Label: EMI Records
Release year: 1983
Production: Neil Kernon & Queensryche
Length: 21.22 min
Genre: Heavy Metal
“Queensrÿche”, the famous EP by the famous Queensrÿche! The EP that sealed the fate of these splendid American metallers from Seattle, and the fate of plenty of fans of perfectly hammered, distortion-soaked sonic alarm bells! This EP actually existed even before the band went by the name Queensrÿche. A short intro is a must, because the years fly by and the Queensrÿche body of work from 1983 to 1990 keeps gaining more and more historical weight. For rock music, of course!
The EP carries four songs. In 1981 the band had a demo of these tracks ready, and back then Queensryche were a band called The Mob. Geoff Tate, who did contribute vocals in the studio, was officially a member of The Myth at the time. “Heavy metal” never really did it for Tate, so he hesitated for a long time before officially joining Queensrÿche. The band tried, unluckily, to land a deal, but the demo material was turned down by numerous labels. In the end they put the EP out themselves in 1983! It was called “Queen Of The Reich.” Critics and the public alike showered it with high marks and huge approval, so demand for it was through the roof. Around this time the guys renamed themselves from The Mob to Queensrÿche, obviously inspired by the EP’s opening song. After the support “Queen Of The Reich” received, Tate accepted official membership in the band and left The Myth. And that same year the band was rescued by a deal with EMI Records, who reissued the EP, this time under the name “Queensrÿche” (1983).
Let’s stay in 1983 a bit longer. The N.W.O.B.H.M. was in full bloom, and Iron Maiden had taken the top spot on the increasingly popular heavy metal scene. The Queensrÿche guys matured on the strong inspiration of Judas Priest albums and the then-trendy, then-current Iron Maiden. The Americans had a powerful metal movement of their own in this period, too. It was expressed with even more aggression, an even harsher display of guitar-“sawing” speed, less romance and melody than their European peers, and more arrogance and darkness. That’s where the young and promising Savatage, Helstar, Fates Warning, Metal Church, Liege Lord,… were, and right there among them, in their early days, were of course our Queensrÿche with their EP.
“Queensrÿche” opens with the impressive riff of Queen Of The Reich, a unique riff, yet one that instantly points to those influences. The track has everything. Excellent, furious, authoritative, layered vocals, a dynamic back-and-forth between the two guitars with a high degree of mutual understanding, and a pronounced sonic depth in the polished approach of the rhythm section. In early Queensrÿche those vocals brought in the darkness that metal demands, and that touch of obscurity fades more and more later on! The way the five of them play and execute shows the guys were tuned to exactly the same frequency right from the start. The result is that the EP’s material, within the limits of the genre the band represented in its early days, is perfectly put together (composed, played and produced). The band thus signaled directly that it carried extraordinary potential and the songwriting gift of the “greats.” The boldness of bringing in melody, following the melody, bowing to the melody. But with the right dose of aggression and eruptively distorted riff attacks that heavy metal has to have. An ideal common denominator, several factors that perfectionists crave to polish. Queen Of The Reich and the closing power ballad The Lady Wore Black hit these ideal proportions especially well, with a dynamic switch of atmosphere between the dreamy acoustic pre-chorus and the hurricane of the chorus! Nightrider and Blinded, meanwhile, have even more of what the “young” ones got fired up on. Anger, arrogance and rebellion. Tragedy, in other words. Darker-minded songs and a typical link to the above-mentioned bands of the US new wave of heavy metal generation, if I may put it that way. The EP showed that Queenrÿche had exceptional technical chops and a gift for songwriting, and with its vividness it also hinted that Queensrÿche carried tremendous growth potential, since right at the start they made it clear they could play technically at a much higher level than the already highly renowned names (Iron Maiden) of their genre.
In 2003, EMI reissued the EP “Queensrÿhce”. It keeps the original running order of the four songs. The reason this reissue belongs in your collection, though, is the bonus tracks. These are 10 songs from a long-ago concert in Japan in 1984. The thing came out on a VHS tape titled “Live In Tokyo” and naturally you can’t find it in any store. At that time the band was touring in support of their then-first studio album “The Warning”. It underlines what was already mentioned in the previous paragraph. Technical flawlessness, which shown live is such direct proof of the fearsome shape the guys were in right at the very beginning, with a huge hunger to prove themselves, to be the best. An immensely important and evidently rare document of early live Queensrÿche in the golden classic lineup.
The following year the band released the album “The Warning”, one of the most promising and ambitiously conceived, classically built heavy metal albums ever to come from the other side of the Atlantic. For the band, “Queensrÿche” is a solid starting point and the sacred cradle where a great band was born!
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
score: 9.0 / 10
Track list:
ORIGINAL EP “QUEENSRYCHE” (1983)
1. Queen Of The Reich
2. Night Rider
3. Blinded
4. Lady Wore Black
EP length: 21.22
REISSUE BONUS TRACKS (2003):
5. Night Rider
6. Prophecy
7. Deliverance
8. Child Of Fire
9. En Force
10. Blinded
11. Lady Wore Black
12. Warning
13. Take Hold Of The Flame
14. Queen Of The Reich
Lineup:
Geoff Tate – vocals
Chris DeGarmo – guitar
Michael Wilton – guitar
Eddie Jackson – bass
Scott Rockenfield – drums
