both been cited as stating the song’s statement is centered on thinking for oneself instead of allowing the media and others to tell them what to think.  This was way before the very term echo chamber” became a pop term for the media, ironically.  Again, this is really thought provoking, considering the band was addressing this very matter that was raised nearly four decades ago is still as relevant as ever if not more so.  To that end, it is yet another item that makes Empire still one of the most important records in the modern history of hard rock.

When all of the themes addressed here are considered along with the album’s overall musical body, the whole gives Empire so much depth, and in turn engagement and entertainment.  Putting the final touch to the whole is the sequencing of that overall content.  From beginning to end, this record changes things up just enough from one song to the next.  The changes ensure listeners’ maintained engagement and entertainment just as much as the content itself.  The result of all things considered is that Empire remains, justifiably, one of Queensryche’s best and most important, and one of the most notable of hard rock’s modern history.
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Empire is available now.  More information on the album is available along with all of Queensryche’s latest news at:
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