Dedicated to Chaos Special Edition
Most of the popularity to come to Queensryche was due to Operation Mindcrime released in 1988.
They came back again with hit singles Empire 1990 and Silent Lucidity also in 1990. We have termed their music output as progressive metal. Queensryche have a loyal fan base and have released 12 albums this far. They have sold 20 million albums worldwide and 6 million in the US.
The last big hit for them was Operation Mindcrime 2 which debuted at #14, highest for them since 1997.
We have a band here which have been around for awhile. I purchased their first album self titled Queensryche in 1982. They became one of the first big names in the Pacific Northwest Metal Underground to emerge from the scene. The style was progressive metal with the talents of the bands musical skills and Geoff Tate's vocals to define them. They were a self promoted band who like many at the time produced their first album with there own money and promoted themselves to the major labels.
Dedicated To Chaos arrives as a big change in the bands musical style. Hearing the album makes you wonder how the loyal fan base will react. We have a new freedom of style here. This is the first album recorded for the Roadrunner label. Of the founding five members we are only out Chris DeGarmo on guitar. So that does not explain the big change. Really the album is just like they expressed as "all over the place".
The first thing that comes to mind is Geoff Tate's voice. He still has all the range and expression as in album number one. People usually love his voice or hate it as there is no in between. He voice is as great as ever. What will be a surprise is the David Bowie style which he now sports. These are dance songs, not metal for 68% of the album. The mid eighties Bowie sound is there. Sometimes so much it bugs you. I feel most will never hear another singer sound more like David Bowie than Geoff sounds on this record. These dance songs have a bounce like Lenny Kravitz. There is also a tint of Robert Palmer from the 1986 era, remember the video with the all girl back-up band? This is the carbon copy! They even threw in some Roxy Music vibe to this record! 1986 here we are again. Queensryche gets about as funky as they can get. I was waiting for a backup group of singers like the Stones use!
I guess this is one of the best recording I have heard this year. The record has it's own sound.
The bass is fantastic. So much digital fireworks going on here. Really a top notch recording where it is all in place and the breaks are new and glossy. The dance filler somehow makes this as far from a metal record as you can get. The album has a main stream sound but if you listen you really can hear the old Queensryche coming through under it all. This is not really a guitar album which is strange as the whole back catalog for this band is based on guitar work.
I could not help thinking how it reminded me of so many solo records which were put out in the 80s and 90s when the front singer would get a cover band to back them up and put their whole name on the record. It really does sound like a back-up band at times. We can even see Geoff in a smokey bar at 11:30pm singing this lounge act!
I will not give this album a number to rate it. It may attract a whole new housewife crowd to the Queensryche fold. These housewives will of course replace the loyal fans they have lost. Queensryche know this and that is the gamble they took with the freedom they have. The album is really cheerful and has lost any drama which we saw in the late 80s from the band's style. The total lack of misanthropy makes this the pop record it attempts to be. They put all their chips on red. Let's see how the roulette wheel spins. Ether it makes it or not, that's the drama.
Edited by Redcarmoose - 7/1/11 at 5:44am
