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QueensRyche.jpg
Queensr˙che is an American progressive metal band formed near Seattle, Washington in 1981. Chris DeGarmo (guitar) and Michael Wilton (guitar) had played in cover bands, and then recruited Geoff Tate (vocals), Eddie Jackson (bass guitar) and Scott Rockenfield (drums). This line-up began rehearsing and making a demo tape.
The demo tape was widely circulated, and Queensr˙che soon released Queen of the Reich (1983) on their own 206 Records label. The band then signed to EMI and re-released Queen of the Reich as Queensr˙che to moderate success, peaking at #81. This was followed by two more moderately successful albums, The Warning (1984) and Rage for Order (1986).
In 1988, Queensr˙che released Operation: Mindcrime, a massive critical and commercial success. It was a concept album built around the story of a junkie who is drugged into performing assassinations for an underground movement; the junkie is torn over his misplaced loyalty to the cause and his love of a reformed hooker-turned-nun who gets in the way. "Mindcrime" has often been compared to other notable concept albums like Pink Floyd's "The Wall" and The Who's "Tommy".
Empire (1990) was just as popular, and also charted in the United Kingdom. By the time the group released Promised Land (1994), Queensr˙che was no longer hip as grunge music and alternative rock dominated the national consciousness. In spite of this, Promised Land managed to become a commercial success due to the band's sizable cult audience. Their follow-up, Hear in the Now Frontier (1997), received mixed reviews. DeGarmo soon quit, replaced by Kelly Gray for Q2K (1999). In 2002 Queensr˙che signed with Sanctuary Records for its future album releases after the conclusion of the EMI contract. Since then, the group has toured on Iron Maiden's reunion trip and released a greatest-hits album. In 2003 Queensr˙che released a new album, Tribe. Chris DeGarmo, who has since pursued a career as a professional pilot, contributed music and guitar performances on four songs as a special guest. Kelly Gray was replaced by Mike Stone as second guitarist to Michael Wilton's lead. The band is currently working on a sequel to Operation: Mindcrime, tentatively titled Operation: Mindcrime II due to come out in early 2006. It is said to answer some of the questions posed by the first album.
Lead singer Geoff Tate launched a side project in 2002. One self-titled album has been released thus far to minimal acclaim.
Queensrÿche were the first band to apply the heavy metal umlaut to the letter Y. As Tate put it: "We spent eleven years trying to explain how to pronounce it." [1] (http://www.spiraling.com/words/umlaut.html)
Discography
- Queensr˙che (1983)
- The Warning (1984)
- Rage For Order (1986)
- Operation: mindcrime (1988)
- Empire (1990)
- Operation: Livecrime (1991)
- Promised Land (1994)
- Hear in the Now Frontier (1997)
- Q2K (1999)
- Live Evolution (2001)
- Tribe (2003)
- The Art of Live (2004)
- Operation: mindcrime II (tentative title) (2005)
External links
- Official Queensr˙che Website (http://www.queensryche.com)
- Official Geoff Tate Website (http://www.geofftate.com)
- The History of Queensr˙che (http://www.queensrychehistory.com)de:Queensr˙che