THE TODD LE TORRE VERSION OF QUEENSRŸCHE’S SELF-TITLED ALBUM CHARTS IN THE TOP 25
The self-titled album of legendary Seattle rockers Queensrÿche has topped the charts. The new record Queensrÿche, released via Century Media, debuted on Billboard’s Top 200 chart landing at #23 and selling 13,659 copies its first week. The album also impacted the Amazon charts where it hit #2 on the Hard Rock and Metal chart and also hit #6 on the iTunes Top Rock Albums chart. The first single Fallout is currently impacting radio and the video for the song will be released next week.
“We can’t thank the fans enough for their support in helping us get to this point. It is because of you that we have had this incredible debut and we are overwhelmed with the response the album has received. Todd, Parker, Scott, Eddie and I are grateful for everyone who has stood by us over the past year,” states guitarist Michael Wilton.
Queensrÿche has gotten critical acclaim including Billboard magazine’s review stating, “From the moment Rockenfield’s drums and Wilton and Parker Lundgren’s guitars go on the attack in Where Dreams Go to Die, the traditional Queensrÿche sound is back. The hooks are arresting, and the rhythm section packs unmitigated fire power.”
Queensrÿche first burst onto the music scene in 1982 with the release of their self-titled 4 song EP Queensrÿche. They very quickly gained international recognition and performed to sold out audiences around the world. With the follow up first full-length album The Warning in 1984, and the ground breaking 1986 release of Rage For Order, Queensrÿche continued to prove their worldwide dominance as one of the most respected and creative bands of the 80’s. In 1988 the band turned out yet another monumental album Operation: Mindcrime, which would go on to become one of the TOP 10 best selling concepts records of all time, and set the stage for continued sold out performances around the world. With the release of the critically acclaimed and commercially successful Empire in 1991, the band earned multiple Grammy Award nominations and won the MTV “viewer’s choice” award for the #1 chart topping hit Silent Lucidity. During the next ten years, the band continued to release albums and tour the world to sold-out audiences. Queensrÿche has sold over 30 million albums worldwide and have continued to break new ground and push their creative process.
For more information, please visit www.queensrycheofficial.com or http://www.facebook.com/QueensrycheOfficial.
Queensrÿche is Todd La Torre (vocals), Michael Wilton (guitars), Parker Lundgren (guitars), Eddie Jackson (bass) and Scott Rockenfield (drums).
Harmony lead guitars are back; harmony vocals are back. Musically, this sounds very much like the QR that made me a fan from the EP until ‘Hear in…’ – very similar to what Jace just said. Though (and I know I’m in the minority here) I was more okay with ‘Dedicated’ than most of the recent albums, I am definitely encouraged by this release. It’s remained in constant rotation in the car and I’ve already listened to this CD more times than Q2K, Tribe, and American Soldier COMBINED. The current members have proven that their creativity and solidarity as a band is still well intact. At times I was missing Tate’s vocals, but Todd has a fantastic voice and is a worthy replacement. I will take Todd with the band sounding the way they do now over the past 15 years of Tate’s output ANY day without question. I’m reluctant to put the new CD in the same league as RFO, OM, and Empire, but it’s good – very good. Scott is back to drumming with his fury and dynamic chops, Eddie’s bass has a nice growl to it, and we’re finally getting to hear Michael back in true form. It’s also nice to hear what Parker is able to bring to the band, which wasn’t really evident before. As far as all the legal allegations Tate made about the remaining original members’ creativity are concerned, I think the music on this album speaks volumes. And the numbers don’t lie – it will be interesting to see how the sales of this album compare with Frequency Unknown a couple months from now.
I echo most of Jace’s sentiment. I’m a long time fan who saw “Hear…Frontier” as a divergence from the Queensryche of which I had been a passionate fan. I have continued buying the albums so I can have the whole catalog, and I continued to see them live through the tour in support of “Take Cover.” I think “Q2K” and “American Soldier” are pretty good but not stellar. I thought Mindcrime II, 20 years after the original, was a great follow up. “Tribe” and “Chaos” are tragically abysmal. While I am a long time fan of Tate’s voice and sound, and I would love the original band and sound releasing some hard and heavy 80’s-era tunes, the reality is Tate is lost and Whilton, Rockenfield, and Jackson, to their credit and the delight of starving fans, have rediscovered the sound and fury that put Queensryche on the map. Like Robert Mason in Warrant and Journey’s Arnel Paneda, good and powerful singers, I can’t see LeTorre as the face of Queensryche. He just looks like the frontman for a high quality cover band. Too bad. The new album has great sound, but for many, the experience is visual, too.
As a side note to this, I can’t understand why Eddie minimalized this version of the band on the latest TMS. We’ve had all this drama and news for over the past year involving the Queensryche camp on this website. Then we finally get the Todd Le Torre version on the show only to have after two questions into the interview, Dave Mustaine walk out into the Megadeth show. Nothing against Dave, but he should’ve had his own show like this version of Queensryche needed theirs. There was way more focus on Geoff Tate when he was on last season. TMS even had Michael Wilton and Eddie Jackson on the set, only to have them benched with the audience. Maybe this was a call on VH1’s part, but this show was handled so poorly and very anti-climactic for all the drama and hype we’ve had to hear about this. In any case, I think it’s pretty clear after the release of both versions of the band that this is the better version and the one deserving of the namesake. Though it still falls short of the ’80’s glory days material like everything else has without DeGarmo in the band.
jace is dead on in his comments! and nic nailed it re the tms show. too bad they didnt get more time. we really didnt need to see the vest spew his bs, “i wish i could just sit down with these gentlemen????” wtf…. anyway, the new album is fng great!!!!
The Tate QRyche album is ok ….it just doesnt sound more than 5% QRyche.
The LaTore is awesome, 100% QRyche bringing me back to the Rage For Order days…will see them Saturday with Great White. LaTorre actually looks like he enjoys being on the stage, he’s a wildman that gives a show. Doesnt curse at fans or throw their cameras away. I was a Tate guy for the first 20 years….then he lost me…