QUEENSRYCHE "AMERICAN SOLDIER"....

Just was listening to a live boot of One Hundred Mile Stare and it doesn't sound great live at all. Tate doesn't sing any of the main chorus vocals and lets taped samples cover everything. I was at least thinking that new keyboard player Jason Ames would take those but its clearly a weaker song live than the studio version. At 30,000 Feet is a little better but again studio magic creates a far superior version on the album.

Those two songs are by far the best on the album.
 
35? You're still a kid.
I went to my first concert 31 years ago.
In my defense it was Sabbath with Van Halen opening up.




Shaun!!! Yep, funny how the nostalgia bug is biting me lately. Must be the whole turning 35 thing. :p



You need to get one. It's much better than MySpace. I was very resistant, until they made me do it. It's actually kind of neat. Urban will get a Facebook page about the time hell freezes over, though, so if you stay in that camp, you'll have company.

Besides, I can just post pics on there instead of having to put them on photobucket and send a link. You're missing some real doozies from Patrick's 21st birthday party last night if you're not my Facebook friend. :D

Shaye
 
35? You're still a kid.
I went to my first concert 31 years ago.
In my defense it was Sabbath with Van Halen opening up.

Compared to me you are still a kid also, hehehehehe I went to my first concert 43 years ago at age 15, on the bill was The Who, Mitch Rider, Electric Prunes, Blues Magoos, and other i can't remember. Was fortunate enough to see Jimi Hendrix Live. Now that is old.
 
Compared to me you are still a kid also, hehehehehe I went to my first concert 43 years ago at age 15, on the bill was The Who, Mitch Rider, Electric Prunes, Blues Magoos, and other i can't remember. Was fortunate enough to see Jimi Hendrix Live. Now that is old.

Now I'll concede defeat to you. ;)

My first real concert was 21 years ago next month--Yngwie, Black N Blue, and Lita Ford. (I don't count Helen Cornelius at the fair. :))
 
I love Queensryche... they've provided with me with unlimited musical pleasure... but their last great album was "Promised Land"... though I will admit to somewhat enjoying about half of "Q2K"... actually... it they would've continued in that vein I might still be interested...

I'm not gonna criticize QR (though I will criticize "American Soldier")... cuz they gave us so much amazing music... and they've done so much to define "progressive metal"... they can keep putting out crappy albums if they want... and I'm not gonna bash them for it... but man, "American Soldier" is a hideous turd of an album. A friend of mine purchased it... and we couldn't stop laughing and criticizing the album. I'm not angry with QR... they had a long run of brilliant output... so I just choose to ignore their new albums instead of getting angry about them. The strange thing about "American Soldier" is that it seems to have few songwriting contributions from the band. There's two outside songwriters... former (and much-maligned) QR member Kelly Grey... and some other guy who also contributed "additional guitars" (why QR would need "additional guitars" when they have Wilton mystifies me... I could see if if they got Gilmour or Lifeson to provide a different texture... but Kelly Grey!?). And then Geoff obviously wrote the lyrics and guided the concept of war stories. The album is just bizarre... the guitars are weird as hell... they multi-track and process Geoff's voice into oblivion during every chorus... and every song is at the same tempo. The only moment I like is when Tate's daughter sings... she's not a professional vocalist... or even an amateur vocalist... but I think that's what touches me about it... she's just a regular girl trying to sing.
 
I'd rather Geoff Tate reboot his solo career as opposed to carrying on with the ghost of Queensryche... his 2002 solo release was much better than any QR album post "Promised Land"!

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I honestly prefer his later singing to the earlier, higher stuff anyway.

Shaye

Tate's peak of vocal prowess was "Empire" through "Promised Land". While he was awesome in the 80s, he always resorted to some annoying 80s metal conventions (such as shrieking) which was the style at the time... hasn't aged well... but he didn't indulge in as much of this as many of his peers. "Empire" is when he transitioned from being a great metal singer to just a great singer... his voice had reached a level of maturation and depth... and he knew how to wield it tastefully. His performance at 1992's "MTV Unplugged" performance was masterful. "Promised Land" is probably his greatest studio performance vocally... it's amazing how quickly his voice declined by 1999's "Q2K".