History Music / Queensryche

* MetalScream: Early in their career, this was a frequent tool (as befitting an Music/IronMaiden clone); but it pretty much fell off after ''Empire''.

* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: 6 to 7, usually.

* NewSoundAlbum: ''Rage for Order'' perhaps most obviously, ''Hear In The Now Frontier'' as a shift to a more "alternative" sound, and ''Dedicated To Chaos'', later, but not in a good way. Frankly, it could be argued that they pulled this every few albums or so: power metal (EP, "The Warning") to progressive (''Rage For Order'' and ''Mindcrime I'') to mainstream pop-metal (''Empire'') to conceptual hard rock (''Promised Land'') to an alternative rock sound (''Hear'', ''[=Q2K=]'', ''Tribe'') and finally back to progressive sounds (''Mindcrime II'' and ''American Soldier'') and...well, [[DarthWiki/SoBadItsHorrible whatever '''Dedicated to Chaos'' is supposed to be]].

* '''Chris [=DeGarmo=]:''' guitars, keyboards
* '''Eddie Jackson:''' bass
* '''Scott Rockenfield:''' drums
* '''Geoff Tate:''' vocals, keyboards where necessary, saxophone
* '''Michael Wilton:''' guitars

In June 2012, Wilton, Jackson and Rockenfield kicked Geoff Tate out of the band. Todd La Torre of the band Crimson Glory was chosen as Tate's replacement, and the previously-hired Parker Lundgren was retained on guitars. Geoff Tate continued to tour under the Queensrÿche name with past Queensrÿche member Kelly Gray. On the 28th of April 2014, a statement was released that confirmed that Tate had lost the Queensrÿche brand to Wilton, Jackson and Rockenfield, who will be carrying on as the sole version of the band while Tate was given the rights to perform ''Operation: Mindcrime'' and ''Operation: Mindcrime II'' in their entirety for unique performances.

* Michael Wilton: Guitar, backing vocals (1982-present)
* Eddie Jackson: Bass, backing vocals (1982-present)
* Scott Rockenfield: Drums, keyboard, orchestration (1982-present)
* Parker Lundgren: Guitar, backing vocals (2009-present)
* Todd La Torre: Lead Vocals (2012-present)

A ProgressiveMetal band from Seattle, Washington, best remembered for their epic RockOpera ''OperationMindcrime'' and its follow up, ''Empire'', which contained the Top 10 hit "Silent Lucidity". The band's lineup for the majority of its career was:

* 1988: ''[[Music/OperationMindcrime Operation: Mindcrime]]''

A ProgressiveMetal band from Seattle, Washington, best remembered for their epic RockOpera ''OperationMindcrime'' and for their Top 10 single "Silent Lucidity". The band's lineup for the majority of its career was:

* BlackSheepHit: Their one and only Top 40 single, "Silent Lucidity", is a Music/PinkFloyd-esque orchestral ballad with no traces of the band's trademark prog-metal.

* OldShame: The band excluded the video for [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQeitJiBDlA "Queen Of The Reich"]] from their video compilation ''Building Empires''. To quote their commentary: "After that is when we grew our hair long...so no one would recognize us!"

* ExecutiveMeddling: EMI America forced the band to adopt a more HairMetal image for ''Rage for Order'' due to the style's popularity at the time, but otherwise didn't interfere with the recording. The album's booklet shows publicity stills of the band wearing [[TrenchcoatBrigade trench coats]], heavy make-up, and perms despite the album itself containing experimental ProgressiveMetal.
** EMI America also meddled directly for the only time with ''The Warning'', where the band went $300,000 over budget during the recording and the label took the recordings away from them and handed them to Val Garay for final mixing. As described by Geoff Tate, Garay had "no clue what Queensrÿche was. He never listened to hard rock music and didn't take input from anyone in the band. He just mixed it according to how he thought it should sound. No one in the band could listen to that record. We all hated it."

* YouAreNotAlone: "Beside You", from ''[=Q2K=]'', is this from the point of view of a father addressing his daughter.

* BrokenBase: A pretty noticeable one developed during the two-Queensrÿches period (June 2012 - April 2014) between fans of Geoff's version of the band and the other version of the band. It's too early to tell whether the news that Tate has lost the right to perform under the Queensrÿche name will cause this to fade away, however.
* BuffySpeak: The answering machine message at the beginning of the song "Empire".

In June 2012, Wilton, Jackson and Rockenfield kicked Geoff Tate out of the band. Todd La Torre of the band Crimson Glory was chosen as Tate's replacement, and the previously-hired Parker Lundgren was retained on guitars. Geoff Tate continued to tour under the Queensrÿche name with past Queensrÿche member Kelly Gray. On the 28th of April 2014, a statement was released that confirmed that Tate had lost the Queensryche brand to Wilton, Jackson and Rockenfield, who will be carrying on as the sole version of the band while Tate was given the rights to perform ''Operation: Mindcrime'' and ''Operation: Mindcrime II'' in their entirety for unique performances.

!!Queensrÿche provides us with examples of:

* BuffySpeak: The answering machine message at the beginning of the song "Empire."

* DareToBeBadass: "Sliver", the opening track of "American Soldier", is about this.

* GreatBallsOfFire: The stage set for performing the ''Mindcrime'' shows, including twin wall-sized TV screens.

** [[Music/OperationMindcrime REVOLUTION!!!!]] ("Eyes Of A Stranger"--Much of ''Mindcrime'' has this)
** ''ON YOUR FEET!'' ("Sliver," ''American Soldier'')
** ''WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY AM I?!'' ("Promised Land," ''Promised Land'')

Current Line-up:
** Michael Wilton - Guitar, backing vocals (1982-present)
** Eddie Jackson - Bass, backing vocals (1982-present)
** Scott Rockenfield - Drums, keyboard, orchestration (1982-present)
** Parker Lundgren - Guitar, backing vocals (2009-present)
** Todd La Torre - Lead Vocals (2012-present)

Discography:
* 1983 - ''Queensrÿche'' (EP)
* 1984 - ''The Warning''
* 1986 - ''Rage for Order''
* 1988 - ''[[OperationMindcrime Operation: Mindcrime]]''
* 1990 - ''Empire''
* 1994 - ''Promised Land''
* 1997 - ''Hear in the Now Frontier''
* 1999 - ''[=Q2K=]''
* 2003 - ''Tribe''
* 2006 - ''Operation: Mindcrime II''
* 2007 - ''Take Cover''
* 2009 - ''American Soldier''
* 2011 - ''Dedicated to Chaos''
* 2013 - ''Queensrÿche'' (full length album)

* BrokenBase: A pretty noticeable one developed during the two Queensryches period between June 2012 and April 2014 between fans of Geoff's version of the band and the other version of the band. It's too early to tell whether the news that Tate has lost the right to perform under the Queensryche name will cause this to fade away, however.

* CanonDiscontinuity: May happen to ''Frequency Unknown'': it was released by Tate's version of the band prior to him losing the band name and comments from the now-official line up at the time indicate that they would not have considered it a Queensryche album due to it having nothing in common with what Queensryche stood for. [[FanonDiscontinuity Not that most fans would complain too much if it were to be stricken from the band's canon...]]
* ConceptAlbum: ''Promised Land'' (1994) is a song cycle dealing with a man's life in general, and the theme of "be careful what you wish for" in particular. ''American Soldier'' (2009) is a collection of songs written from the point of view of U.S. military veterans and their experiences. Of course, there's also the ''Mindcrime'' saga.
** Concepts can also be interpreted in ''The Warning'' (1984) about a mad prophet's ramblings, ''Rage for Order'' (1986) about a stalker and an underground revolution, and ''Empire'' (1990) about scenes possibly connected in the same neighbourhood, as some songs fade into each other and have similar lyrics.

-->''"It's time to sack up and let go of your mothers!"''
* {{Determinator}}: The protagonist of "A Dead Man's Words", a soldier stranded in the desert (presumably in Iraq) hoping against hope that he will be rescued. [[spoiler: He is.]]
-->''"I will not die!"''

-->'''Daughter''' : ''[[YMMV/TearJerker And I'll be there to shine a light, so you can find your way to me...]]''

* ExecutiveMeddling: EMI America forced the band to adopt a more HairMetal image for ''Rage for Order'' due to the style's popularity at the time, but otherwise didn't interfere with the recording. The album's booklet shows publicity stills of the band wearing [[TrenchcoatBrigade trenchcoats]], heavy make-up and perms despite the album itself containing experimental ProgressiveMetal.
** EMI America also meddled directly for the only time with ''The Warning'', where the band went $300.000 overbudget during the recording and the label took the recordings away from them and handed them to Val Garay for final mixing. As described by Geoff Tate, Garay had "no clue what Queensrÿche was. He never listened to hard rock music and didn't take input from anyone in the band. He just mixed it according to how he thought it should sound. No one in the band could listen to that record. We all hated it."
* GreatBallsOfFire: the stage set for performing the ''Mindcrime'' shows, including twin wall-sized TV screens.
* GreenAesop: "Resistance", from the ''Empire'' album, is about the evils of industrial pollution and deforestation. [[MoodWhiplash Complete with corny 80s-style gang vocals.]]
* GriefSong: "I Don't Believe In Love" from the original "Mindcrime" is about the protagonist, Nikki, mourning the death of his lover Mary. "If I Were King", from "American Soldier", is about a Marine who can't get over the death of his friend in battle. "A World Without", from the 2013 "Queensryche" album, is about a man whose wife dies in childbirth, leaving him alone with their newborn baby.

** [[OperationMindcrime REVOLUTION!!!!]] (''Eyes Of A Stranger'' - Much of Mindcrime has this)

** The sudden door slam at the end of "Anybody Listening?"
* KidsRock: Geoff Tate's daughter Emily performs additional vocals on "Home Again", from ''American Soldier''. During the lawsuits surrounding Tate's ejection from the band, Wilton criticised her performance in his testimony, describing it as off-key and stating that even after producer Kelly Gray time-stretched and {{Auto Tune}}d it, "you can tell that it is definitely in its own key".

** Temporarily regenerated for parts of ''Operation: Mindcrime II'', unsuprisingly.
* MinisculeRocking: Most of the songs on their self-titled 2013 album are very short. The album itself finishes at 35 minutes and 3 seconds. Wilton stated that the band was surprised when they realised this at the mastering sessions, comparing its length to an old Music/VanHalen record, but that it wasn't possible to do more because the album was recorded in a hectic situation due to a combination of the band's touring, producer James Barton's busy schedule, and the record company's insistence on the album being finished by a strict deadline.
* MohsScaleOfRockAndMetalHardness: 6 to 7. Or at least usually.

* NewSoundAlbum: ''Rage for Order'' perhaps most obviously, ''Hear In The Now Frontier'' as a shift to a more "alternative" sound, and ''Dedicated To Chaos'', later, but not in a good way. Frankly, it could be argued that they pulled this every few albums or so: power metal (EP, "The Warning") to progressive ("Rage For Order" and "Mindcrime I") to mainstream pop-metal ("Empire") to conceptual hard rock ("Promised Land") to an alternative rock sound ("Hear", "[=Q2K=]", "Tribe") and finally back to progressive sounds ("Mindcrime II" and "American Soldier") and...well, [[DarthWiki/SoBadItsHorrible whatever "Dedicated to Chaos" is supposed to be.]]
* OldShame: The band excluded the video for [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vQeitJiBDlA "Queen Of The Reich"]] from their video compilation ''Building Empires''. To quote their commentary: "After that is when we grew our hair long... so no one would recognize us!"

** Take! Hold! (''Take Hold Of The Flame'' from ''The Warning'')
** I! Can! Hear! The! Chimes!/ I! Can! See! Your! Eyes!/I! Can! Feel! It's! Time! (''Neue Regel'' from ''Rage For Order'')
** We! Are! Rebellion! (''Chemical Youth (We Are Rebellion)'' from ''Rage For Order'')
** Don't! Ever! Trust! (''The Needle Lies'' from ''Operation: Mindcrime'')

* RetailTherapy: Invoked in their song of the same name, about a character who's only happy when he's buying new electronic gadgets or apps.
* RecordProducer: They've self-produced or co-produced a few of their albums (the self-titled EP and album, ''[=Q2K=]'', ''Tribe''), and worked with [[Music/PinkFloyd James Guthrie]] (''The Warning''), [[Music/{{Yes}} Neil Kernon]] (''Rage for Order''), [[Music/{{Rush}} Peter Collins]] (''Mindcrime'', ''Empire'', ''Hear in the Now Frontier'') James Barton (''Promised Land'', the SelfTitledAlbum), and Jason Slater (''Mindcrime II'', ''Take Cover'', ''American Soldier'', ''Dedicated to Chaos'' - possibly the most disliked of all their producers), among others.
* RockOpera: ''OperationMindcrime'', and its sequel.
* SignificantMonogram: After the split, Geoff Tate's version of the band released "Frequency Unknown" - with the initials featured prominently on the cover.

* WarIsHell: A few songs on "American Soldier" address this. The most poignant is "The Killer", about a Vietnam War veteran who hangs on for dear life in the battlefield, only to be spat on and greeted with shouts of "baby killer" when he returns home.
* YouAreNotAlone: "Beside You", from [=Q2K=], is this from the point of view of a father addressing his daughter.
----

Like most hard rock bands from TheEighties, Queensrÿche's popularity waned in TheNineties with the rise of grunge (which, ironically, has its roots in Queensrÿche's hometown of Seattle). Nonetheless, Queensrÿche continues to record and tour, although founding member Chris [=DeGarmo=] left the band in 1998 to pursue personal interests. While a number of musicians have worked with the band in his absence, a permanent replacement has yet to be hired.

* GriefSong: "If I Were King", from "American Soldier", is about a Marine who can't get over the death of his friend in battle. "A World Without", from the 2013 "Queensryche" album, is about a man whose wife dies in childbirth, leaving him alone with their newborn baby.

* GriefSong: "A World Without", from the 2013 "Queensryche" album, is about a man whose wife dies in childbirth, leaving him alone with their newborn baby.

* EpicRocking: "Roads To Madness", "Suite Sister Mary", "Della Brown", "Anybody Listening?", "Promised Land".

* NewSoundAlbum: ''Rage for Order'' perhaps most obviously, ''Hear In The Now Frontier'' as a shift to a more "alternative" sound, and ''Dedicated To Chaos'', later, but not in a good way. Frankly, it could be argued that they pulled this every few albums or so: power metal (EP, "The Warning") to progressive ("Rage For Order" and "Mindcrime I") to mainstream pop-metal ("Empire") to conceptual hard rock ("Promised Land") to an alternative rock sound ("Hear", "Q2K", "Tribe") and finally back to progressive sounds ("Mindcrime II" and "American Soldier") and...well, [[DarthWiki/SoBadItsHorrible whatever "Dedicated to Chaos" is supposed to be.]]

* NewSoundAlbum: ''Rage for Order'' perhaps most obviously, ''Dedicated To Chaos'', later, but not in a good way.

* MinisculeRocking: Most of the songs on their self-titled 2013 album are very short. The album itself finishes under 40 minutes.

In June 2012, Wilton, Jackson and Rockenfield kicked Geoff Tate out of the band. Todd La Torre of the band Crimson Glory was chosen as Tate's replacement, and the previously-hired Parker Lundgren was retained on guitars. Geoff Tate continued to tour under the Queensrÿche name with past Queensrÿche member Kelly Gray. On the 28th of April 2014, a statement was released that confirmed that Tate had lost the Queensryche brand to Wilton, Jackson and Rockenfield, who will be carrying on as the sole version of the band while Tate was given the rights to perform Operation: Mindcrime and Operation: Mindcrime II in their entirety for unique performances.

* CanonDiscontinuity: May happen to Frequency Unknown: it was released by Tate's version of the band prior to him losing the band name and comments from the now-official line up at the time indicate that they would not have considered it a Queensryche album due to it having nothing in common with what Queensryche stood for. [[FanonDiscontinuity Not that most fans would complain too much if it were to be stricken from the band's canon...]]

* Additionally, before he lost the rights to the name, Geoff Tate released ''Frequency Unknown'' as a Queensrÿche in 2013.

* Pre-Split:
** 1983 - ''Queensrÿche'' (EP)
** 1984 - ''The Warning''
** 1986 - ''Rage for Order''
** 1988 - ''[[OperationMindcrime Operation: Mindcrime]]''
** 1990 - ''Empire''
** 1994 - ''Promised Land''
** 1997 - ''Hear in the Now Frontier''
** 1999 - ''[=Q2K=]''
** 2003 - ''Tribe''
** 2006 - ''Operation: Mindcrime II''
** 2007 - ''Take Cover''
** 2009 - ''American Soldier''
** 2011 - ''Dedicated to Chaos''
** 2013 - ''Queensrÿche'' (full length album)

* With Geoff Tate:
** 2013 - ''Frequency Unknown''

* With Todd La Torre:
** 2013 - ''Queensrÿche'' (Full length album)

In June 2012, Wilton, Jackson and Rockenfield kicked Geoff Tate out of the band. Todd La Torre of the band Crimson Glory was chosen as Tate's replacement, and the previously-hired Parker Lundgren was retained on guitars. Geoff Tate continues to tour under the Queensrÿche name with past Queensrÿche member Kelly Gray. So yes, there are actually '''two Queensrÿches''', causing the mother of all [[BrokenBase divided fanbases]].

* With Geoff Tate:
** Geoff Tate - Vocals, keyboard, saxophone (1982-present)
** Kelly Gray - Guitar, backing vocals (1998-2002, 2012-present)
** Randy Gane - Keyboard (2012-present)
** Rudy Sarzo - bass, backing vocals (2012-present)
** Robert Sarzo - Guitar, backing vocals (2013-present)
** Simon Wright - Drums (2013-present)

* With Todd La Torre:

Discography:
* Pre-Split:
** 1983 - ''Queensrÿche'' (EP)
** 1984 - ''The Warning''
** 1986 - ''Rage for Order''
** 1988 - ''[[OperationMindcrime Operation: Mindcrime]]''
** 1990 - ''Empire''
** 1994 - ''Promised Land''
** 1997 - ''Hear in the Now Frontier''
** 1999 - ''[=Q2K=]''
** 2003 - ''Tribe''
** 2006 - ''Operation: Mindcrime II''
** 2007 - ''Take Cover''
** 2009 - ''American Soldier''
** 2011 - ''Dedicated to Chaos''

** 2013 - ''Frequency Unknown''

* 1983 - ''Queensrÿche'' (EP)
* 1984 - ''The Warning''
* 1986 - ''Rage for Order''
* 1988 - ''[[OperationMindcrime Operation: Mindcrime]]''
* 1990 - ''Empire''
* 1994 - ''Promised Land''
* 1997 - ''Hear in the Now Frontier''
* 1999 - ''[=Q2K=]''
* 2003 - ''Tribe''
* 2006 - ''Operation: Mindcrime II''
* 2007 - ''Take Cover''
* 2009 - ''American Soldier''
* 2011 - ''Dedicated to Chaos''
* 2013 - ''Frequency Unknown''
* 2013 - ''Queensrÿche'' (Full length album)