Far too early for comment. But I will anyway.
The first song snippet didn’t sound like Queensryche to me (more like Racer X!). The second and beyond did…keep in mind these must be demos because they’re not hitting the studio until next month.
I’m sure the Tate camp will be pissed off at them saying they are the “masterminds” behind Mindcrime and Empire…that was probably taking it too far. This is turning into a PR war.
I’m encouraged. Produced with Jimo Barton again! You’re not gonna get that much from a few seconds’ worth, but a couple of these songs sound like possible winners, and have the “Queensryche sound”. (Nobody sounds like Rockenfield!) It does sound a lot better than pretty much anything from Hear In The Now to present. But will it be memorable and live up to The Warning or Rage For Order?
We’ll see in 2013.
Discuss.
mikeladano.com 
As you said, not much to discuss yet. Although I will postulate that it is unfair to compare what they do now with anything they have done in the past. However much you want them to sound like some other album you like, they will sound like what they sound like now. Metallica fans are also guilty of this.
I think the band should avoid anything nasty in the press and in all releases related to this record. the best revenge is living well. They should just plunge on, do their thing, and let the past be the past and what they’re doing now is what they are doing now.
Also: Who cares what Stabby thinks? He’s done. Over. You should all let him go. Until you do, you will continue to wste time in your brains on him.
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You’re right man, you called me out: I’m committing the sin that the majority of so called ‘Tallica fans commit every time.
BUT — like Metallica, Queensryche are billing this as a nod and a wink to better days of the past. In a lot of ways they want you to compare, just like Kirk Hammett HAS to know when he says, “Our new album sounds like Masters” that people ARE going to see if it’s true.
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Oh I don’t want to squash your enthusiasm. It’s great that you’re excited.
I wish bands would shut up about a record before it’s done. Don’t say a word, even of the press asks. Just nod and smile and say it’s coming soon. The go to the studio, do your best, release the thing and let other people decide for themselves what it does/doesn’t sound like. It’s just recipe for disappointment and making people wonder wtf, you know?
Also, I don’t believe Hammett. Not one bit. And if he’s right, it’ll be a shame. They need to make something new, not retread the past. But again, he should just keep mum about it. Let the record do the talking… if they ever get around to releasing the f-ing thing. As I said on HMO’s site, they could put out an album a year. Keep it heavy, raw and go for it. Cut out all the bloat and they could give us a whole different Metallica. But no one ever asks me my opinion, and they never return my calls on the matter.
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Oh I agree fully…I prefer to not know anything about an album except the name and cover and go from there! That’s how it was in the day when magazines ruled. I remember seeing an ad for Second Sighting by Ace Frehley. I was like, “No way, Ace has another album? Fuck, I have to have it.”
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But if they all followed my advice, you wouldn’t be able to make blog posts like this!
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True, but it’s a different age now. The public has been spoiled by the instant gratification of the internet. And entities that wish to sell products (like record companies, and many bands) have made samples of albums available well in advance. Hell this is an album that’s not even recorded yet!
I suppose in today’s economic climate, one good strategy is to try and lead the pack.
But another strategy would be the one you suggest. Don’t join the pack. Just put out a fucking album cover, a title, and say, “The new album by Queensryche”, and let the people go nuts waiting to hear it.
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I like the latter strategy. People using the internet for instant gratification are mostly watching porn. Bands, though, they should man up and let their record speak for itself. The economic side of things will take care of itself, if they’ve made a record with integrity that rocks the hell out of everyone’s expectations.
The other way, putting out press releases that say nothing, is getting people to scrabble around on their knees, hoping for scraps, all the while knowing the record is months away. It’s cruel.
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It’s probably easier to hype the fuck out of a record, than to make one with integrity that rocks everyone’s expectations!
You know, look at Van Halen — nobody knew jack shit about their album until literally a few weeks before. David Lee Roth leaked the title of the album himself to some kid on the street before a gig. I got the impression from the video (somebody filmed it with their phone obviously) that DLR wasn’t “allowed” to leak it but did anyway.
That was cool. Old school, man. Like back in the day we’d hear rumours about an album title. Finally a magazine would print something concrete. You’d get all excited and practice drawing a cool logo for it.
That’s like what DLR did. We’d all be guessing for friggin’ YEARS anything at all about the album. Then DLR just says it, a few weeks before it comes out: A Different Kind of Truth.
I wonder how hard it was for them to keep so much about that album completely under wraps?
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Ah, there’s the key! Bands should just pretend the internet doesn’t exist! Just go make your record and keep your mouth shut.
The hard part is that most people can’t keep their mouths shut, in general. Think of most people you know. They talk because they cannot stand even a moment’s silence. And people in the public eye are even worse for it. But it wouldn’t be hard to keep people guessing if they’d just STFU and get on with it.
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Most bands should learn from Van Halen and how they handled their new record.
Maiden are also not guilty of hyping their albums. You seldom know very much about them other than, yes, they’re recording, and yes, they are excited about the album.
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Perfect, there’s the template.
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Indidentally I realize my hypocrisy here by saying I prefer the “old way” when I’m posting new Queensryche samples.
AHHH! LeBrain is part of the machine.
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I saw that too, but Shhh I won’t tell anyone.
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I’m reluctant to opine much on the basis of these wee snippets. Jimbo Barton’s involvement is quite intriguing and a good idea on the band’s part. I agree with you that the Masterminds bit is a tad cheeky. I wouldn’t have said any of these sounded like “winners” though without hearing more. It just sounds like they’re trying to tick all the right boxes. I want to hear full songs.
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Are they trying to tick all the right boxes? Or does this represent all the songs they’ve written over the years that Tate rejected? Time will tell.
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Exactly. Until we’ve heard the whole album you can’t tell really. I’m just feeling pretty skeptical about how this is going to work out. I’d love to be proven wrong though!
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Me too. This band USED to mean a lot to me.
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I’d just like to state, for the record, that I am NOT Geoff Tate.
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Sure, sure, Stabby. PROVE IT.
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*spits angrily*
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Go to your room, Stabby. And don’t come out until you’re a whole lot less stabby.
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You guys keep bringing him up again :)
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Wasn’t me, it was him. He started it.
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Don’t make me separate you two. 2 minutes in the penalty box.
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Go ahead and try, man. Hahaha!
You mention penalty box, all I can think of is this:
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Brilliant scene, great movie. I love the accent. “Just some English pig, wit no brains.”
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Another great quote from Denis (and I have to paraphrase, from memory): “The hair! I cannot breathe the hair!” Hahaha. Great film. A friend of ours from Saskatoon was there in the rink when they filmed the final scene. Cool beans.
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“this band used to mean a lot to me”….
True that.
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