I used to be a fairly decent Queensryche fan. I remember reading about the band in Circus magazine. They were starting to make a name for themselves at the same time as Ratt, Poison, and other mid-1980s bands. However, they didn't have the same type of acknowledgement from me. While Ratt and Poison were singing about girls and life in the fast lane, Queensryche were definitely not. Sure, they had a song called "The Lady Wore Black" but it was an apples v. oranges comparison.
Fast forward to fall of 1987. As a senior in high school, I was enrolled in a class called Media as Literature. We had a student teacher for that class and I really wish I could remember his name. Anyways, he assigned a group project and, somehow, I ended up in a group with Serbi and Chad Elick and two others. Serbi and I were best friends, but that was not the same relationship I had with Chad Elick.
I think we were in the same kindergarten class, meaning that we had known each other from 1976 to 1987 - over a decade. Whereas I was tall, he was short. Whereas we knew each other, Chad and I had never really been friends. We knew each other, but didn't run around with the same people. I don't recall being in any of the same classes in junior high or high school so, to put it bluntly, we didn't know each other.
In fact, I didn't know until fall of 1987 that his house was, literally, across the street from our high school. I don't remember the details, but somehow, our group agreed to work on our project at Chad's house. I still remember the first time I was in his house as though it was yesterday. He put in a tape of Queensyryce's Operation: Mindcrime and to say that I was blown away would be an understatement. I remember that he dubbed a copy of the album for me on a 90 minute cassette tape.
Chad Elick's introduction to Queensryche began a relationship with the band. For several of the next 6 or so years, I listened to Queensyryce's Operation: Mindcrime frequently. I studied the intricate snare drum pattern in the opening tune and appreciated Scott Rockenfield's drumming. The band went out on tour with Metallica in the late 1980s, but when Metallica came to Cedar Rapids, the opening band was The Cult, not Queensryche. In 1991, the band released their Empire album and I liked it. I found the lyrics to be appealing and despite the pseudo-ballad "Silent Lucidity" getting tons of airplay, I was drawn, instead, to "One and Only" and "Della Brown" as well as the motivational "Best I Can" which opened the album. However, for unknown reasons, after the release of Empire and their next album, I unintentionally shifted to listening to other bands not named Queensryce.
On occasion, I revisited them with their Q2K album as well as 4 other albums for Dailyvault.com.
In 2012, vocalist Geoff Tate had a public falling out with the band and Todd La Torre replaced Tate. I have never listened to a single Queensryche tune since Tate left. However, my friend Kevin Herren introduced me to La Torre's solo album. This is a tune from that album that was released today. Queensryche is touring in 2021 and currently scheduled to play at the Dubuque County Fair on the last Friday of July. Tentatively, Kevin and I are going to go see Queensryche, who I have never seen in concert, despite listening to them for, roughly, three decades.
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