Only heard I'm American off of O:MII. I wasn't impressed.

Queensryche - Sign Of The Times
Released August 28, 2007

Disc One
"Queen of the Reich" - 4:20 (from the EP Queensrÿche)
"Warning" - 4:43 (from the album The Warning)
"Walk in the Shadows" - 3:33 (from the album Rage For Order)
"Take Hold of the Flame" - 4:53 (from the album The Warning)
"The Lady Wore Black" - 6:13 (from the EP Queensrÿche)
"I Don't Believe in Love" - 4:22 (from the album Operation: Mindcrime)
"Eyes of a Stranger" - 6:35 (from the album Operation: Mindcrime)
"Silent Lucidity" - 5:44 (from the album Empire)
"Bridge" - 3:28 (from the album Promised Land)
"Jet City Woman" - 5:21 (from the album Empire)
"Another Rainy Night (Without You)" - 4:27 (from the album Empire)
"Sign of the Times" - 3:31 (from the album Hear in the Now Frontier)
"I Am I" - 3:57 (from the album Promised Land)
"Real World" - 4:20 (from the Last Action Hero soundtrack album)
"Some People Fly" - 5:15 (from the album Hear in the Now Frontier)
"Until There Was You" - 4:01 (bonus track from the reissued Q2K)
"All the Promises" - 5:08 (from the album Operation: Mindcrime II)


[edit]Collector's Edition Bonus Disc
"Take Hold of the Flame" (Myth Original Demo Version) (previously unreleased)
"Walk in the Shadows" (Myth Original Demo Version) (previously unreleased)
"Before the Storm" (Myth Original Demo Version) (previously unreleased)
"Waiting for the Kill" (previously unreleased: demo for The Warning)
"No Sanctuary" (previously unreleased: demo for The Warning)
"Prophecy" (previously unreleased: demo for The Warning)
"I Dream in Infrared" (1991 Acoustic Remix bonus track from the reissued version of the album Rage for Order)
"Dirty Li'l Secret" (bonus track from the reissued version of the album Empire)
"Last Time in Paris" (from the soundtrack album The Adventures of Ford Fairlane; also a bonus track from the reissued version of the album Empire)
"Scarborough Fair" (bonus track from the reissued version of the album Empire)
"Della Brown" (previously unreleased: MTV Unplugged, New York, NY 4/27/92)
"Someone Else?" (with Full Band: bonus track from the reissued version of the album Promised Land)
"Silent Lucidity" (live at The Astoria Theatre, London 10/20/94: from the "Bridge" CD single)
"Chasing Blue Sky" (bonus track from the reissued Hear in the Now Frontier)
"Justified" (new track)

Less than 2 months after the release of "Mindcrime at The Moore", Queensryche released another "Greatest Hits" compilation. It was available with a bonus disc that included demos and rarities.

The first disc has the usual hits, but also included the cool song from the "Last Action Hero" soundtrack, "Real World". It also includes the a bonus track from the Q2K re-release called "Until There Was You", which is a good ballad. I am not sure why this wasn't included on the original release as it is better than the weaker songs on that album.

The second disc is where the action is. It starts off with a several demos from Geoff Tate's pre-Ryche band, Myth. First is a song called 'Take Hold Of The Flame", which is nothing like the song of the same title on "The Warning" - this is a cool track that is not a ballad! Next up is "Walk In The Shadows", another cool track that the only thing in common with the song on "Rage For Order" is the title. The last of the Myth demos is "Before The Storm", once again has nothing in common with the song on "The Warning" Other than the title. Listening to the tracks from "Myth", I can see why Queensryche wanted Geoff Tate for Vocals


Next up are some "Warning" demos - most interesting being "waiting For The Kill" - the intro would become the end of "Before The Storm". After demos for "No Sanctuary" and "Prophecy", the rarities continue. Most have shown up elsewhere. "Dirty Lil Secrets", a track from Empire that sounds like an Empire track and if it was released would have been pure filler. Good call on the producer to leave it off a perfect album! "Last Time In Paris" is from another soundtrack, "The Adventures Of Ford Fairlane". The song was recorded during the "Empire" sessions and would fit perfectly on Empire. Great song! I remember hearing it before the album came out and thinking "Cool, but different........" and was the first taste of what 'Empire" would sound like. The other tracks, aside from the album closer, have been available before and are great inclusions on one disc.

The last track, "Justified" is song recorded with Chris DeGarmo. I do know know if it was recored new or recorded for the "tribe" sessions or he stopped for the "OM:II" sessions. But, none the less, it is a great song.

This is a great buy because of Disc 2! Worth the inclusion in your Queensryche collection!

Didn't even know about this! Me needs!

This 2-disc edition was given to me by the same dude that hooked me up with Mindcrime II.

Having not heard allot of the post-Empire material in a long time, or in some cases not at all, I found myself thinking that some of the tunes on disc 1 that I judged rather harshly weren't that bad after all. I wasn't blown away or rushing out to fill the gaps in my collection, but they weren't as bad as I remembered.

I need to listen to the 2nd disc again. I only gave it a few spins when I first got it and don't really recall much about the Myth tracks. A few of the bonus tracks I had already from the re-issues and owning the Ford Fairlane soundtrack. I always liked that 'Last Time In Paris' track. It was a fun little number that wasn't as dark or intense as most Queensryche material. It sounds like the band having a little fun and not being so dramatic. Slightly out-of-character for them, but unquestionably a Queensryche song.

I bought that 2 cd best of compilation the day it came out. Pretty cool extras on this one.

I got the 2CD Sing of the Times to review. Pretty killer for a free disc. And yeah, the second CD is what makes it all worth it. Great stuff on that one.

And did anyone read this?

Quote:

"I add a lot of film score elements or sound effects [into my drum work], especially on the new thing we’re working on right now," Rockenfield said. "Geoff [Tate, vocals] and I have really spent a lot of time together redesigning the QUEENSRŸCHE thing, which you're going to love. It's huge rock but with a great dance vibe to it, real modern dance. It's kind of like 'Rage' ['For Order'] through a time tunnel, bringing it into the now. There are a lot of electronic elements to it. It's a big rock thing that is going to have a lot of color to it — it's good and really intense." When asked about the progress of the songwriting sessions for the follow-up to QUEENSRŸCHE's 2009 CD, "American Soldier", QUEENSRŸCHE singer Geoff Tate stated on this past Friday night's (August 20) edition of Eddie Trunk's "Friday Night Rocks" radio show on New York's Q104.3 FM, "We're about more than halfway through our new album, writing it... In a sense, it is [a concept record]. It's a very contemporary record. He continued, "'Empire' was a record of the time. Rock music was really the music of the times in 1990. Unfortunately, rock music isn't the music of the times anymore — it's very underground. "What we're doing with this record is we're taking the 'Empire' song structure, in a sense, where it's very strong songs, very melodic, but we kind of restructured the rhythm section, and Scott's done an amazing job on restructuring that — him and Eddie [Jackson, bass] have just really gone to town, and they've made it very contemporary-sounding. "These days, in comparison to the old days, people used to sit in their houses and listen to music right in the front room on their stereo system. People don't do that anymore. They plug in and they're mobile and they're moving and they're doing stuff and the music, they're listening to it as they're doing stuff. This music has that feel. It's very contemporary in the sense that it's very rhythmatic. The rhythm structure kind of reflects the way modern life is — we're all busy, we're all doing stuff. And Scott being the incredible drummer that he is, the various time signatures, the feel of the record, it's now — it's very, very now."

WTF?

Yea I read that. I have no idea what to even think of that.

Was there a dance vibe to Rage for Order that I'm unaware of?

"Everybody Dance Now......."

Queensryche - Take Cover
Released November 13, 2007

Track listing

"Welcome to the Machine" (Pink Floyd) - 4:54
"Heaven on Their Minds" (Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rice) - 4:54
"Almost Cut My Hair" (Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young) - 4:18
"For What It's Worth" (Buffalo Springfield) - 2:53
"For the Love of Money" (The O'Jays) - 4:58
"Innuendo" (Queen) - 6:11
"Neon Knights" (Black Sabbath) - 3:41
"Synchronicity II" (The Police) - 4:55
"Red Rain" (Peter Gabriel) - 4:39
"Odissea" (Carlo Marrale & Cheope) - 3:51
"Bullet the Blue Sky (Live)" (U2) - 10:26
[edit]Personnel

Queensryche used to be a band who wasn't effected by trends and was an innovator. These days, Queensryche seems just content to follow the pack. That trend continues with the release of a covers album. I am actually a fan of cover albums and like when a band released a whole album of covers. Metallica, Def Leppard and Ultimatum are examples of groups that have done it right. Unfortunately, the cover and title of this album sum it up - half of the album stinks so bad you'd better get a gas mask and take cover.

The album actually starts off with a great cover of Pink Floyd's classic "Welcome To The Machine". I had heard that cover before the album was released and was enough to make me buy the album. The choice of the second tracks shows Geoff Tate's continued descent into the artsy fartsy by covering a Broadway song, "Heaven On There Mind" from "Jesus Christ Superstar". This is a great cover! The first two songs have the classic Queensryche sound! Great stuff!!!!

From this point, the next four covers are just horrible - time to break out that gas mask! I do not want to hear Geoff Tate singing "Money money money!" Covering Queen is a good idea. Queen has tons of songs to choose from to cover. Unfortunately, Queensryche decided to cover a latter day Queen track that was a lousy song to begin with and created a crappy cover.

Finally we get into some good covers again!!!! Great cover of the Black Sabbath with Dio classic "Neon Nights". Next up are two odd choices for a cover, especially by a band that was a Metal band at one time, "Synchronicity II" by the Police and "Red Rain" by Peter Gabriel. Both are GREAT covers!!!!!

Geoff Tate decided to cover an Italian Opera classic, even singing in Italian. While Geoff has great pipes, this song is just a mess and sound like noise to my ears!

The last track is a live cover of "Bullet The Blue Sky" by U2. This is a great way to end the covers album and is a good cover.

To sum up the album, it's a half a$$ed album, only half good and half really bad. Fortunately we can easily skip the crappy songs on the CD and listen to the good ones!!!!

That covers album is almost worth if for their cove of Red Rain alone. Amazing job. I agree with what you say on every song except Innuendo, I think it's a decent cover.

I don't have the covers album but looking at the track listing, I may just invest in it. I prefer those types of albums with songs by bands I wouldn't normally own (and avoiding the redundancy in my collection-I know,strange) and besides the Sabbath tune,I have nothing else from the original artists.

"Welcome to the Machine" (Pink Floyd) - 4:54
"Innuendo" (Queen) - 6:11
"Neon Knights" (Black Sabbath) - 3:41
"Synchronicity II" (The Police) - 4:55
"Red Rain" (Peter Gabriel) - 4:39
"Bullet the Blue Sky (Live)" (U2) - 10:26

These together would have made a great EP...

Yep! Only half of this album is good. I really don't like cover albums even though I tend to pick them up hoping they will be good, but usually they aren't. My favorite ones are Metallica's Garage Days stuff for some reason to me they can make songs better most of the time. Even Helloween (my favorite band) i didn't really care for their covers album. It really depends on the song choices too. I barely listen to this Queensryche one. this is one of those cases where if I wanted to hear these songs i'd rather hear the originals

Guess it is time for another covers album. Everyone else have already done them, so why not Queensrÿche too, right? Well, if nothing else, this album shows you why this band is no longer a heavy metal force to be reckoned with! Save for the Black Sabbath number, there is absolutely nothing on this record that shows the bands metal legacy. And in the case of the cover of the song from the movie 'Jesus Christ Superstar', the original is almost heavier than this cover version!! So either this band is once again ignoring their heavy metal background, and try their best to cover up the fact that they were there to start off both the US power metal scene, and the prog metal scene, or they are showing their real roots. A sticker on the cover says this is the bands favorite songs. Now, this would all be fine and dandy if they had at least done the numbers some justice. But sadly I can't even say that they have done that. Most of the tracks sound very flat against the original artists. And the album sounds more like something they rushed together, rather than something they actually gave some effort and initiative. Can you even imagine a grandiose number, such as Queen's "Innuendo", being butchered by a band that uses some lame effects on the vocals, and didn't even bother to tune their guitars before playing?! Only the opening track, the Pink Floyd cover, is at least amusing. And the U2 number would be cool too, if it hadn't been for Sepultura's cover version of this track, that blows Queensrÿche's attempt right out of the water! 'Take Cover' is another let down in this bands career for me.

Queensryche - American Soldier
Released March 31, 2009

Track listing
"Sliver" (Jason Slater/Geoff Tate) (3:09)
"Unafraid" (Jason Slater/Geoff Tate) (4:47)
"Hundred Mile Stare" (Kelly Gray/Geoff Tate) (4:31)
"At 30,000 Ft" (Jason Slater/Geoff Tate) (5:11)
"A Dead Man's Words" (Jason Slater/Geoff Tate) (6:35)
"The Killer" (Jason Slater/Geoff Tate) (5:26)
"Middle of Hell" (Kelly Gray/Damon Johnson/Scott Rockenfield/Geoff Tate) (5:28)
"If I Were King" (Jason Slater/Geoff Tate) (5:17)
"Man Down!" (Kelly Gray/Geoff Tate) (4:57)
"Remember Me" (Jason Slater/Geoff Tate) (5:00)
"Home Again" (Kelly Gray/Damon Johnson/Scott Rockenfield/Geoff Tate) (4:41)
"The Voice" (Jason Slater/Geoff Tate) (5:29)

Following the release of 'Take Cover", guitarist Mike Stone left the band to concentrate on his side project Speed-X. The band began to work on the next release without adding a second guitarist. Michael Wilton would play all of the guitars on the next release.

Geoff Tate, who by now was the indisputable leader of the band, had an idea to do an album about the lives of a soldier. He interviewed multiple soldiers to get their perspective on war, including his father who was in the U.S. Army. At the point, he sat down with producer Jason Slater (who had produced Mindcrime II) and Producer/Former Guitarist Kelly Gray to write the next albums after his research was done. Slater produced the album and Gray was the engineer.

It was announced that "American Soldier" would be the next Queensryche album and it was concept album about war through the eyes of a soldier. It would not be a story concept album like O:M or O:M II, but different experiences of our troops. Knowing Tate's political leanings, my first reaction upon hearing about the album was that he was going to anti-military album. I was happy when I heard it that it was not an anti-military piece of propaganda.

It's a good album. Not a great album, but a good album and an enjoyable listen. It is much better than HITNF, Q2K or Tribe. There aren't really any standout tracks on this one, as the album needs to be listened to as a whole. The album is the band's most consistent work in years.

On the tour for the album, the band performed at military bases and met with members of our military. I have read the album was a hit with members of the armed forces. The tour was presented in 3 suites, first songs from "American Soldier". For the next two suites, the band asked fans which albums they would most like to hear songs from. The two biggest choices where "Rage For Order" and "Empire", so those where the other two :suites" on the tour.

After the 'American Soldier" tour, Geoff Tate decided to get artsy-fartsy again and do Queensryche: Cabaret shows geared towards an adults only crowd with actors and circus freaks. During this time, they have begun to write for the new album for a new label, Loud N Proud (Roadrunner). Geoff Tate has made some, um, interesting comments about the new album. He has called it a great rock record with a MODERN DANCE beat, which leads me to say WTF?

But, Queensryche has never released tow albums that are the same and has always tried to venture into new territory. That said, I will probably buy the new album to keep a complete Queensryche studio discography in my collection.

Thus ends the Queenryche thread - I hope everyone enjoyed it. I enjoyed reading everyone's comments about the releases!

Can't say I have this one and I'm not sure if I want it. Guess I'll wait and see what everyone else has to say about it before I decide.

Have never heard this one.

Excellent thread and enjoyed it sir

When AMERICAN SOLDIER first came out I watched the video for the lead off single (whatever it was, I don't even remember now) and .... Zzzzzzzzz. Therefore I never bothered to look into the rest of the album.

I do find it odd that Queensryche and Toby Keith now have an album title in common.