One of the last troubadours of Metal in the American mainstream would prove to create one of the 1990's most intriguing records. Released right before the big Seattle grunge explosion (Ironically, Queensryche is also from Seattle) of Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Soundgarden, that was the kiss of death for metal, at least in America, was more than just a last gasp as many people would put it, it actually was a breath of fresh air, shining through the "hair metal" sound with a whole new technical approach to the music, throwing away the gloss and glam for the intricate sound, where the music is king.
Released after their opus Operation:Mindcrime, which was their first true commercial success, after releasing two other records and their debut E.P., the mystical image of the 'Ryche was now in the forefront of popular music, and they did it without selling out.
Beginning with
"The Best I Can," the opening dialog of parents leaving a crippled child alone and the boys choir singing about a hidden gun and possible suicide, adds the spookiness of a possibly dark concept album, but yet the song lyrically inspires hope, amazingly for such a moody atmosphere that this song opens up the record on. Rather than being a full-blown concept album, the songs themselves tell stories individually flowing from one to the other without harsh transition. Carrying the same vibe of Mindcrime, but more loosely leaning toward the
AOR stance, there was no telling by the band's standpoint what influence
Empire might have on music in general, the songs on this record are masterpieces all cuts are complete opuses inn their own right, many songs carrying the heavy vibe, but yet with technicalities that had rarely been heard on a metal record. It carried the same dual guitar attack from Chris DeGarmo and Michael Wilton, shining with their signature chops, complimenting Geoff Tate's unique vocal power.
The title cut was politically charged and had a spooky vibe, especially since the United States and NATO were involved in their first confrontation with Saddam Hussein at the time, the song itself has dialog from Tate speaking of the U.S building its "empire" of weapons (in relation more towards fighting drug lords and the violence on the home front), regardless, this record was the perfect escape from all the political bullshit that was going on at the time, and if you put it on today, it still is that way.
Cuts like the moody ballad
"Della Brown," with it's thumping bassline, dark rockers
"The Thin Line," "Another Rainy Night," and
"Hand on Heart" spelled their own signature stamp on this record.
"Jet City Woman" was the second biggest single, huge rotation on radio, bringing this dark rocker up front with it's absolute power driven riffs and hook laden chorus, but no cut on this album, would be a huge as the main single
"Silent Lucidity," 'Ryche's "Comfortably Numb" so to speak. A power ballad lacking all cheesy connotations that would cause metalheads to heave at the sound of, say,
Bon Jovi or Poison, giving it life with the orchestration and harmonizing vocals in the chorus. The cut received massive rotation on both rock and top 40 radio, MTV, and cause the sales of the record to soar. Unlike many ballads by band that had a heavy background; think of
Extreme ("More than words") and
Mr. Big ("To be with You") unfortunately falsely representing those two bands with syrupy pop ballads that would give them a crack at commercial success;
"Silent Lucidity" fully represented the band. People were aware that these guys were heavy, and because of that more people who might not have really been into metal, bought the album, and enjoyed it for what it was, knowing what to expect, and a sold out tour followed, bringing metal to the masses once again.
The last cut to be aired heavily on the radio, was
"Anybody Listening" a dark ballad that still reigned heavily on the airwaves, regardless of the fact that at this point we were now in the midst of grunge/alternative rock domination.
These days it's rare that an album with tracks can be phenomenal back to front,
Empire still stands the test of time with all the hits being played on classic rock radio and still sells several units a year, being newly discovered by a new generation of fans.
What does help the sales however is that this record has been remastered three times!!! The latest version, in a series of all of their EMI releases, coming from the vaults and marketing minds of Capitol Records, has three bonus tracks, the ever so coveted
"Scarborough Fair," "Dirt Lil' Secret," (both released as b-sides to singles), and
"Last Time In Paris," which originally appeared in the Andrew Dice Clay film,
Ford Fairlane. This version has more high end than the original and is compressed sonically for maximum volume cranking, keeping the level even throughout, where the VU meter stays in the red consistently.
DCC Compact Classics actually released the first remasterd version in 2000 on one of their high priced gold discs. Using an ultra high resolution tube AD converter, DCC remasterd this to more sonic perfection, with no compression, leaving more attack for the instrumentation, giving the drums and more spontaneous instruments more "balls," where the VU meter tends to dance, rather than stay at a consistent level, in this case they try to get the exact replication of an unmastered two track analog tape, and they do it well. Strictly for audiophiles (no bonus tracks).
And now the final remasterd version, the DVD Audio edition, offering ultra high resolution sound in both Stereo and 5.1 surround, and to hear it in surround sound is an experience, the stereo mix alone even kills the DCC version, no bonus tracks appear here, however on this version as bonuses you get here are lyrics showing up on the screen, interviews, and the videos for
"Silent Lucidity" and
"Jet City Woman," now how many times does a fan have to buy this album, well if the record industry wants our money, they found a good way to get it.
Regardless of what version you might have, you still cant' deny it's sound, and sadly this was the last really strong album from these guys, although
Promised Land would make sparks in the mid nineties as yet another great album (some of you probably despise of it), the magic of
Empire and
Mindcrime was not 100% there, and it only got weaker from then on, but when they tour, they play the music like it was just recorded yesterday, still being able to carry the legacy in a live setting, if not on tape/hard drive.
Written by
Hashman Thursday, February 5, 2004
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Queensryche's most successful work.
Full of good&easy listening songs.
The title track i... · Read more · |
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