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Album Rating: 4.0
Lost In Sorrow and Out of the Black are up there for me too.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
I think it's a grower as well, despite being generally good on first several listens. IMO lost in sorrow is immediately in the Todd-ryche pantheon.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Been bouncing back and forth between this and The Verdict over the past couple of days. Both are solid records, each with their strengths and weaknesses. The Verdict is perhaps the more consistent record, without the pitfall of a bad ballad and a misplaced cover song, while DNA brings the nostalgia with the classic tones and approach to arrangement. I like both records quite a bit.
That said, I have been relearning several of the tracks off the early records and playing them on my guitar, such as Eyes of s Stranger, I don't Believe in Love, Della Brown, and Neue Regale, and man, it just makes me miss DeGarmo all the more. The guy was a tremendously tasteful musician, his playing just filled with nuance and class. Wilton is good, and he wrote some classic riffs and solos, but he just wasn't/isn't on the same level for me. That DeGarmo lost his passion for writing and playing music is just such a shame.
I get the idea that on this most recent release, Wilton really tried to decode Chris's approach to writing, and in a respectful way, attempted to bring his spirit of elegance and scope to the music. Alas, he isn't Chris DeGarmo, and he tends to fall back into his comfort zone eventually. When Wilton writes a solo, he tends to lean into certain phrasings that begin to come across to me sort of like that good friend we all have who is a great person, but they tend to say "like" too many times in a conversation, which colors the interaction with a tiny layer of annoyance. It's hard to explain the exact musical phrases I am referring to in text, but I hear them all the time in his playing.
When both these guys were in the band, they tended to balance each other's weaknesses out, lending a constant push-pull of supportive creativity which was perhaps the impetus for their best records and creative ideas. Wilton's hectic and haphazard work in Speak was soon balanced by DeGarmo's smooth, measured playing in The Mission or Waiting for 22...
I dunno, just speculating there. In the meantime, I think we just have to accept this current iteration of Queensrcyhe for what it is: a lesser simulacrum of a once great coalition of prog-metal wizards. Judging by the last two records, they can still weave their spell when all the musical stars align.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
That’s one of the reasons I like The Verdict so much. For me, it feels very DeGarmoesque at times. The subtle licks and a Waiting For 22 vibe here or there.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
The DeGarmo argument is so fucking tired, man. Hear in the Now Frontier tells you everything you need to know.
"When both these guys were in the band, they tended to balance each other's weaknesses out, lending a constant push-pull of supportive creativity which was perhaps the impetus for their best records and creative ideas. "
That said it all, right there. Wilton, Jackson and Rockenfield would have been a great metal band on their own, but Tate and DeGarmo were the magic ingredient that made them, imo, the best fucking band on Earth from 84-94.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
"The DeGarmo argument is so fucking tired, man. Hear in the Now Frontier tells you everything you need to know."
Yep. DeGarmo was actually the main guy behind that album. Not to mention, some of the weaker material on Tribe was co-written by him as well
| | | Album Rating: 3.5
Well said BladeRunner, to the point comment.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Almost all great songwriters have at least a blip or two in their work. DeGarmo is no different.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
On the whole hostile work environment thing Willie mentioned:
I do have to wonder how widespread this stuff is, with the more recent Rockenfield drama lurking under the surface lately. Was Tate a maniacal control freak, with the rest of the member's ideas being quashed by his domineering attitude, or did they all become incorrigible and difficult to work with, eventually becoming nexus of negativity? Those both seem fairly extreme, and perhaps reality leans more towards the Tate scenario, but we know Tate firing could have been handled better, with Rockenfield on record as being kind of a dick in the scenario. We now have La Torre shrugging off Rockenfield's claims etc.
Who knows, maybe Rock really did just not show up, expecting the band to sit on hold indefinitely while she straightened his shit out, maybe he was on an ego trip, or a dozen other possibilities. La Torre is right, though - the rest of the band isn't going to just wait around forever for guy.
The more I look into it, though more it just seems like Operation: Shitshow, as one analyst commented. That's kind of funny. ;)
On the DeGarmo thing: I think his weak later output was a given if he had lost his passion for music. Given how much I adore his earlier stuff, I will give him a pass. Dude is one of my favorite guitarists of all time, and will probably remain so for along time.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
That all makes sense. I do miss Scott's playing on these past two records, even if Todd tried to emulate him the best he could on The Verdict. I presume the chances of Scott returning at this point are fairly remote, which is a shame. If he waited years to start rattling the cage, though, it's his own damned fault.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Which again I think sort of highlights a nasty side of this guy. Tate said he has issues, but then again, Tate has issues. This reminds me that perhaps it's best to just listen to the music and ignore the antics of the people playing it! Lost in Sorrow sure is sweet.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Ah, can we get a mod to change all the thread titles on the site to "Keanu Reeves is awesome?"
In the meantime, I will send Mike Wilton a FB message to get Keanu on the drum kit ASAP.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
I watched a reaction to Eyes of a Stranger yesterday, and as soon as the dude saw that kit, he stopped the video and said something along those lines. I also watched Livecrime recently and was marveling at all their at-the-time-cutting-edge gear. This led to a misguided hunt on the used market for an ESP M-II Custom guitar, which are way out of my price range. Oh well, it's nice to window shop anyway.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
right on boys, these guys were right there with Rush for me, as far as my favorite band was concerned
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
I can't believe that.......mid 80's Rush onward is right in your wheelhouse bro
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
i get it, but there are more gems in there that you'd enjoy
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
My ranking, albeit loosely:
1) Nocturnal Light
2) Lost In Sorrow
3) Tormentum
4) Out Of The Black
5) In Extremis
6) Behind The Walls
7) Realms
8) Sicdeth
9) Forest
10) Chapters
11) Hold On
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
The Forest is an easy last place for me, as I can't stand it. Not quite ready to do a ranking just yet, or to rate the album for that matter. Leaning towards a 3.5 for now, though.
Rush is the best band of all time.
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
I don't dislike Forest as much as you guys as there are some nice moments to it. I can tell you that I don't like Hold On at all, and they even made a video for it. They made a video for Forest too haha....
| | | Album Rating: 4.0
Yea, I was scratching my head...no video for Lost in Sorrow?
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