We all have that relative or close friend we want to see succeeding and finding their place in life. For the longest time, Queensrÿche seemed to occupy this space in the average progressive music fan’s mindset: it’s a band many wanted to see rekindling their past glories and releasing an album with the redeeming quality that say, Scenes from a Memory had for Dream Theater. Much like Fates Warning, they transitioned from the more straightforward metal of their early efforts into prog-metal. From there on, the sequence of Rage for Order, Operation:Mindcrime, Empire and the clever and forward-thinking Promised Land set a standard which seemed almost impossible to achieve. Caught in a lifelong identity crisis, the band’s sound seemed to be pushed and pulled in all directions: main-man Geoff Tate seemingly wanted a more accessible approach, whereas the other members wanted to stick to their roots. On the years to come, there was no redemption to their rollercoaster-like career, until the unthinkable happened: the band parted ways with Geoff, and thus a new chapter started to be written for these Seattleites. Over time, the change proved to be exactly what they needed – the two albums composed with the new lineup were like a breath of fresh air, and gave the fans what they expected and were missing for so long. The magic of their most revered period was recaptured, and the tension between band members seemed to completely disappear.

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