Queensrÿche

Queensrÿche distinguished themselves from the many pop-metal groups ruling the American heavy metal landscape throughout the 1980s by developing a markedly individual identity. Unlike peers who extended the lineage of Van Halen, Aerosmith, and Kiss, the band shaped a progressive heavy metal approach that balanced the guitar virtuosity typical of post-Van Halen metal with influences from '70s art rock, particularly Pink Floyd and Queen. Commercial prominence arrived through the praised 1988 concept album Operation: Mindcrime and its successor Empire, the latter surpassing two million units sold on the strength of the hit single "Silent Lucidity." Visibility declined once grunge and alternative rock assumed dominance, while successive personnel shifts and legal conflicts divided the band into separate entities during the 2010s. Across subsequent decades they sustained a substantial audience and earned recognition as progressive metal forerunners together with Dream Theater and Fate's Warning.

Chris DeGarmo and Michael Wilton founded Queensrÿche in 1981 within Bellevue, a Seattle suburb. Having previously performed in heavy metal cover bands, the guitarists chose to assemble a unit devoted to original songs. They enlisted high-school acquaintances Geoff Tate on vocals and Eddie Jackson on bass along with drummer Scott Rockenfield. Rather than pursuing club performances, the ensemble spent two years in rehearsal before capturing and issuing a four-song demo. Local record-store proprietors Kim and Diana Harris discovered the cassette and volunteered to manage Queensrÿche. Assisted by the Harrises, the tape reached listeners across the Northwest. In May 1983 the band issued the EP Queen of the Reich on their independent 206 Records imprint. The release moved 20,000 copies and attracted major-label interest, leading to a contract with EMI that produced an expanded edition titled Queensrÿche LP by year's end; that version reached number 81 on the charts.

At the outset Queensrÿche's style aligned more closely with British metal outfits such as Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. In the ensuing years the group refined its approach while supporting an eclectic range of hard rock acts that included Bon Jovi and Metallica. Their following pair of albums, 1984's The Warning and 1986's Rage for Order, achieved solid sales, the latter attaining number 47 on U.S. charts. Rage for Order further revealed emerging progressive rock leanings that fully materialized on 1988's Operation: Mindcrime. Featuring orchestral arrangements by Michael Kamen, the record represented the band's most ambitious and cohesive statement to that point, drawing favorable notices alongside healthy commercial returns. Operation: Mindcrime remained on American charts for a full year and moved more than a million copies.

Queensrÿche delivered the comparably ambitious Empire in fall 1990. The album marked their commercial peak, climbing to number seven on U.S. charts, attaining double-platinum status domestically, and also entering the U.K. Top Ten. Momentum stemmed largely from the stately art-rock ballad "Silent Lucidity," which garnered extensive MTV and album-rock radio exposure and ultimately peaked at number five on the U.S. singles chart. After an extended Empire tour that encompassed a 1991 Monsters of Rock slot, the band released the live album Operation: LIVEcrime in fall 1991. Captured during the Operation: Mindcrime tour, the set recreated the rock opera that had defined their 1988 artistic advance and was packaged with both a video and an extensive booklet.

In the three years after Operation: LIVEcrime the group paused before slowly preparing the follow-up to Empire. They occasionally supplied tracks to soundtracks, among them "Real World" for Arnold Schwarzenegger's 1993 film Last Action Hero. Queensrÿche finally unveiled their sixth studio album, Promised Land, in 1994. Although the heavy metal audience had shifted markedly since Empire, with many listeners migrating to grunge and alternative rock, the band retained a loyal base, demonstrated when Promised Land debuted at number three on U.S. charts. The album eventually reached platinum certification and yielded two album-rock successes, "I Am I" and "Bridge."

On 1997's Hear in the New Frontier, Queensrÿche reduced their sound to essentials and set aside the progressive influences that had defined their character. Despite debuting at number 19, the record drew mixed criticism and descended quickly from charts, prompting founding guitarist Chris DeGarmo to depart shortly afterward. DeGarmo soon joined the touring ensemble of former Alice in Chains guitarist Jerry Cantrell. Q2k appeared in 1999 with Kelly Gray assuming DeGarmo's role. The band's first compilation, Greatest Hits, surfaced in 2000; Queensrÿche promoted it by opening for Iron Maiden's Brave New World reunion tour, which also featured former Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford.

In 2001 Queensrÿche issued the double-CD/DVD Live Evolution. Meanwhile former member DeGarmo prepared a new project reportedly involving former Alice in Chains drummer Sean Kinney and bassist Mike Inez; although he contributed to Jerry Cantrell's 2002 album Degradation Trip, no solo recordings emerged. DeGarmo rejoined Queensrÿche briefly for the 2003 album Tribe without re-entering the permanent lineup. Three years later the band, now without DeGarmo, who had become a professional charter pilot, released Operation: Mindcrime II, the anticipated sequel to their 1988 conceptual success. The year 2007 brought the simultaneous appearance of Sign of the Times: The Best of Queensrÿche and Take Cover, the latter containing interpretations of songs by U2, Buffalo Springfield, and Andrew Lloyd Webber.

Over the next two years Geoff Tate conducted one-on-one interviews with military veterans and channeled the resulting insights into American Soldier, a concept album about war. Produced by Jason Slater, who had also overseen Operation: Mindcrime II, the album arrived in March 2009. Queensrÿche then embarked on the conceptual Queensrÿche Cabaret tour, fusing their progressive sound with a cabaret aesthetic, and traveled to Iraq to perform the record for the troops who inspired it. While overseas they survived a bomb attack unharmed. Later that year the band announced new material and in 2011 released their eleventh studio album, Dedicated to Chaos.

In June 2012 the group dismissed founding vocalist and lyricist Tate, installing ex-Crimson Glory singer Todd La Torre in his place. Tate sued over rights to the band name and his compositions. Performing initially as "Original Singer Geoff Tate & Queensrÿche," he released Frequency Unknown in April 2013. The La Torre lineup countersued and issued the album Queensrÿche in June of the same year. Tate ultimately lost the litigation and formed his own band, Operation: Mindcrime.

In 2014 Queensrÿche launched the PledgeMusic campaign "Building the Empire," intended to finance a new album while offering contributors music and equipment and allowing accredited investors to purchase equity in Queensrÿche Holdings, LLC. The band returned to the studio in December and completed the record by February 2015. Advance video singles "Hellfire," "Guardian," and "Arrow of Time" signaled a return to a harder, heavier direction. Condition Hüman appeared in October 2015, followed by a world tour in early 2016. In 2017 Rockenfield took paternity leave, with Kamelot drummer Casey Grillo substituting on live dates. That year the band stated they had amassed sufficient material for another album, though the record did not emerge until 2019. Entitled The Verdict and issued on Century Media, it was produced by Zeuss and promoted by the single "Man the Machine." Three years afterward the band delivered their sixteenth studio album, Digital Noise Alliance. The Zeuss-produced collection balanced the intricate art-rock character of their early work with the heavy, groove-oriented approach of Condition Hüman.