Customer Reviews

Rage for Order

5 star:		(69)
4 star:		(12)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Rage For Order(1986). Queensryche's second studio album.

Around the mid-80s, glam metal was starting to take over as the popular form of metal music. As tuneful and catchy as it was, glam was often very simple and pompous, sometimes to the point of being just plain silly. However, there were a few groups who cared more about creating interesting music rather than party anthems and songs about rock 'n roll. Queensryche was one of those bands. 1986 was a turbulent year when it came to metal bands. Many of them either went all out with the thrash sound (Metallica, Slayer), or employed keyboards and synthesizers into the mix (Judas Priest, Iron Maiden). Queensryche fell under the latter. Its sound is very time period oriented, complete with all kinds of synths and studio effects. RFO is more polished than Iron Maiden's 'Somewhere In Time' album, but not quite to the extent of Judas Priest's 'Turbo'. However slick the production may be, underneath it all are solid songs. Here's a look at RFO track by track:

1) Walk In The Shadows- A phenomenal straight ahead rocker with a main emphasis on the vocals. Great opener. *****

2) I Dream In Infrared- A slower melodic track with plenty of guitars as well as backing keyboards. Very excellent. *****

3) Whisper- This track is a steady psuedo rocker showing off on the guitars, and my favorite track on the album. I love the synth effects used here. *****

4) Gonna Get Close To You- Although this song is very un-metal-like, it's a haunting stalker number which will be sure to stick in your head long after you've listened to it. *****

5) The Killing Words- A synth-heavy gloom ballad of sorts. One of the best that Queensryche has ever written. Should have been released as a single. *****

6) Surgical Strike- Sounds almost like a few of the tracks off the next album Operation: Mindcrime(1988). Very fastpaced and contains some incredible moments with the guitars. *****

7) Neue Regel- A slow anthemic rocker in which the vocals take front stage. Pretty good. ****

8) Chemical Youth (We Are Rebellion)- Fast rocker which serves as a foretelling of the next album's story. Good but musically it doesn't stand out. Still, Queensryche shows a great lyrical sophistication here not found on any other rock group. The whole album displays this really well, but here is a prime example of excellent storytelling within a song. ****

9) London- Starts out slow and melodic and builds into a vocally strengthened rocker. Later on, it bears a resemblance to Rush's 'Tom Sawyer'. *****

10) Screaming In Digital- As the name implies, there are quite an abundance of synth effects used here, but it is properly backed up with a haunting and powerful vocal performance. At this point I'm beginning to wonder if the vocals are better on this album or the next. Both show incredible talent. ****

11) I Will Remember- The album closes with a quiet accoustic ballad, quite unlike the rest of the album, but very well done nonetheless. Another winner. *****

There are also four extra tracks in this remastered edition: An alternate version of 'Gonna Get Close To You', an accoustic remix of 'I Dream In Infrared', and live tracks of 'The Killing Words' and 'Walk In The Shadows'.

Even though Operation: Mindcrime is probably the most recognized album by all the fans, Rage For Order is no less brilliant. It may not contain a well crafted concept story throughout, but RFO serves as a strong set of individual songs each dealing with their own psychological themes. 5 stars for perfect musicianship, production, and songwriting. I'm having a tough time deciding which of the two albums is better. Mindcrime is more technical and brilliant, but Rage is my personal favorite one and probably the best album to come out in 1986. Fans of Queensryche and rock in general should find this underrated masterpiece to be a fitting addition to their rock collection. RECOMMENDED TO ALL FANS.

While I was a big fan of "Queen of the Reich", this one was an amazingly incredible suprise in the summer of 1986, when bubble-gum hair-bands were in full force. Unlike the somewhat inaccessible 'The Warning' (1984), this one combined all of the previous narrative elements of Queensryche's music in a collection of relatively short, catchy, and brilliantly-produced tunes. There was both sci-fi imagry and psychological distres right alongside edgy love songs - it was an utter crime that some of these songs were not released and promoted as singles. Quite simply, 'Rage for Order' is the perfect Queensyrche record:

1. Walk in the Shadows. Short and sweet, with a dark and catchy melody and one of Geoff Tate's most amazing vocal performances EVER (matched only by their debut, "Queen of the Reich" (1983) and "Neue Regel" from this record), this is the only song that has retained a place in the live sets since 1986. (Note: A nice live version is included on this remaster.)

2. I Dream in Infared. It was clear that Queensyrche made an attempt at commercializing their music with this record, and as such, many fans fault them for the introduction of love songs. Nonetheless, as with many of their love songs, this one has an edginess that keeps it real. (NOTE: There is an all acoustic version, orignally included as a b-side to a 1991 single, included with the 'Empire' remasters.)

3. The Whisper. The guitar runs on this tune, along with the vocal performance, makes this one of the best and most underrated Queensryche tunes ever. (Why has this not retained a place in the live set.)

4. Gonna Get Close to You. The fact that this atmospheric, psychological piece about a stalker was released as a single and sole video from the record may explain why it never took off. Still, I would hardly call it a weak song. (NOTE: The 12" version here on the remaster is not particularly interesting.)

5. The Killing Words. This is another great, catchy ballad with excellent production, although the keyboard intro does sound a bit 80s.(NOTE: an updated semi-acoustic live version is included on this remaster and an MTV-unplugged version is included on the 'Hear in the Now Frontier" remaster.) That said, it is one of their best ballads and should have been released a single.

6. Surgical Strike. This is the straight-ahead rocker of the record and a political statement about soldiering. That said, it is definitely the weak point and sounds a bit out of place.

7. Neue Regel. This is a piece of pure power and simply one of the best vocal performances by Geoff Tate ever. Lyrically, it establishes the thematic narrative characterisit of the "second side" of the record.

8. Chemical Youth. This is the musical and lyrical predecessor to "Revolution Calling" on the much-lauded, and perhaps over-appreciated, 'Operation: Mindcrime' (1988).

9. London. Is this a ballad? If so, it is certainly NOT Bon Jovi, Poison, or the like. I cannot say more about Geoff Tate's vocal performances on this record - dare I say, over the top on this tune.

10. Screaming in Digital. For fans of 'Operation: Mindcrime' and "NM156" from 'The Warning' left off, this wonderfully manic rocker about a cyborg is, when combined with the next tune, a concept-record within a record.

11. I Will Remember. The record ends with a mellow tune that has frequently found a place in the live shows (NOTE: a version from MTV unplugged in 1991 is included on the 'Hear in the Now Frontier' remaster), which is curious considering its required connection to the previous tune ("And we wonder how machines can steal each other's dreams").

1986 was a phenomenal year for metal. If you could ignore Judas Priest's "Turbo," you might recall that Ozzy topped the charts with "The Ultimate Sin." Iron Maiden released "Somewhere in Time," their most musically complex collection. Megadeth gained respect with "Peace Sells" while Metallica peaked with "Master of Puppets." Anthrax unleashed its classic "Among the Living," Slayer pushed (rather tore) the envelope with "Reign in Blood," and Queensryche, that five-piece band out of the future spawning grounds of grunge, soared past its Priest/Maiden roots with the raw, hard but colorfully progressive "Rage For Order."

1984's "Warning" set the stage for "Rage For Order," but while the former seemed just a bit restricted by thin production if not overshadowed by the emergence of posers like Motley Crue (which held it in check while Q's peers like Judas Priest and Iron Maiden were gaining in popularity to rather mixed results), "Rage" broke the rules long before progressive metal bands like Dream Theater came to be. "Rage" explores man's deepest thoughts ("I Will Remember"), his existence in a faceless world of technology ("Screaming in Digital") and his place within a frighteningly fascist regime ("Neue Regel") - each concept a part of the total Queensyche mythology at that time. Sure, the occasional dip into the love tunnel surfaces now and then ("Killing Words") but the band's psychosis takes what should have been a banal pop pastiche called "Gonna Get Close to You" and turns it into yet another signature of the Queensryche experience - dark, sinister, forboding - but not evil - which always separated Queensryche from its peers. While early Iron Maiden wreaked hell's fire and Judas Priest unleashed beasts and monsters, most of Queensryche's music managed to echo at least a slight degree of positivity in the midst of what could be construed as utter personal and societal chaos in the form of songs deep, harmonic, progressive and powerful.

The voice of Geoff Tate, then the latest in a long line of vocalists that traces its inspiration to the very earliest wails of Ian Gillan (ie. Tate-Dickinson-Dio-Halford-Byron-Gillan), bests his impressive list of peers with incredible range and dynamics. His delivery in such epics as "Dreaming in Infrared" and "London" encompass metal, opera and even Broadway (without the cliches that often denigrate each). Neil Kernon's production opens the sound with the clarity of Phil Ramone ("Warning") and the power of Peter Collins ("Mindcrime") yet without the flatness of the former or the distortion of the latter. The visual package may offend some, considering the rather vampiric look with capes, leather and hair spray surrounded by psuedo Moorish/Victorian/Renaissance trappings - but the image in a way contributes to the album's theme. It works for "Rage." It would never have worked for "Empire"!

Two years later the band would release "Operation: Mindcrime," a concept album once thought to rival Pink Floyd's "The Wall" or The Who's "Quadrophenia" and thought of by most fans as their best. As great as "Mindcrime" is, however, no fan can deny the unique production, songwriting style, textures and moods that comprise "Rage For Order." "Mindcrime" may very well be better than the sum of its parts, but the sum of parts that form the nucleus of "Rage For Order" transcends the usual limitations of a heavy metal record. Intelligence and metal began to co-exit peacefully within a sentence without the usual snicker. Buy it.

uh, well it looks to be something of the sort judging by those hilarious bandmembers pictures. Ok, Geoff Tate looks pretty cool.

Queensryche's epic, theatrical metal takes a turn into cyberpunk territory with _Rage for Order_, their second full-length disc. This album picks up where _The Warning_ left off (crunchy guitars, epic melodies and soaring vocals), adding lots of keyboards and a more sombre tenor all in all. Consistent throughout the album, and cohering well with the aural approach of this record, is the dystopian view of technology and the future, with revolutionary speed-metal anthems ("Chemical Youth"), the alienating acoustic ballad on the panopticon society ("I Will Remember"), or echoes of tragedy ("London").

I picked up this remastered version because I was desperately hoping for a dramatic increase in sound quality over the butchery that was the first. The engineer for _Rage for Order_ should have been taken out and forcefully punted down the street. this remastered edition sounds only a little better, but it is an improvement in any case. Best of all, this edition has one particular feature which makes it indispensable (!) for fans of the 'ryche. The acoustic mix of "I Dream in Infrared" is masterful, giving the song much needed breathing room and silent menace. Killer! the other bonus tracks are pretty good.

a classic album made better, if only slightly -- but that "slightly" is pretty snazzy.

As much as I hear time and again that "Mindcrime" was the Seattle quintet's finest, I always have to argue that this 1986 gem is the pinnacle of their career. While I was a big fan of Mindcrime and it's predecessor "The Warning", Rage For Order is QR's most consistent release and is mezmerising from start to finish. In a word.."perfect".
So few bands can boast having made a perfect album. I can think only of The Beatles (Sgt. Pepper & Revolver to name a few), Pink Floyd (The Wall, Dark Side), Dream Theater (Images & Awake), and Boston (Debut). Rage is an album to be listened to and appreciated. Released in the hey-day of "hair metal", this album has not one single song that lends itself to the tag. None of the songs, while very image provoking, could be easily made into an MTV hit. Although "Gonna Get Close To You" aired on MTV (rarely I might add) it didn't even scratch the surface of this album's potential.
Overall, the performances of each member outshine anything before, or since. DeGarmo and Wilton trade licks masterfully. Rockenfield and Jackson keep a very tight bottom end. Tate...well...Tate was THE metal singer at that time and this was his finest performance.
While the mix was somewhat lacking, the production was incredible. Each song blends into each other perfectly. This was metal that was unique and completely original. I think the term "thinking man's metal" was coined at the time. That said, I can think of no other release at the time to which that term could be applied. Unlike most of their metal contemporaries at the time, Rage was athmospheric, intellectual, and surreal. Rage succeeded where Priest's "Turbo" failed abysmally. It was a stark vision of the future and the metal was more futuristic than we'd ever heard before. It was like listening to a whole new machine. It still holds it's own 20 year later, seeming as fresh and "now" as anything in progressive metal.

Usually when you listen to an album , it takes about 3- 5 listens until it grows on you. Back in 86, the first time I heard this album, it hit me like a ton of bricks. And to this day, it is still my favorite album by anyone. The melodies on this record are amazing. Also the harmonies. And the prodution was ahead of it's time. I still have never heard anything that sounds like this. Also Geoff Tate was in his prime vocally.
Out of the 11 songs, 9 of them are perfect 10's. Chemical Youth and
I Will Remember are a little behind the rest. If you like melodic Metal, this is the Masterpiece!!!

Alright everyone this album honestly just might be my all time favorite Queensryche album but I really cant decide between Rage and Mindcrime. This has Chris' great guitar god talents and of course Geoff's[which I really really wish I could meet; and aint he hot] totally undiscribable vocal talents and range. I greatly recommend this album to all you fans, you will get your moneys worth from playing it every minute of the day. I'm glad my dad was a Queensryche fanatic because I would have never known who they were, I'm only 14 and they were just a little before my time.[I'm also a girl incase your wondering about the comment I made about Geoff earlier] But anyway above and beyond worth it!!

No doubt you will be stifling a snicker at the goofy perms and goth-meets-new-wave look on the back of the album, but we don't need to digress into that cliched discussion of books and their covers, do we? Set in a dark future world of dystopian nightmare, mechanized dehumanization, vampires and shadow-dwelling psychos, this is easily the most complexly-engineered and thickest-sounding and intriguing Queensryche album of them all, and certainly one of the finest prog-metal albums of the 80s. Producer Neil Kernon, more of a new wave producer, really runs with the gauntlet here, helping the band bring across its "New World Order" theme (which would really come to full fruition on _Operation: Mindcrime_) by richly layering Geoff's magnificent pipes (here in all his screeching euro-metal glory) over tapestries of subtle keyboard work, programmed keyboard atmospheres and synthetic-Mutt-Lange-sounding drums. My GOD if ever there was a metal album that needed a DGC gold-disc release, this is the one. Its so meaty I almost couldn't listen to _Mindcrime_ because of the radical difference in sound. If it weren't for the rich vocal harmonies, this album, at many points, could easily be mistaken for industrial in some circles. "Gonna Get Close To You" was my first intro to Queensryche (back when Mtv used to be a little more daring), sort of a heavy-metal version of "Every Breath You Take" and clearly its creepy, claustrophic tone created a singularly-affecting piece that has no imitators. Don't Ignore "Dreaming In Infared" and "The Killing Words", two magnificent bona-fide Queensryche classics more in the spirit of _Warning_ with racing lockstep dual-guitar leads from Wilton and DeGarmo. My favorite tune has to be "Screaming in Digital", with its complex polyrhythms,angular guitar work, stunning vocal arrangements and mechanized synth-sounding bass beats, has to be one of the creative peaks for metal in the 80s. Ends with the lovely and meditative "I Will Remember", hinting at the band's future glories with "Silent Lucidity." The synth sounds may be a bit dated, but the audacity of this album sends its message loud and clear from across the ages.

Before Rage For Order, there was little that markedly separated Queensryche from its peers (Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, and the like). Their self-titled LP and The Warning were pretty straightforward metal releases. Good metal, of course, but metal one way or another. Sure, they were great musicians, great songwriters, and frontman Geoff Tate was one of the best male vocalists around, but stil,l in a lot of ways, they were just another metal band. But that changed with Rage For Order. Suddenly, the progressive touches of The Warning became more prominent, and the band's budding maturity was right on course. Queensryche was one of the pioneers of progmetal (though they were never progmetal themselves) and this shows it.

In a way, the album is cyber-punk-metal stuff, with the evident themes in the lyrics, but in spite of the inherent cliche it never becomes lame. Some 80's cheese rears its head from time to time, but it's not overbearing enough that it becomes deleterious to the music. Rage For Order was obviously looked at from an album perspective as opposed to a "song" standpoint, and this gave the band room to experiment with different sounds, from the darkly beautiful "I Will Remember" to the heavy, hard-edged "Chemical Youth".

Here, Geoff Tate's vocals have expanded beyond the Dickinson-esque wail to better utilize his tremendous range. He hadn't quite reached the same level of dynamics attained in "Operation Mindcrime" or "Empire" but it was enough to put him head and shoulders above his peers. The DeGarmo-Wilton guitar duo is genuinely impressive. Their brilliant, weaving interplay made them one of the best duos in heavy metal, and their solos were more than just stylistic requisites...they actually served as peaks of intensity for the songs.

The tight production and the solid musicianship alleviate any sense of thinking the album is dated, and it remains one of Queensryche's best albums.

At first I didn't think a whole lot of this album, but now I'd say it's some of their best work. "Walk in the Shadows" has got to be on of the best songs the band ever wrote. The band expands on the great writing of The Warning and draws the listener along with every song, a power I don't believe that the band acheived again until Promised Land. The best tracks are the aformentioned "Walk in the Shadows", "I Dream in Infrared", "The Killing Words", and the incredibly moving "I Will Remember". Any fan of the band should not hesitate to get this album, even if they weren't fans until the days of Empire.