Queensryche - the band that people either love or hate! The band formed in 1981 from the ashes of CrossFire, a band that did Maiden and Priest covers. Michael Wilton and Scott Rockenfield where in the band and later added Chris DeGarmo and Eddie Jackson and changed their name to "the Mob". They needed a singer and recruiter Geoff Tate to sing for a few shows. He was in a band called "Babylon" and not too interested in doing Metal, but helped the boys out. Later, he was recruited to sing on the self-financed, 4 song demo. At the time, he was in a band called "The Myth" and commited to staying in that band. The Mob sent the demo to various labels and received tons of rejection letters. At this point, The Mob decided to change the name to Queensryche (from the song Queen Of The Ryche). The band decided to release the album on their own label after the demo had been widely circulated, even getting a glowing review in Kerrang! Since the self-released demo was getting lots of interest and some what of a success for a self-release EP, Geoff Tate finally agreed to join full time. EMI liked what they saw and decided to sign Queensryche and release the EP. Thus, leading us to our first review:


Queensryche
1983
1. Queen Of The Ryche
2. Nightrider
3. Blinded
4. The Lady Wore Black
5. Prophecy

What can be said about the EP that hasn't already been said? The EP is a classic!!!! Had this one before "The Warning" was released and quickly became a fan!!!!! Every song is classic, heavily influenced by Iron Maiden and Judas Priest in the QUeensryche sound.

The original EP was release with only tracks 1 - 4. "Prophecy" was added to the EP on later re-releases. The song was first heard on the "Live In Tokyo" VHS release from "the Warning" tour (and many of us had cassette copies of the soundtrack that one!). The song was actually recorded during the "Rage For Order" sessions for some reason wasn't included on RFO, as the band or producer (Neil Kernon) didn't think it was a fit.

EMI had the band film a video for 'Queen Of The Ryche' - a cheesy, concept video taking place in the future with an enslaved queen and 5 "freedom fighters" - the band. The video had a "to be continued" at the end of the clip, but has yet to be continued to this day.

If you don't have this EP, it is a must add to any Metal collection!!!!!

I am shamed to admit I have never owned this EP, but I will add to my want list and looking forward to this thread

Somehow I actually discovered this album before all my rocker friends, might be the first band I did that. I would try to convince them they would be huge and they should check them out but it wasn't really until Mindcrime they did. Tate's voice is just phenomenal here and you can feel the hunger they had.

I was a little late coming to the Queensryche party. I never heard of them until a buddy let me borrow his copy of Operation: Mindcrime, but more on that later.

That being said, I only purchased most of the older material a few years ago when the re-mastered versions came out with all the bonus track bells & whistles and I found them to be a little under-whelming, seeing all the glowing praise they got from members on this forum. I guess not hearing them as new releases might have something to do with it, but I also find Geoff's vocals to be a little to over-the-top on some of the early releases. The man has pipes, but it seems likes he over-uses the high falsetto screams. I get it, it was all the rage back in the early/mid-80's, but I'm more of a fan of the later material when he seems to have more control of his vocals. The music holds up well though.

Had I been there from the beginning, I might feel differently but as it stands, I like these early releases, but I don't have the overwhelming man-love that some express for this stuff.

Ahhh... Queensryche. I've had more than my share of love and hate moments regarding this band. But hey, let's get to the good stuff.

I remember seeing the "Queen of the Reich" video on MTV waaaaaaay back in the day (circa '83, maybe early '84) The video was hellaciously awful of course, but the song was killer and it immediately made me sit up and take notice, cuz I had never heard vocals like Tate's before. Yeah, I know, Bruce Dickinson and Halford were both known for their high pitched vocal moments but at that time, nobody was kickin' it like Tate. That dude must've been suckin' down a tank of Helium before every live gig back then.

Turned out a friend had just bought their EP on cassette so I dubbed a copy off of him and played it to death. Shortly thereafter THE WARNING was released so that was the first QR album I actually bought.

Years later I finally picked up a CD copy of the legendary EP (with bonus track "Prophecy," from the RAGE FOR ORDER sessions) and that still gets regular spins from me to this very day.

thejokeriv wrote:

The video had a "to be continued" at the end of the clip, but has yet to be continued to this day.

True story: a couple of years ago (during the MINDCRIME II period) a reporter friend of mine interviewed Geoff Tate for the newspaper we both work for. He e-mailed me and sez "I'm interviewing Geoff Tate tomorrow, got any questions you want me to ask him?" Only half seriously I sez "Yeah, ask him if they're ever going to continue the storyline from the 'Queen of the Reich' video, I've been waiting 20 years to find out how it all turns out!" -- I didn't think he'd really ask him that, but he sez he threw it in there at the end of the interview and Tate just chuckled like "Oh Lord, no. I dont' think we'll be doing that."

I first heard the Queensryche EP on vinyl, right after it was released. One of my friends brought it over and wanted to trade something for it. He said "they sound too much like Iron Maiden", I don't like it".

For the life of me I don't remember what crappy album I traded for it.

I jammed that LP for months afterwards. Great ballsy metal album, well played and arranged.

I've known several people over the years who say this is the only Queensryche release they like.

Brilliant, classic metal. I remember buying it as a new release in high school. Queen of the Ryche blew us away. Tates vocals were unearthly! While I like the next two follow-up albums, IMO it's really a shame they didn't explore this style more in the coming years.

I scored the vinyl at a shop in Riverside the day it came in. I dug it out of the box on the floor and bought it just from the logo and the song titles. After listening, I went around and "turned people on". There were hardly any naysayers, PERIOD. And to Detuned's friend who says they sounded too much like Iron Maiden...WTF I never thought that at all. One of the best debuts around.

Nothing more needs to be said about this that hasn't been said. It's one of those must-haves for everyone. CLASSIC

I didn't get this cd until recently, but they used to play "Queen Of The Ryche" on KSJO & KOME all the time.... always loved that song, still do.

Back in 1983 I won a contest from a local radio station. They told me to come down and when I did the dj said I could pick any 4 albums from a bunch of stacks of promo albums that lined almost an entire room. I sifted through them and one of the ones I found was Queensryche's E.P. I snagged it because of the cool way they wrote their name on the logo. It looked so metal. And it was!! I used to play that LP so much, flipping it over and over and skipping the crap out of it. It had a skip in the intro to "Lady Wore Black" in the thunder part and the thunder would go on forever until you nudged the needle! What memories......

Their finest hour imo, and one of the best US metal recordings ever. Queen of the Reich is one of those perfect metal songs.

hahaha funny you did this, I was just thinking about how no one did this yet and I've been listening to them on and off all week.

I didn't get into Queensryche til 1990. I've been a fan ever since. I think the EP was probably the second album I got of theirs. I really liked it then and still like it to this day. The Lady Wore Black is a great song and I wish they would just play it like that live now, otherwise why play it at all. This is a great ep though. I had the cassette, cd and the remastered version.

80's Queensrÿche is one of my very favorite bands, most certainly a top 3. The debut EP is great, they were fortunate enough to get an above average sound and performance for their budget and it paid off. I love every song on it save for maybe 'Blinded'. The next three form a massive trilogy that was and still is a big part of my life's soundtrack.

Queensrÿche's debut EP is great. "Queen of the Reich" is easily the highlight of the album.

The debut EP was engineered by one of my professors in college (he was also their live engineer on The Warning tour). He said the band was incredibly well rehearsed for the EP and most of the performances were nailed on the first take.

Queensryche - The Warning
Released Sept 7, 2984

Track listing

"Warning" (Geoff Tate, Michael Wilton) – 4:46
"En Force" (Chris DeGarmo) – 5:16
"Deliverance" (Wilton) – 3:21
"No Sanctuary" (DeGarmo, Tate) – 6:05
"NM 156" (DeGarmo, Tate, Wilton) – 4:38
"Take Hold of the Flame" (DeGarmo, Tate) – 4:57
"Before the Storm" (Tate, Wilton) – 5:13
"Child of Fire" (Tate, Wilton) – 4:34
"Roads to Madness" (DeGarmo, Tate, Wilton) – 9:40

After the release of the Queensryche EP, the band did some touring and then headed off to bloody ol' London, England to record their first full length album. The band began work with Jame Guthrie who had worked with Pink Floyd (The Wall - Co-Producing with Waters & Bob Ezrin) and Judas Priest (Killing Machine aka Hell Bent For Leather Co-Producer) at the famous Abbey Road Studios. The result was a more progressive metal Queensryche. The reaction among fans was mixed, while they loved the album some fans felt Queensryche should have continued in the NWOBHM vein, instead of what they put out. The album sold better than the EP but was not a huge multi-platinum hit, but a modest commercial success. "Take Hold of The Flame" was a hit for the band outside of the US, especially in Japan (where the band recorded their first live video concert). The band opened for KISS on the Animalize tour.

One thing of note, the rumor is the band didn't get along well with the producer (hence a new producer on the next album) and that EMI changed the track listing against the band's wishes (original track order was the same except "NM 156" as the album opener and "Warning" as the second to last track)

My take - I LOVED it as soon as I heard it!!!! I was (and still am) one of those that feel "The Warning" surpasses the EP. I wore this tape (remember cassettes?) out in high school!!!! First, the production just SOUNDED much better than the EP, obviously due to the studio.producer/money put into the effort. Today, sound likes a little too much noise reduction used. But, it has almost a slight melancholy feel to it. All the tracks are great! My personal favorite from this album is "Roads To Madness" - a long, progressive metal masterpiece of music. I remember being at Walt Disney World in 2000 and finally seeing a copy of 'the Warning" on CD at the since closed Virgin Megastore. I quickly picked it up as I had not been able to score a copy on CD for years - never could find it anywhere and was on my must list!!!!

Years later, the album still plays as a classic, great metal album!

I don't know why people wouldn't think this album is better than the EP. I guess because they kind of went in a slightly different direction but I still think they topped the EP with this one. Its just a more rounded, thought out and planned album rather than just a few songs just to put something out. Now if they went from the EP to what they are doing now that would be a whole different story haha.

I read about that also where NM156 was suppose to be the opening track. Is this album sort of a concept album? Because The order the songs are in is fine. As much as I love NM156 I think that would be a horrible opener, it doesn't really sound like an opening track. I love every song on this album except for Warning which I would tend to skip often. I like it but then again I don't. The chorus doesn't do it for me.

Oooooo, Queensrÿche! Finally a thread I can follow

The EP: I love this, of course. I also remember seeing Queen of the Ryche on MTV back in the day. And it was weird, becasue I had just discovered The Warning, but this song was not on that album! Later I discovered the EP, when a friend of mine bought it. Classic US metal, and the birth of progressive power metal?

This is my absolute favorite Queensrÿche album! It was the first one I heard, and most of the tracks still sends shivers down my spine! It's actually hard to explain, but there are just some albums that I hold as favorites, even though the band might have released better albums later on. I don't know if it's all nostalgia, or if the albums actually are this great, but I truly LOVE them, and never get tired of them. Nevertheless, Queensrÿche's brand of pummeling power metal, blended with progressive elements, topped with Geoff Tate's signature wailing vocals, just speaks to me. Too bad Queensrÿche didn't stay this way, but had to "mature". Don't mess with perfection! They don't make true heavy metal this good anymore.

I also used to own the Live in Japan VHS home video. This was a great concert short on the tour for "The Warning". The live versions have latter appeared on the remastred version of the EP.

On my 15th birthday I went to now defunct Record Bar and bought two albums on vinyl, Loudness-Thunder in the East and Queensryche-The Warning.

The Warning was a blind buy for me but I had read so much about them in Hit Parader I had to give them a shot and I am glad I did. This album and the ones that followed gave them the tag that critics once placed on Blue Oyster Cult, a thinking man's metal band.

Intelligent lyrics, well thought out arrangements, and excellent production, thou I have to admit at 15 I am not sure what that meant.

An excellent album that still gets plenty of spins from me and will again today thanks to this thread.