Queensrÿche - Queensrÿche

Published June 20 2013

*=Staff's pick	X2 Where Dreams Go To Die* Spore* In This Light* Redemption Vindication Midnight Lullaby A World Without Don't Look Back Fallout Open Road*

Genre	Progressive Hard Rock	Todd La Torre	Vocals
Tracks	11	Michael Wilton	Guitar
Running time	35 Min.	Parker Lundgren	Guitar
Label	Century Media	Eddie Jackson	Bass
Release	24 June 2013	Scott Rockenfield	Drums
Country	USA	-	Keyboard
Producer	James "Jimbo" Barton
Similar artists	---

You've heard the not that flattering story about this band's beefs thousands of times this last year, so I won't bother you with that soap opera. I initially told myself; don't lift this album to the skies and don't praise it just because of their supposed return to a type of music much closer to what they did create in their heydays.

But what should a grown man do when Todd La Torre totally thrashes former lead vocalist Geoff Tate's nowadays performances? Todd is definitely the best man available for Queensrÿche and he gives this vital outfit a solid appearance again and this album is so sought after, from all the debacles released in the last two decades when this band slowly withered away from their fame and their classic roots.

This album is merely thirty-five minutes long including an intro and an intermission, each somewhere around the one minute mark, so basically nine songs split on thirty-three minutes of playing time. Most of these songs have a massive and striking impact. Where Dreams Go To Die starts with a slow paced verse and explodes into a fiery typical Queensrÿche chorus. Perhaps I'm in deep water here, but the choruses throughout the album are stronger than ever. Spore is overwhelming and with the semi-ballad In This Light, I find myself standing on the floor just shouting the words with a passion worth crying for.

Furthermore, on the negative side, I think the drums have a somewhat hollow sound occasionally, yet nothing that bothers me significantly and in general they rock in symbiosis with the strings all throughout. All songs absolutely don't crush big time, but we're still miles away from anything that could be named filler. I won't go through every song on this self titled album and I guess you just have to trust my opinion on this amazing piece.

I strongly believe that this lineup has even more to offer in the future and I highly recommend every Queensrÿche fan to purchase this release as soon as possible. At this moment I prefer to not get too carried away with delight, because the album could in fact have been a bit longer, and if it was, I would probably have given it an even higher rating. Now I settle with 8 chalices to this fantastic return that I honestly thought was not achievable.

See also review of: Condition Hüman , American Soldier , Tribe

Performance	Originality	Production	Vocals	Songwriting
8	5	7	9	8

Summary
8 chalices of 10 - Tobbe