[Duncan]

You can always buy CDs (and downloads) online.

Oh, I do - My Amazon order list is dotted with them, but - I get all giddy when being able to go to HMV - seeing that it is the last of a dying breed...

I hate the download culture, at least for MP3/M4A - that you pay the same (or, bizarrely sometimes more) for something that materialistically is never yours...

Sometimes it does work backwards though, one of my PledgeMusic purchases, the download was in hi-res - which seemed to make a mockery of receiving it on CD

 

[Music Alchemist]

Oh, I do - My Amazon order list is dotted with them, but - I get all giddy when being able to go to HMV - seeing that it is the last of a dying breed...

I hate the download culture, at least for MP3/M4A - that you pay the same (or, bizarrely sometimes more) for something that materialistically is never yours...

Sometimes it does work backwards though, one of my PledgeMusic purchases, the download was in hi-res - which seemed to make a mockery of receiving it on CD

 
I know what you mean. I used to love going into CD shops and the like.
 
Anyway, don't forget to check out In Flames' discography sooner or later. Their new album is...not that good.

 

[Music Alchemist]

New Slugdge merch!
 
https://slugdge.bandcamp.com/album/the-cosmic-cornucopia-2

 

[Music Alchemist]

 

 
Short mix of "Virtue And Vice" by Fear, And Loathing In Las Vegas.

 

[Duncan]

Sort of off topic, but getting into this genre has brought one of my unused headphones back to the forefront...

Denon D7100 sounds rather good with metal it has to be said

 

[Redcarmoose]

 ​

Queensryche : The Warning


1984


Recorded in London, England at Angel Recordings, Audio International, Abbey Road Studios, and Mayfair Recording.
Mixed at Record One.


Michael Wilton
Guitars

Eddie Jackson
Bass

Scott Rockenfield
Drums

Geoff Tate
Vocals

Chris DeGarmo
Guitars, Vocals (backing)

Based on George Orwell's Classic "1984" it's quite the coincidence it came out in 1984. Though produced by Pink Floyd's producer, James Guthrie, you can't but wonder about the strange production and sound. Basically everything is just so polite arriving at a mood somewhat in-between a classic rock record and a metal record.

It's maybe one of the few records from the mid-eighties which would benefit from a complete remix. Most of the time I feel it's blasphemy for Sharon Osbourne to rerecord the Ozzy classics or Dave to remake his classic "Megadeth" songs with different lyrics.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sharon_Osbourne

Still here this album was mixed with no input from the band and has been noted on many occasions to be suffering from a poor guitar mix. Much has also been noted how the song order has been rearranged from original ideas, begging for a better play order. Still as far as metal history shows this would not be the first or last time a bands artistic statement has been challenged by the producer or record company. It ends up being simply.........just what it is.


Still to go back in time upon first hearing "The Warning" in 1984 on first edition vinyl the low-volume guitar mix went by unnoticed by yours truly. What stood out as does today is Geoff Tate's amazing vocal statement. Even now we have many fans who view this album as Tate's final vocal masterpiece which was never bettered......ever. The album does have an amazing mood and vibe. Today much of the production quality of detail of effects may go by unnoticed. Still in 1984 the mix was elaborate, multitracked and vocally over layered. Much of the charm occurred on a first listen just hearing how each of the vocal takes dovetailed and inter-played throughout.

Disputed and talked about today, I personally never really noticed how far back the guitars were lurking, until NOW!



It was just that progressive metal had just slightly arrived on the metal map. We had proto-prog like Priests "Sad Wings of Destiny" but still two years away from Fates Warning making "Awaken The Guardian" in 1986.

http://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Fates_Warning/Awaken_the_Guardian/3409

Years and years from Helloween's Keeper of the Seven Keys Part 1.in 1987.

http://www.metal-archives.com/albums/Helloween/Keeper_of_the_Seven_Keys_Part_I/678

And we are years and years here before 1988s progressive metal masterpiece "Operation Mindcrime" .......an album of so much star-like profile that many still hold it incorrectly as the first progressive metal album. It was though, the arrival of mainstream progressive metal in 1988.

Still going back to "The Warning" we can't help but notice the NWOBHM influences as well as the early Priest influence. This leads me to simply wonder how much Rob Halford influenced Geoff Tate's style, as this album is 100% Halford worship of the highest order. With that said the album holds it's own also simply because how original the overall sound is. It's one of those things where the special effects were spectacular for it's day along with the mood it held which became so thick it could be cut with a knife. For many it was not until the 2nd or 3rd listen till the weight and posture of this album hit home. It's the vocals which make every song so classic and memorably wonderful.


It's safe to say the album sounded as different then as it does now. Priest comparisons aside, the album has an inventive display of sonic flurries starting with Geoff's voice but continuing with innovative drum accents and detailed guitar effects. Much of the time new effects will sound new and fresh upon first hearing. Upon closer inspection there really is a boatload of vocal processing and sound effects affecting the final listen!



The first song on side two is "Take Hold Of The Flame" and we are shown many of the songwriting and musicianship character styles which would go on to fill their next couple albums and be the one sound they were known for. For the bands self-titled, Pacific Northwest recorded EP was in many ways the bands only purely metal recording. Here on their first full album we are profoundly greeted with American White Collar Progressive Heavy Metal. Most of the song structure, lyrical themes and vocal styles would be forever known as following this 1st template. Still this landmark album is commonly overlooked and a rarity if ever referred too if ever at all.

In hindsight it's maybe easy to see how the song placement incurred to provide maximum commercial success. Again much like Priest's "Sad Wings of Destiny" our album it seems was a couple years ahead of it's time. It would be a couple more years before the metal community would "get" what USPM was trying to do. Thus we are now left with "The Warning" as a little known album rarely spoken of or referenced to?

But......


The vocal interplay between Tate and Tate and DeGarmo ends up just as fascinating today as it ever was.



My favorite edition ( sound wise) would probably be between the Japan 1st edition CD pressing (CDP28-1043) and the 1st USA (ST17134) vinyl pressing though the 2003 remaster is slightly different. Supposedly it came out as a vinyl remaster (FRM-17134) in 2012, but I have not had the opportunity to hear it.

If anyone goes looking for the 2003 remaster you'll also find an expanded edition with 3 extra tracks. Though at an original playing time of 48.41, I can't help but feel the original album comes off as the perfect statement though slightly strange in guitar sound and song order. It's Geoff's OTT voice as well as the masterful creative recording of it, that makes this album an essential listen for any fan of Progressive Metal. Listening to it today it does not hold the sonic fireworks that the innovative production held in 1984. That said it's play-ability is still perfect and somehow does not come off as dated as say Awaken The Guardian or Keeper of the Seven Keys Pt1.

It's in many ways an unknown classic which comes off sounding more like Rob Halford than it did upon release. It also set the standards and template for how Queensryche was to move forward. Obvious is the fact that 1986's "Rage To Order" or 1988's "Operation Mindcrime" would not exist if the foundation for the bands sound would not have been discovered here. Queensryche's fall from grace has been so dramatic and widespread that there are many who feel they simply never recorded any good albums. I challenge that group to give a listen to at least the first three full LPs as an attempt to hear a sincere and profound introduction to epic Progressive Metal even before it was a common term. The benefit for many may be the realization that Progressive Metal doesn't have to be complicated, elitist or fast changing. The USPM sound just needs to hold an atmosphere and tell a story, even if the descriptive elements are mixed/recorded wrong or put out of place in the end.

For many "The Warning" ends up as Queensryche's best album if not only for the novelty and reminiscent factors it still holds. It shows a band who are at the top of their form and just beginning to lay the groundwork to become a household name.




In ending we must conclude that "The Warning" is just as original for what it left out as what was put in. Any tendency to join the Iron Maiden NWOBHM gallop could have been intentionally left out, or really could it, at the time? Of course the gallop is there, but it was really a springboard for all that was going to be new. Here our new-found stars are making a statement as to the sound of USPM, and as many have already stated, the introduction of USA Powermetal. It's this direct statement of artistic cause which was to garner the band fame and popularity in coming years. Queensryche wanted to be different and they risked it. Remember it was the time when Iron Maiden was huge in the USA. Still our little band from the Pacific Northwest had their own singular idea as to the sound they wanted. I maybe can't fault James Guthrie entirely for the faint rock guitar in the album as I'm pretty sure other ideas and aesthetics were bestowed upon the band. It was this first album recording era which influenced them and carried them through their best years.


It's this originality of message that still projects this set of songs into the future. Even if the guitar does sound like Def Leppard in places and the vocals a lot like Halford, there is enough original style here to carry this music into the future.

 

[markm1]

I love The Warning, or I should say loved. But as the saying goes, 'tis better to have loved and lost than not to love at all. Actually it's been years since I heard that album. 

 

[Selbi]

Half dead from being sick but being an idiot and not sealing the deal for a return policy, I made my way to the Apocalyptica Plays Metallica By Four Cellos anniversary tour. So glad I didn't stay at home, it was breathtakingly awesome!

But once again I've realized what it means being German. There were so many people in the audience who had to force smiles onto their faces, as they probably have never heard of Apocalptica before and only came for the Metallica part. At least the subset of people I was surrounded by. Makes it really difficult to sing along without feeling awkward.

Are crowds this lame over there in America too?

 

[sludgeogre]

Half dead from being sick but being an idiot and not sealing the deal for a return policy, I made my way to the Apocalyptica Plays Metallica By Four Cellos anniversary tour. So glad I didn't stay at home, it was breathtakingly awesome!

But once again I've realized what it means being German. There were so many people in the audience who had to force smiles onto their faces, as they probably have never heard of Apocalptica before and only came for the Metallica part. At least the subset of people I was surrounded by. Makes it really difficult to sing along without feeling awkward.

Are crowds this lame over there in America too?

That's pretty amazing, jealous you got to see that.
 
Yes, American crowds are absolutely that lame. Most metal shows I go to are a bunch of guys sitting at the bar with their backs to the band, a bunch of guys standing around with their arms crossed, gently bobbing their heads (I'm one of those) and then really drunk/stupid/smelly dudes moshing around. It also depends on what band/scene is there, but most of the time, yeah, it's that lame.

 

[Music Alchemist]

Yes, American crowds are absolutely that lame. Most metal shows I go to are a bunch of guys sitting at the bar with their backs to the band, a bunch of guys standing around with their arms crossed, gently bobbing their heads (I'm one of those) and then really drunk/stupid/smelly dudes moshing around. It also depends on what band/scene is there, but most of the time, yeah, it's that lame.

 
When I went to see In Flames (alongside As I Lay Dying and Killswitch Engage) in 2004, there were plenty of excited girls singing/screaming along in the crowd.

 
After I met Jesper Strömblad (founder of In Flames) and had him sign my shirt, I later saw him in the audience bobbing his head. haha

 

[Selbi]

  Yes, American crowds are absolutely that lame. Most metal shows I go to are a bunch of guys sitting at the bar with their backs to the band, a bunch of guys standing around with their arms crossed, gently bobbing their heads (I'm one of those) and then really drunk/stupid/smelly dudes moshing around. It also depends on what band/scene is there, but most of the time, yeah, it's that lame.

 
Must be an international problem then. The few things I do know of America metal shows is that Metalcore tends to get some... mixed opinions:
 

 
I hear all the crazy things about South America people being the wildest ones at metal shows. Go figure.

 

[Selbi]

  When I went to see In Flames (alongside As I Lay Dying and Killswitch Engage) in 2004, there were plenty of excited girls singing/screaming along in the crowd.

 
This is a thing that definitely was apparent in this Apocalyptica show, and part of the cause to result in the lame crowd.
 
The couple next to me was the girl being dragged down by her boyfriend's miserable mood, as he apparently only came to be the driver. I was so close to just shout at him, "Excuse me, you spent 50 bucks for a concert to be a cab substitute? What the ass is wrong with you?!" Context: This was a seated concert, in the fifth row (highest price) and not somewhere in the background outcast where you can't see ****.

 

[Music Alchemist]

  This is a thing that definitely was apparent in this Apocalyptica show, and part of the cause to result in the lame crowd.

 
Excited girls getting really into it at a metal show does not seem lame to me at all. The guys there were moshing, etc. too.

 

[Selbi]

   
Excited girls getting really into it at a metal show does not seem lame to me at all. The guys there were moshing, etc. too.

 
Nono, I meant the girl would've been exited, but her boyfriend was so annoyed that eventually she silently sat down and just did the generic 4/4 hand clapping whenever it arose. Such a waste of money.

 

[Redcarmoose]

I love The Warning, or I should say loved. But as the saying goes, 'tis better to have loved and lost than not to love at all. Actually it's been years since I heard that album. 

I think anyone at the time was shocked by it. Especially if you had the self titled EP. It was such a departure and change. I didn't like it upon 1st listen but by the third listen "got" what they were doing. It was because no one had ever done the sound before. It was years before anything close to that sound would become popular. Now though it's funny how much Tate sounds like Halford. It just goes to show how much Halford affected metal. Still if you get a chance, I'm sure you have access to streaming it online if you don't own the 84 vinyl any more.

You will notice the low stance of any guitar and the different mix maybe, though those are the only strange characters which slightly date the listening experience. Younger listeners don't think the song consistently is there but I think all the songs are great. Geoff's voice is a perfect star of the show and it ends up a striking wake up to some of the best vocals in the genre.