Customer Reviews

Queensryche

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

debut album by any metal band in my opinion. Forget Nirvana; these guys were the original super band from the State of Washington!

I originally heard the song "Queen of the Reich" on a metal station in the San Francisco area in the early '80s. I was so completely blown away by the pure intensity of Geoff Tate's vocals and the blazing fury of Chris DeGarmo and Michael Wilton's dual guitar work, I went out and bought the EP immediately. I'm currently wearing out my 2nd copy of the CD as fast as I wore out my 2 copies of the EP.

If you like storytelling in your music (groups like Iron Maiden, Pink Floyd, ELP, BOC and Yes), then Queensryche is another band you will want to collect (albeit the music is a bit heavier). Also, unlike vocalists for some other metal bands, you can actually hear what Geoff Tate is singing at top volume. In this EP, you will get a sense of the band's potential of what you would later hear in LPs like "Empire" and "Operation: Mindcrime".

Granted that this was not a commercially successful EP. With songs like "The Lady Wore Black" (the quinessential song of true love no matter the cost) and "Queen of the Reich", however, this EP has to be an integral and serious item in any (past, present and future) metalhead's collection.

In other words, order this EP -=RIGHT NOW=-! :)

This is amazing. A triumphant start for this talented and awesome band! As true to heavy metal as you can get. Of course the main highlights are "Queen Of The Reich" and "The Lady Wore Black". Pick this one up!

This is unarguably heavy metal at its best, but still too much influenced by Iron Maiden and a musicianship less clever than what this band deployed after. The first four songs included in the original EP are very similar, and that goes against its quality, although it must be said that these songs are pretty good. Geoff Tate screams too much and the production is too rough for a vocalist that peaks constantly to the highest tones. The guitar duos are a little bit primary, and Scott Rockenfield didn't fully show his class here. However, Queensryche anyway demonstrated at this time PERSONALITY, POWER and ELEGANCE, which helps to save the still primitive songwriting. So, I give the EP four stars for the fact that this was their first release and it is VERY GOOD for a beginner band. "The Queen Of The Reich" is an anthological song, as well as "The Lady Wore Black". I think that the first four songs worth the price of the EP. On the contrary, the re-released bonus track "Prophecy" is a Maiden-like tune, with little or no transcendence, and a Geoff Tate barely reaching the pitching by times. This in one of his worst songs -well, how much would you pay for hearing Mr. Tate in bad shape? ;-) I recommend this EP to metal fans, but don't expect to listen the Part I of "The Warning". The EP was what it was, and that's all. Enjoy it!

This is the EP that started it all for Queensryche who have unfortunately been consumed by that unfortunate disease which takes over a lot of bands after being revolutionary. Yes, they sold out and how. But nevermind the present. The fact is that this is a heavy album with five great songs.

This album is pretty much indebted to the metal scene of the early 80s--lightning fast lead guitars over a very steady pulsing rhythm guitar, low bass lines, and a singer who can wail to the point that your ears bleed. If you like your metal before it got sapped into two guitar chords with really low vocals, this is a must.

The songs themselves are not the politically charged anthems that we hear in other great Queensryche albums, most notably Operation Mindcrime, but they are just enjoyable to listen to.

The Ryche's first effort is probably the closest they ever came to being a stereotypical metal band (if you possess the video "Building Empires" or know someone who has it, watch the video for "Nightrider"--you'll see what I mean). "Queen of The Reich" is Geoff Tate at his mindboggling best--who'd think that a man with such a deep speaking voice could hit high notes like that? "The Lady Wore Black" hints of what's to come. Keep in mind that Chris DeGarmo, who wrote the album, was about 19 at the time this came out, so the songs are more impressive than they would have been had he been older. Also, this album has not stood the test of time as well as other Ryche albums--after you listen to this, you'll have an uncontrollable urge to dig out your Crue and Maiden records!

From the second I heard Geoff Tate screaming at the beginning of this little EP I was hooked on this band and still am. The only reason it gets only four stars is out of respect for what was to come. Four powerful songs, two powerful guitars, one powerful, unmatchable voice.

I have owned this since it first came out. These guys were barely old enough to shave when it was released. Given the age of the band members at the time, every cut on here is unbelievably well written and executed (despite the poor production quality). Queen Of The Reich is the cut that got the band on MTV and is a classic Hair Metal song , Nightrider and Blinded tilt more towards Speed Metal and The Lady Wore Black is a Goth drenched feast . Prophecy was not on the original EP. If memory serves me, it was originally recorded for their 2nd. LP . Most "bonus cuts" are pretty lame, but not this one. This EP is one of the best initial offerings by any band, ever.

Queensryche Is By Far One Of My Favorite Bands And This EP Is An excellent start for anybody wanting to get into them, each track is better than the last, The First 4 tracks are older sound comparaed to the prophecy which was made in a different studio and sounds much claerer.

This ep is totally awsome!! MY favorite songs on here are 'Queen on the Reich' and 'Lady Wore Black'. You wouldnt event know that this is an ep it sounds so good. This is a perfect place to start if you are new to Queensryche because what is on this ep is what is basically on all of their albums right up to Empire and a little bit of Promised Land. But I have to say that it is a waste to buy this cd with the extended track list because all of the songs on that cd are from GREAT albums and wouldnt make any sense to buy it because you should already own all those awesome cds. But this is a great cd and if you like this I recommend you get the albums The Warning right through to Empire.

This EP represents the first proper Queensryche release. The producer was Tom Hall, if the sound quality can claim to have been terribly produced. According to the liner notes added to a later pressing of this disc, he actually convinced the band that he'd been a producer before. The inference in the liner notes being that he hadn't.

So a debut effort all around. So what do we get?

Well Geoff Tates helium balloon pipes certainly do (as Darth Kommisar says in his excellent review), make the listener think a bit of Maiden. That's not such a bad thing and the sub Maiden songs of Nightrider, Blinded and Prophecy do bear a resemblance to the UK band.

Best tracks here would be The Lady Wore Black, a sort of weird proto power ballad concoction that is actually pretty cool and allows Tate to really use his vocal range. Queen of the Reich is likewise quite tasty, galloping along with a belting vocal delivery.

The rest of the band is already solid due to the time they'd apparently spent rehearsing and the riffs here are not just carbon copies of Maiden/Scorpions ones.

Despite all these good points the band was in it's formative time, the release does only have the five tracks and for my mind, Prophecy does kinda suck.

As other reviewers have noted, this is not a release for the Queensryche newcomer. It's one for fans of the bands later works, especially The Warning and Operation Mindcrime, to explore at their leisure.