Album Rating: 3.5

Yeah, going back to those nostalgic albums is weird. I find myself hearing things I never heard back in the day. Part of it is just having better headphones, better car stereos, and better home stereos so everything is so much more clear.... it definitely brings these albums to another level.



Have you ever heard Damn the Machine? It's the band Chris Poland (of Megadeth) started after leaving Megadeth. It's a jazz-tinged progressive metal band similar to the streamlined style of Fates or Queensryche.

Here is a song called The Mission: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=374VbqFPb90

Also, here's the review: https://www.sputnikmusic.com/review/13630/Damn-the-Machine-Damn-the-Machine/



That's pretty cool if you can hit those notes. I don't sing. Ha ha.

Album Rating: 4.5

"I think Queensryche destroyed Fates Warning through Promised Land (When Fates Warning released Inside Out). The Warning is so much more developed than Brocken or Spectre. Rage for order is leaps and bounds ahead of Awaken the Guardian. Of course, Mindcrime has no peer (especially the early Ray Alder albums). Empire is the leader and Parallels is the follower... and comparing Promised Land to Inside Out is a joke."



Destroyed is kind of overdone considering that The Spectre Within and Awaken the Guardian were easily about on par with The Warning, especially where pioneering power metal was concerned. The only thing I can really agree with if I split hairs is that maybe RfO beats AtG but that's about it, especially when it's hard to really compare No Exit to anything Queensryche did during that time. Not to mention that Perfect Symmetry was one of the first modern progressive metal albums that didn't really have overlap with tech metal like Watchtower did but also wasn't really trad/USPM anymore which was certainly still a large part of Rage for Order.



Damn the Machine is really good, yeah. I'd also recommend Ministers of Anger which is related.

Album Rating: 4.0

"Yeah, going back to those nostalgic albums is weird. I find myself hearing things I never heard back in the day. Part of it is just having better headphones, better car stereos, and better home stereos so everything is so much more clear.... it definitely brings these albums to another level."



That was my exact experience when listening to Rage for Order again recently. I know Queensryche - specifically Geoff - were always influenced by Pink Floyd, but I think the best thing they adopted from them was a greatly expanded sonic palate.



Some of my friends have questioned why Queensryche were considered prog metal in the first place, considering all the more straightforward and traditional metal elements of their sound. But I think they're an example of why the Dream Theater model isn't the only metric to determine the genre. The way they expanded metal's sonic and compositional boundaries, especially in a time in which Iron Maiden and thrash-era Metallica were arguably the most progressive acts around for the genre, can never be overstated

Delicious takes

Album Rating: 3.5

Album's pure nostalgia. Roads to Madness is goat. Such a great album for 1984.

Album Rating: 5.0

QR > Fates through the entire classic era and honestly I don't even think it was that close. Fates is still great, don't get me wrong, but imo nobody touches classic QR.



I will say, the only thing that holds Empire even slightly down is that the first two (and last two, until HITNF) filler tracks they ever wrote are on it. But even THEY aren't that bad.

Album Rating: 4.0

god this is underrated. get the originally intended tracklist order and its even better



road to fuckin madness

Album Rating: 4.5

miss you dearly, no one gives a shit about this

Album Rating: 5.0

I must be in the minority thinking that Warning is a better opener than NM156

Album Rating: 4.0 | Sound Off

The boys will be playing their self-titled EP and debut album in their entirety next year:



3/22 – Hell’s Heroes Festival – Houston, TX (no Armored Saint)

3/23 – Tower Theatre – Oklahoma City, OK (no Armored Saint)

3/26 – Sycuan Casino – El Cajon, CA (no Armored Saint)

3/27 – House of Blues – Anaheim, CA

3/28 – Ace of Spades – Sacramento, CA

3/31 – Neptune Theatre – Seattle, WA

4/2 – Black Sheep – Colorado Springs, CO

4/3 – Gothic Theatre – Englewood, CO

4/5 – Ameristar Casino & Hotel * – Kansas City, MO (no Armored Saint)

4/6 – Del3/Hall – St Louis, MO

4/7 – Paramount Theatre – Cedar Rapids, MI

4/9 – Coronado Theatre – Rockford, IL

4/10 – Peoria Civic Center – Peoria, IL

4/12 – The Vogue – Indianapolis, IN

4/13 – State Theatre – Kalamazoo, MI

4/14 – Majestic Theatre – Detroit, MI

4/16 – Bogart’s – Cincinnati, OH

4/17 – House of Blues – Cleveland, OH

4/19 – Phoenix Theatre – Toronto, CAN

4/20 – Théâtre Beanfield – Montreal, CAN

4/21 – Elements – Kitchener, CAN

4/24 – Roxian Theatre – Pittsburgh, PA

4/26 – Empire Live – Albany, NY

4/27 – Palladium – Worcester, MA

4/28 – Toad’s – New Haven, CT

4/30 – Starland Ballroom – Sayreville, NJ

5/1 – Keswick Theatre – Glenside, PA

5/3 – The Paramount – Huntington, NY

5/5 – The Fillmore – Charlotte, NC

5/7 – Masquerade – Atlanta, GA

5/9 – Jannus Live – St. Petersburg, FL

5/10 – The Plaza Live – Orlando, FL

5/11 – Culture Room – Ft. Lauderdale, FL

5/12 – The Ranch – Ft. Meyers, FL



They're a cover band at this point, but it should be fun

Album Rating: 5.0

Yeah I'm gonna be checking that out. It's still Whip and Eddie.

Album Rating: 4.5

'They're a cover band at this point, but it should be fun'



I used to share this same sentiment, the threads prove it, but I've grown to really enjoy Toddryche.

Album Rating: 4.5

Also I heard they've played quite a few songs from the sweet Digital Noise Alliance, like around half of it.



Anyway, speaking of touring, I hope they'll release a live record sooner or later, possibly one that showcases both old and new material

Album Rating: 4.5

Before the Storm is top three on this album tbh

Album Rating: 4.5

easily

Album Rating: 4.0

I think NM156 is still my favorite here, but the whole album is awesome

Album Rating: 4.5

NM156, Roads to Madness and Before the Storm are my top three. It's hard for En Force and Deliverance to not creep back up there sometimes since they're also perfect songs but still.

Album Rating: 4.0

I think NM156 is one of the first real hints of what we'd get on Rage and Mindcrime, especially with the more cinematic and sonically rich sound. I love all the robotic stuff that happens in those verses, especially "PUNCH PUNCH PUNCH"

Album Rating: 4.5

^truths

Album Rating: 4.5

It's kind of why I never got purists for this or the EP. Every song from Surgical Strike to Screaming in Digital on RfO is basically an even more unique take on the stranger and more expansive parts of this album.