American Soldier

Firstly, I know this review is before the official release date but having pre-ordered my album I was delighted when it arrived apparently much sooner than it should.

This album is a concept album exploring the experiences of US soldiers in conflicts including and since the second world war. It is dedicated to America's service personnel and you can see that the subject matter has meant a lot to Queensryche.

The first thing that struck me as the first track started to play was the production. I quite liked the last album (Mindcrime II) but I was not that keen on the overall sound. However, American Soldier has an altogether better sound to my ear; spacious and rich. Very pleasing and reminiscent of Promised Land.

I must admit I wasn't sure what to make of the opening track Sliver to start with and for a moment thought that the album was going to be a disappointment. It's not that the track is bad but certainly it's among the weaker moments on the album. However, I am pleased to say that overall I really like the album. There is much more of a return to the kind of melody that has been getting rarer since Promised Land. And there really are some great melodies on this album both instrumental and vocal. There is also a good spread of heavier moments and softer moments and by softer I don't mean ballad.

If Empire and Promised Land are musically your favourite Queensryche albums then this one should please you.

The lyrics are well thought out and the use of real veterans voice-overs adds credibility to the integrity of the thought process and research that created the album. Credit is due to the band for honourably tackling this subject matter.

After a few days listening stand out moments are: Hundred Mile Stare; A Dead Man's Words (great riff); Middle of Hell - it's not a heavy tune but has lots of atmosphere and a great groove to it; Remember Me; and Home Again which is a very touching softer number where Tate Duets with a Emily Tate (his daughter?). What I really liked about this song was the juxtaposition of Tate's highly polished vocal performance and the beautiful rawness of this other young female voice. At first it it is a real surprise to here this voice on the song but I think it works very well. The simple story of a father missing his daughter and vice versa is something that at least any listener with children will find moving.

With enough catchy stuff to like quickly and more (I think) to get my teeth into over time American Soldier is a strong effort and it could be that in a couple of weeks it deserves 5 stars.

I have been a die-hard Queensryche fan since I first heard "Take Hold Of The Flame" on a Kerrang! Kompilation back around 1986. Went out to buy the just released "Rage For Order" & 1984's "The Warning" at the earliest opportunity, scouring the record shops for the EP too.

For me, "Mindcrime" was damn fine but soon surpassed by "Empire" & then my favourite album of all time by any artist, "Promised Land"; mind blowing doesn't begin to describe that one.

With QR I never needed to pick favourite albums since each album stood so strongly on its own merits...

So the relative disappointments of what followed were almost inevitable. Over simplified "Hear In The Now Frontier" & grungified "Q2k" were followed by "Tribe", showing some glimmers of light that faded rather quickly with the disappointing "O:MII" - just not hitting the mark & overall, a missed opportunity to show the 21st century bands how it should be done... A signature band had become somewhat generic.

So now we have "American Soldier", a very different concept album.

I really liked the first few seconds of "Sliver", the opening track, but this quickly faded when the almost funky, rappy use of the soldier's commands changed the feel of the song to something I am very uncomfortable with in a QR track. Reminded me of the homeboy rap sound Geoff Tate introduced on Tribe's "Desert Dance" (an otherwise good song). Not a good omen.

"Unafraid", awash with interview snippets of real American Soldiers would have made a far better opening track if it weren't for the way the 'verses' of the music are flattened to aid the listener in hearing the samples. Musically I think this is a really cool track but to kill the musical production in this way was a shame. Maybe another way could've been found to maintain the snippets' clarity along with the music?

From this point on, I really do find it hard to fault this release.

The atmosphere & subtlties of previous QR efforts have returned with some force; at times I hear influences of "Rage For Order", & of the better parts of "Tribe".

The great "Promised Land" lends alot to this CD too... probably why I like it soooooo much.

I cannot help but listen repeatedly to "At 30,000 Feet", "A Dead Man's Words", "Man Down" & "The Voice". Awesome as can be given QR are always going to be in the shadow of the 80s/90s releases.

The other tracks are still very good & I am sure that given more listening time they too will come to the fore... that is the beauty of a good QR release... there's always something to look forward to.

If you are a long term QR fan, take your first few listens from track 3 - forget 1 & 2 exist & visit those later.

Queensryche are back to greatness with this record.

... which for me is good. Well, Queensryche, what can I say? A love affair that began in the Warning days, albeit after hearing Queen of the Reich. Rage quickly became and still is one of my favourite albums ever, as the advert said , 'every chord a power chord '. Mindcrime followed this raising the bar in perhaps a different direction, then, the too polished Empire followed by Promised Land. This is when the affair started to lose it's shine, Hear in the Now Frontier was well below average, Q2K was passable, Tribe, a few live ones, Mindcrime 2 ( although a reasonable sequel) and the absolutely abismal covers album made me lose the faith. I then found out ( as you do ) about American Soldier and despite a ropey review in Q magazine, I took the plunge.

Very pleased I did as it happens, the subject matter is dealt with quite superbly and the songs, sound, etc is basically prime Queensryche, atmospheric, superb vocals ( by far the best for years ) Absolutely great all round and a reality 'concept'

Highlights for me 30,000 feet, Remember Me and Home Again which choked me the first time I heard it - you'll have to listen yourselves but the vocal exchange between Tate and his daughter is very moving.

Anyway, any old Rych fans out there wanting to get some new stuff to remind them what they loved about them in the first place should go for this