Queensryche- Empire @35- Geoff Tate, Chris DeGarmo

As early as 1983’s “Queen of the Reich”, Seattle’s Queensryche had shown that they could rock with conviction. While 1988’s thematic Operation: Mindcrime revealed keen collective intellect with bold musical ambition on songs such as “Eyes of a Stranger”, it was September 1990’s fourth full Queensryche effort, Empire, that planted the quintet’s flag in a whole new territory of popularity atop the sales charts. This Empire had scope, extending into the following year as the #9 seller for the entire year 1991! And Empire by Queensryche has aged not a lick in thirty-five years in its ability to rock your viral blues away while surgically implanting multiple massive chorus hooks in your head. Before leaving, Queensryche dual founders Geoff Tate and Chris DeGarmo held court with me while dealing in the coin of the realm including “Best I Can”,”Another Rainy Night”,”Jet City Woman”,”Resistance”, “Hand on Heart”, and the epic “Silent Lucidity” here In the Studio.

Watching the February 1992 internationally-televised Grammy Awards, there was Queensryche performing the most unlikely Top Ten Billboard  hit and Grammy-nominated Rock Song of the Year, “Silent Lucidity” from September 1990 release Empire. Performed live with a symphony orchestra conducted by the late Michael Kamen and telecast worldwide to hundreds of millions, I couldn’t help but note how far Queensryche had come – how far rock had come – to be recognized in such a prestigious mainstream manner. As you hear in my classic rock interview, it certainly hadn’t started out that way for the Seattle quintet. Co-founder/composer/guitarist Chris DeGarmo and former singer/ songwriter Geoff Tate may be gone from Queensryche now ( the former pilots corporate jets, the latter heads the band Operation Mindcrime), but they tell the story of the blockbuster four million-seller Empire and the amazing songs “Best I Can”, “Jet City Woman”,”Della Brown”,” Resistance”,”Hand on Heart”, even a live performance from London’s Hammersmith Odeon just weeks after Empire’s 1990 release. –Redbeard