Empire (Queensrÿche album)

Empire is the fourth full-length studio album by the American heavy metal band Queensrÿche, released on August 20, 1990. The album is Queensrÿche's most commercially successful release, reaching triple-platinum status.[11] The primary single, the power ballad "Silent Lucidity", reached number 1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks and number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.[12] "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.[13] The album won a 1991 Northwest Area Music Award for Best Metal Recording.[14]

Empire
Studio album by
Queensrÿche
ReleasedSeptember 4, 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
"Silent Lucidity"
  • file
  • help
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[4]
The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal7/10[5]
Entertainment WeeklyD[6]
PopMatters[7]
(20th Anniversary Edition)
Record Collector[8]
(20th Anniversary Edition)
The Rolling Stone Album Guide[9]
Select[10]

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", which also includes orchestra arrangements from Michael Kamen. 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"), harmony vocals (on "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

Certifications
Region CertificationCertified units/sales
Canada (Music Canada)[32] Platinum 100,000^
United Kingdom (BPI)[33] Silver 60,000^
United States (RIAA)[34] 3× Platinum 3,000,000^

^ Shipments figures based on certification alone.

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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  3. Begrand, Adrien (September 16, 2004). "Queensrÿche: The Art of Live, PopMatters". PopMatters. Retrieved June 13, 2021.
  4. 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. Farber, Jim (October 12, 1990). "Empire Review". Entertainment Weekly. Archived from the original on May 30, 2008. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
  7. Begrand, Adrien (October 7, 2010). "Queensrÿche: Empire (20th Anniversary Edition)". PopMatters. Retrieved March 16, 2013.
  8. 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. Putterford, Mark (October 1990). "Queensryche: Empire". Select. No. 4. p. 112.
  11. "RIAA Searchable Database: search for Queensrÿche". Recording Industry Association of America. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  12. "Empire Billboard Singles". AllMusic. Archived from the original on December 14, 2012. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
  13. "34th Grammy Awards — 1992". Rock on the Net.com. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
  14. "Established Acts Take Big Awards | the Seattle Times".
  15. Empire (Single sleeve). Queensrÿche. EMI America. 1990. MT 90.{{cite AV media notes}}: CS1 maint: others in cite AV media (notes) (link)
  16. "Bubbling Down Under". bubblingdownunder. October 22, 2021. Retrieved October 23, 2021.
  17. "Top RPM Albums: Issue 1539". RPM. Library and Archives Canada. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  18. "Dutchcharts.nl – Queensrÿche – Empire" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  19. Pennanen, Timo (2006). Sisältää hitin – levyt ja esittäjät Suomen musiikkilistoilla vuodesta 1972 (in Finnish) (1st ed.). Helsinki: Kustannusosakeyhtiö Otava. ISBN 978-951-1-21053-5.
  20. "Offiziellecharts.de – Queensrÿche – Empire" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  21. 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.
  22. "Charts.nz – Queensrÿche – Empire". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  23. "Norwegiancharts.com – Queensrÿche – Empire". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  24. "Swedishcharts.com – Queensrÿche – Empire". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  25. "Swisscharts.com – Queensrÿche – Empire". Hung Medien. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  26. "Queensryche | Artist | Official Charts". UK Albums Chart. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  27. "AOR Albums" (PDF). Radio & Records. March 15, 1991. p. 72. Retrieved May 10, 2022.
  28. "Queensryche Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  29. "Ultratop.be – Queensrÿche – Empire" (in French). Hung Medien. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  30. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1991". Billboard. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  31. "Top Billboard 200 Albums – Year-End 1992". Billboard. Retrieved August 22, 2021.
  32. "Canadian album certifications – Queensryche – Empire". Music Canada.
  33. "British album certifications – Queensryche – Empire". British Phonographic Industry.
  34. "American album certifications – Queensryche – Empire". Recording Industry Association of America.
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