When asked why heavy metal bands like Motley Crüe and Poison started to lose steam in the early 90s, it’s typically the same excuse: grunge. Emerging from the same general genre, Queensrÿche has never had to resort to such tawdry and lame excuses. Their popularity, never too over-the-top to begin with, held fast, allowing the band to evolve organically, away from the peer pressure and other distractions. The release of Nirvana’s Nevermind was still over a year away when Queensrÿche pooled their resources, refined their sound and tightened their songwriting chops for Empire. It would go on to become their biggest selling record. The grungers had nothing on this iconoclastic band from Seattle.
It may be safe to say that Empire has far more to do with influences like Rush and Pink Floyd, than any of the heavy metal bands of the day. “Best I Can” spins out of its Alan Parsons Project cocoon, opening into a fist-pumping orgy of riffin’ rhythm lined with synthesizers and reverb. Like Geddy Lee, singer Geoff Tate is a full-throttle tenor with baritonal tendencies, adding extra thunder to songs like “The Thin Line,” “Jet City Woman” and “Another Rainy Day.” The album’s monster riffs roar over the title track as Tate lathers up the chorus to a momentous crescendo. “Resistance” is another story altogether, a twisting and winding chord progression that would have Alex Lifeson chasing rainbows.
Trite comparisons aside, “Silent Lucidity” is a cakewalk, a lullaby doused in orchestral frosting that borders on sugary sweet, but redeems itself with a comfortably numb guitar solo. “Hand On Heart” and “One And Only” are mid-tempo rushes, but “Anybody Listening” may be the album’s great underrated treasure, making for an appropriate ending to a powerful album. The new double-disc package of Empire includes the remastered album, as well as 13 bonus tracks, including “Last Time In Paris,” which appeared on the The Adventures of Ford Fairlaine soundtrack, a cover of Simon and Garfunkel’s “Scarborough Fair,” and 10 previously unreleased live performances recorded in 1990 at London’s Hammersmith Odeon. The package also features five postcards, a fold-out poster, a booklet with photos from the band’s personal archive, the usual goodies. Twenty years later, Empire stands tall among progressive metal’s vast and volatile field of sonic infestation. Long may it reign.
~ Shawn Perry
