Queensrÿche – Queensrÿche

I was a young man when I took a chance and bought this record at Sears not long after it was released. I had never even heard of them, but I was blown away when I gave it a listen. I was even more impressed when I saw them open up for Kiss in 1985. I saw them 4 more times through the early 90's and they always stole the show from the headlining act. This album, along with The Warning, are my favorites from the band.

Mine has a newspaper style insert that is full of articles on Queensryche. Very cool, but don’t see it listed with any pressings, so just a memento someone had and left in the EP?

Here is the '83 debut EP by Queensryche. I saw the band on their first USA tour, opening for Iron Maiden and Saxon. I was so impressed with their early prog-metal sound that I ran out to buy the record the next day.

These four tracks are well composed and each sound different from another. Some care has gone into the arranging to thoughtfully layer in dual distorted guitars, not an easy feat when both are thick and competing for sonic space.

A most impressive member here is Geoff Tate on vocals. He energizes the band sound with sheer technical proficiency and dynamics. Wilton and DeGarmo compliment each other perfectly with interwoven guitar parts.

The recording is tracked cleanly and mixed beautifully. However, the final mix/master suffers from too much compression and a scooped EQ profile, not unusual for '80s metal, but sounding muddy and dated by modern standards. The bass frequencies are thick and the guitars are somewhat notched. If this release should get remastered on vinyl in the future and EQ corrected, I will be first in line to buy a fresh copy.

I became a Queensryche fan the first night I saw them performing these four songs live. Oddly, I always thought this debut EP was their best work. What an amazing way to hit the scene.

Four stars. Recommended.