Queensryche live album? (1 Viewer)

[Mike Broadman]

I know there are some Queensryche fans here. Did anyone pick up the new double live album? I'm wondering if it's worth getting.

I'm currently in the process of beefing up my Queensryche collection. Right now, I only have Operation: Mindcrime and Empire. I'll be revisiting Rage For Order, Warning, and Promise Land soon.

My understanding is that the live album covers their whole career and they don't play much from the last two albums. That's good, 'cause I could not get into Hear in the Now Frontier at all, and I've only heard Q2K once and wasn't impressed.

Chris DeGarmo left the band, right? So that would mean that he's not on the live album. That's too bad. I saw them on tour with the new guitarist- he's alright, but a live album w/o Chris just seems odd.

 

[Evan S]

Mike, I didn't even know they were putting a live album out and I agree without Degarmo it's not the same. Is Scott Rockenfeld in the band too? I saw on another thread he had joined forced in a collaboration to form a new band.

I too only own Mindcrime and Empire. I bought Promised Land when it came out and hated it. I had to sell it used for credit. It's been a while since I did that and I cannot tell you what I didn't like about the album except at the time it seemed very UN-Queensryche to me. Rubbed me the wrong way.

I'll have to keep my eye out for this disk and see what songs are on it.

 

[Sheldon C]

Mike - I also only own those two albums. I recently bought their live dvd and was very disappointed. The music sounded great, but something was wrong with Tate's voice. Everytime he sang a word with the letter "s" in it it sounded like "sh" like he had a mouth full of marbles or something. I really wanted to like the dvd and at first I tried to ignore it, but now I can't even listen to it. IMO Tate has one of the best voices in rock and this completely ruins it. I'm not sure if it was a mixing problem or if he just had a root canal or what, but man it's disappointing.

 

[Mike Broadman]

I too only own Mindcrime and Empire. I bought Promised Land when it came out and hated it. I had to sell it used for credit. It's been a while since I did that and I cannot tell you what I didn't like about the album except at the time it seemed very UN-Queensryche to me. Rubbed me the wrong way.

I just came back from the record store. I was looking at Promise Land- some of the tracks are cool, like Lady Jane and I Am I. But others, like Disconnected and Bridge, are just, I dunno... bleh. It's a so-so album.

Like a lot of rock bands, their studio albums are shaky, with lots of filler. I think I'll just keep Mindcrime, Empire, and the Greatest Hits CD (after all, ya gotta have Walk in the Shadows).

When I heard Tate on the last tour, he sounded fine. Your live recording may have just been poor. How did the rest of the music sound?

 

[Terry Sandee]

Great to see that there are a few of us Queensryche fans out there.
They came out with a live box set with VHS and CD called Operation Livecrime shortly after Empire was released. If you can find it, it is definitly worth getting. It is from the Empire tour when they played Mindcrime in its entirety.

 

[Philip Hamm]

The new DVD is IMO fair.

"Promised Land" is a fantastic album, highly recommended. MUCH better than the EP, "Warning" or "Rage For Order" to my ears. "Hear" is so-so (but does include some really fantastic trakcs, particluarly "Reach" and "Spool"), and "Q2K" is pretty good too IMO. I like it at least.

The "Operation Livecrime" box set is, IMO, not really worth seeking out. The CD is the worst sounding CD I've ever heard, and it was recently remastered and re-released as a CD only release. The live show on video is incredible, that would be the reason to look for the box, but how much do you want to watch a VHS concert? I have it on LD and it is fantastic.

 

[Sheldon C]

Mike - yeah, the music on the dvd is great, and for the most part Tate's voice is outstanding too. It's not like he ever gets off tune or can't hit the high notes. But man, that garbles "schhh" sound - uggg I can't take it. It sounds kind of like the way Sean Connery pronounces his s's if that makes any sense.

 

[Mike Broadman]

Sheldon, thanks, now I have an image of Sean Connery singing Operation Mindcrime.

"Shweet Shister Mary..."

 

[Rob M.]

The LIVECrime concert is available on DVD now, with a DD 5.1 track that sounds pretty good. Video quality isn't all that great (not much better than the VHS), but that's not why you want it anyway, right? The two bonus tracks from the CD-only release are on the DVD as Easter Eggs (audio only, in 5.1), but I haven't bothered to find them. There's a 20-25 minute interview with Tate (broken into three sections), and the text and pictures from the booklet that came with the VHS/CD boxset are included as an extra. I recommend this DVD or CD over Live Evolution, even though there are fewer songs, because I think this was the band at their peak, performing their signature work.
After many months lurking, this is my first post. Be gentle. I know I'll fit in if there are a few Dream Theater and Queensryche fans about.

 

[Philip Hamm]

If I didn't already have the LaserDisc I'd be tempted by the new DVD and CD. However, the LD looks and sounds incredible (I have mastered the audio only to MD) and I have the VHS Box set.