Empire (Queensrÿche album)

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Empire
Queensryche - Empire cover.jpg
Studio album by
Queensrÿche
ReleasedAugust 20, 1990
Studio
Genre
Length63:23
LabelEMI USA
ProducerPeter Collins
Queensrÿche chronology
Operation: Mindcrime
(1988) 		Empire
(1990) 		Promised Land
(1994)
Singles from Empire
  1. "Empire"
    Released: September 1990
  2. "Best I Can"
    Released: December 1990
  3. "Silent Lucidity"
    Released: January 1991
  4. "Jet City Woman"
    Released: May 1991
Audio sample
Menu
0:00
"Silent Lucidity"
  • file
  • help
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic4.5/5 stars[4]
The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal7/10[5]
Entertainment WeeklyD[6]
PopMatters6/10 stars[7]
(20th Anniversary Edition)
Record Collector3/5 stars[8]
(20th Anniversary Edition)
The Rolling Stone Album Guide3.5/5 stars[9]

Empire is the fourth full-length studio album by the American heavy metal band Queensrÿche, released on August 20, 1990. The album stands as Queensrÿche's most commercially successful release, reaching triple-platinum status.[10] The primary single, the power ballad "Silent Lucidity", reached number 1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks and number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.[11] "Silent Lucidity" was also nominated in 1992 for the Grammy Awards for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.[12] The album won a 1991 Northwest Area Music Award for Best Metal Recording.[13]

In a June 2019 interview, former vocalist Geoff Tate announced his intentions to perform the entire album live in 2020 to celebrate its 30th anniversary. He also said that there will be a new 30th anniversary edition box set.[14]

Reception[]

Empire has received generally positive reviews from critics since its release.

AllMusic praised the album, selecting the songs "Jet City Woman", "Empire", and "Silent Lucidity" as the album's best tracks. The review stated that the band went for "a song-oriented approach that is more art rock and less metal" with lyrics that talk about social and physical handicaps in "Best I Can" and issues such as poverty and regret in "Della Brown" and romance with "Another Rainy Night (Without You)" and "Hand On Heart". The reviewer concluded by praising the band's mature sound and the work of producer Peter Collins.[4]

Record Collector gave the 20th anniversary edition of the album a generally positive review. The reviewer called the album a "very pleasant, but only intermittently gripping" listen, identifying the songs "Best I Can", "Silent Lucidity", and "Jet City Woman" as some of the band's best material. Comparing Empire to the band's earlier albums, The Warning and Rage for Order, the reviewer wrote that it is "a little boring". The reviewer concluded by calling the live CD accompanying the re-issue "flawless", making it a "worthwhile reissue".[8] PopMatters reviewer Adrien Begrand also reviewed the album's 20th anniversary release. Begrand called the album an "enigma" that's "beautifully produced and features some of the band's quintessential songs, but at the same time it's a rather bloated, conceptually scattershot piece of work containing filler that honestly has not aged very well". Begrand praised the songs "Empire", "Another Rainy Night", and "Silent Lucidity", calling them the album's best tracks, favorably comparing "Silent Lucidity" to Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb". Begrand had a mixed reaction to the live CD and referred to the cover of "Scarborough Fair" as being "abysmal".[7]

Jim Farber of Entertainment Weekly was highly critical of the album. He criticized both the album's progressive metal riffs, calling them "tuneless bombast", and the dire nature of the lyrics. Farber concluded his review by calling the band members "relentless killjoys".[6]

Track listing[]

No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Best I Can"Chris DeGarmo5:30
2."The Thin Line"DeGarmo, Geoff Tate, Michael Wilton5:42
3."Jet City Woman"DeGarmo, Tate5:20
4."Della Brown"DeGarmo, Scott Rockenfield, Tate7:04
5."Another Rainy Night (Without You)"DeGarmo, Eddie Jackson, Tate4:44
6."Empire"Tate, Wilton5:07
7."Resistance"Tate, Wilton4:47
8."Silent Lucidity"DeGarmo5:45
9."Hand on Heart"DeGarmo, Tate, Wilton5:30
10."One and Only"DeGarmo, Wilton5:52
11."Anybody Listening?"DeGarmo, Tate7:40
2003 CD reissue bonus tracks
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
12."Last Time in Paris"DeGarmo, Tate3:51
13."Scarborough Fair" (produced by Queensrÿche and Neil Kernon, recorded in 1986[15])Traditional3:51
14."Dirty Lil Secret"DeGarmo, Tate4:07
20th anniversary edition bonus disc (recorded live at the Hammersmith Odeon, November 15, 1990)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Resistance" 4:33
2."Walk in the Shadows"DeGarmo, Tate, Wilton3:56
3."Best I Can" 5:16
4."Empire" 5:11
5."The Thin Line" 5:43
6."Jet City Woman" 5:30
7."Roads to Madness"DeGarmo, Tate, Wilton9:32
8."Silent Lucidity" 5:43
9."Hand on Heart" 5:17
10."Take Hold of the Flame"DeGarmo, Tate5:10

Personnel[]

Queensrÿche
  • Geoff Tate – vocals, keyboards
  • Chris DeGarmo – six-string and 12-string electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards (on "Best I Can"), lead guitar (on "Best I Can", "Jet City Woman", "Silent Lucidity", "Anybody Listening"), backing vocals
  • Michael Wilton – six-string and 12-string electric and acoustic guitars, lead guitar (on "Empire", "Resistance", "Another Rainy Night")
  • Eddie Jackson – bass, backing vocals
  • Scott Rockenfield – drums, percussion
Additional personnel
  • Michael Kamen – orchestral arrangements on "Silent Lucidity", conductor
  • Randy Gane – answering machine message on "Empire"
  • Robert Bailey – keyboards, keyboard programming
Production

Charts[]

Singles[]

Year Single Chart Position
1990 "Best I Can" Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks (USA)[11] 28
"Empire" Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[11] 22
UK Singles Chart[29] 61
1991 "Silent Lucidity" Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[11] 1
Billboard Hot 100 (USA)[11] 9
RPM100 Hit Tracks (Canada)[30] 7
UK Singles Chart[29] 18
German Singles Chart[31] 46
Swiss Singles Chart[32] 24
GfK Dutch Charts[33] 21
New Zealand Singles Charts[34] 11
"Best I Can" UK Singles Chart[35] 36
"Jet City Woman" Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[11] 6
RPM100 Hit Tracks (Canada)[36] 92
UK Singles Chart[29] 39
"Another Rainy Night (Without You)" Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[11] 7
RPM 100 Hit Tracks (Canada)[37] 76
1992 "Anybody Listening?" Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[11] 16

Certifications[]

Country Organization Year Sales
USA RIAA 1994 3× Platinum (+ 3,000,000)[10]
Canada CRIA 1991 Platinum (+ 100,000)[38]
UK BPI 1993 Silver (+ 60,000)[39]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ Boehm, Mike (June 27, 1997). "Metal and Its Byproducts : Queensryche Upgrades the Machinery Without Undergoing a Retrofit or Total Conversion". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 19, 2021.
  2. ^ Popoff, Martin (2014). The big book of hair metal : the illustrated oral history of heavy metal's debauched decade. Minneapolis, MN. p. 193. ISBN 978-0-7603-4546-7. OCLC 858901054.
  3. ^ Begrand, Adrien. "Queensrÿche: The Art of Live, PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
  4. ^ Jump up to: a b Henderson, Alex. "Empire – Queensrÿche". AllMusic. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
  5. ^ Popoff, Martin (August 1, 2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 356. ISBN 978-1-894959-62-9.
  6. ^ Jump up to: a b Farber, Jim (October 12, 1990). "Empire Review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on May 30, 2008. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b Begrand, Adrien (October 7, 2010). "Queensrÿche: Empire (20th Anniversary Edition)". PopMatters. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b Pinfold, William (December 2010). "Queensrÿche – Empire: 20th Anniversary Edition". Record Collector (382). Archived from the original on August 26, 2012. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  9. ^ Rolling Stone list
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b "RIAA Searchable Database: search for Queensrÿche". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h "Empire Billboard Singles". AllMusic. Archived from the original on December 14, 2012. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
  12. ^ "34th Grammy Awards — 1992". Rock on the Net.com. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
  13. ^ https://archive.seattletimes.com/archive/?date=19910304&slug=1269658
  14. ^ Blabbermouth (June 9, 2019). "GEOFF TATE To Perform QUEENSRŸCHE's Entire 'Empire' Album On 30th-Anniversary World Tour Next Year". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. Retrieved June 10, 2019.
  15. ^ Jump up to: a b c Empire (Single sleeve). Queensrÿche. EMI America. 1990. MT 90.CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  16. ^ "Ultratop.be – Queensryche – Empire" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  17. ^ "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 54, No. 1, June 08, 1991". Library and Archives Canada. June 20, 1991. Archived from the original on June 10, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  18. ^ "Dutchcharts.nl – Queensryche – Empire" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  19. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Queensryche – Empire" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  20. ^ クイーンズライク – クイーンズライクのアルバム売り上げランキング (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved February 17, 2013.
  21. ^ "Charts.nz – Queensryche – Empire". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  22. ^ "Norwegiancharts.com – Queensryche – Empire". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  23. ^ "Swedishcharts.com – Queensryche – Empire". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  24. ^ "Swisscharts.com – Queensryche – Empire". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  25. ^ "Queensryche | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  26. ^ "Queensryche Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  27. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1991". Billboard. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  28. ^ "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1992". Billboard. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  29. ^ Jump up to: a b c "Queensryche Official Charts". Official Charts Company. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  30. ^ "RPM Top 100 Singles - June 8, 1991" (PDF).
  31. ^ "Single – Queensrÿche, Silent Lucidity". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  32. ^ "Queensrÿche – Silent Lucidity". Hitparade.ch (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  33. ^ "Queensrÿche – Silent Lucidity (Number)". GfK Dutch Charts (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  34. ^ "Queensrÿche – Silent Lucidity (Song)". charts.nz. Media Control Charts. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  35. ^ "Queensrÿche – Best I Can". Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  36. ^ "Top Singles - Volume 54, No. 11, August 17, 1991". Library and Archives Canada. August 17, 1991. Archived from the original on July 6, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  37. ^ "Top Singles - Volume 54, No. 26, November 30, 1991". Library and Archives Canada. November 30, 1991. Archived from the original on July 7, 2015. Retrieved May 8, 2012.
  38. ^ "CRIA Gold and Platinum Search: Queensryche". Music Canada. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
  39. ^ "BPI Certified Awards: Search for Queensryche". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
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