Meet the new boss, not the same as the old boss. You know, I can't really say that at this point Tate and Company disappointed me with this record, I mean; we sort of knew what to expect. Although the "Q2K" and "Hear in the Now Frontier" releases years ago were so far fetched from the classic Queensryche sound we had grown to love, we have now understood that the days of "Operation: Mindcrime" and "Rage for Order" are far behind them. But that does not mean that someone cannot enjoy at least part of this album.
With the whole evolution (or some might say de-evolution) of this band that seemed to change their whole outlook on songwriting and production values, we have to look at this album with a more open mind. There is a return of Chris DeGarmo on this record, who many believe is the brains behind the Queensryche sound, which attempts to make the record lean more towards early material, but all kidding aside, it isn't there for the most part, but the chops are still top notch and Tate's vocals are still in order.
Most of the cuts on this record follow some sort of heavy lead off, but the diversity in the production keeps the record from becoming too redundant, (such as the ambient-meets-world music toying on
"Losing Myself") but yet at the same time there are certain techniques used that do not really fit the whole Queensryche sound.
"Desert Dance" is one of the heavier cuts on the record, but you can hear a nu-metal influence complete with the ranting and raving during the chorus, something that I could have done without.
"Falling Behind" is an acoustic ballad reminiscent of some of Led Zeppelin's laid back acoustic material. But for songs that more or less pertain to the band's traditional sound, there are cuts like
"The Great Divide," which is a more mellow cut sounding like an "Empire" or "Promised Land" cut, and
"Blood" which is one of "Tribe's" darker songs that includes harmonizing layers of Tate's vocals.
"Rhythm of Hope" is probably the most commercial cut on the record, providing a dark ballad atmosphere.
To sum it all up, this record might be for completists only, I just think they went a little to overboard on the production of this album, putting elements where they really don't need to be, but times change and the bands do as well, some for better and some for worse, you be the judge. I will note that the CD is completely black, to me this symbolizes and makes clear to me that the death of Queensryche's glory days are well behind us. All this album does for me is make me want to get their older albums out and crank them up, even after several listens, I just can't get into it.
Written by
Hashman Friday, August 8, 2003
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