SCREAMING IN DIGITAL
                                       
The On-Line Queensryche Digest : Volume 174 - 16Jan95

   "Futuristic 'Rychean discussion." - Michael Wilton
   "Quite entertaining to read." - Chris DeGarmo
   
   Produced in cooperation with the Queensryche Campaign fan club.
   Hosted by Internet Online Services, a division of IDT.
   Edited by Dan "Shag" Birchall
   
   Mail: qryche@ios.com
   FTP : ios.com, /pub/users/qryche
   WWW : http://www.ios.com/~qryche/
   
   
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Screaming in Digital - Editor's Note

   Hi everyone! Yes, I know this is a day late (and a dollar short?) - it
   was ready the night before last, but yesterday was pretty hectic and I
   just plain forgot to send it. Anyway, here it is.
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Contents

   CD-ROM Progress? - Michael
   Roads to Madness - Rory
   Soundbites - Jared
   Geoff Smoking - Michelle
   Bridge Video - David
   Eddie's Bass Lines - Loula
   Geoff's Love Life? - Hokan
   Rotterdam Show - Sold Out! - Anne-Marie
   Rotterdam Show - Sold Out! - Neil
   Tour Dates in the South - Joe
   Bay Area Rarities? - Remco
   Mindcrime Poster? - Daniel
   Singles in the US? - Jason
   Album Covers - Joe
   Album Covers - Neil
   Album Covers - Andy
   Mindcrime Opera - Joe
   Defending Disconnected - Rory
   Song Meanings - Andy
   Lady Jane Meaning - Hokan
   Promised Land Review - Squrille
   Bootlegs to Trade - Scott
   
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Neue Regel - News & Reviews

   CD-ROM Progress? - Michael (75542.141@compuserve.com)
   
   As February approaches, I wonder, has anyone heard anything solid
   about the CD-ROM?
   
          I've seen rumors on Usenet that the release might be pushed
          back to March, but haven't gotten confirmation. Michael (yes,
          that one) has promised Tina that he'll write a description of
          it for the digest, but the guys are busy getting ready for the
          tour, so I don't know how much time he has on his hands. -sh
          
   
   
   
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Speak - Comments & Questions

   Roads to Madness - Rory (u9119530@muss.cis.mcmaster.ca)
   
   Why was Roads to Madness written? It's my favorite Queensryche and
   when they performed it on the Mindcrime tour in Toronto, Geoff said,
   "Now here's a song that was written for a very stupid reason." Those
   words were etched into my skull. The only reason that I can think up,
   one that I've had since I first heard the song, is that it was written
   under the influence of drugs. It is a very stupid reason, and Chris's
   revelation about smoking pot seem to make it a valid hypothesis. Does
   anyone know the real reason?
   
          Actually, the real reason - as explained by Geoff in the March
          1991 issue of Faces magazine - is even stranger. When they were
          recording The Warning he was having a lot of trouble sleeping,
          and felt like he was "in a dream state" all the time. -sh
          
   
   
   Soundbites - Jared (rogersj@tpd.eds.com)
   
   I have heard those "hospital" samples from Mindcrime many times on
   cable and even in recent movies. Until someone pointed out that those
   samples came from a generic sample disc, I thought that movie makers
   were just really big Queensryche fans! I even heard those samples on a
   Melrose Place episode a couple of weeks ago!
   
          Michael Kamen is in the movie business and he's certainly a fan
          or friend of the band, but he might be an exception. -sh
          
   
   
   Geoff Smoking - Michelle (mmorrell@paul.spu.edu)
   
   I have proof that Geoff Tate smokes - I've not only seen him smoking,
   I've also watched him buy a pack of Marlboro Lights at a local
   7-Eleven. Considering the amounts he supposedly smokes, his voice has
   held out amazingly well. True, he has a bit of problems with some of
   those high notes, but he now has that wonderful, gravelly low range
   that sends shivers up and down my spine. His music has given me so
   much pleasure over the years - I can't believe it's been over a decade
   already - that I'd never begrudge him anything, not even nicotine. :)
   
   Bridge Video - David (mocko@janus.atmos.colostate.edu)
   
   I saw the Bridge video on MTV Prime Time. Perhaps this song will
   become a hit after all. The video reminds me very much of the one for
   Stand Up (Kick Love Into Motion) by Def Leppard - also directed by
   Matt Mahurin.
   
   Eddie's Bass Lines - Loula (lburton@beta.centenary.edu)
   
   Whoever said Eddie's bass lines were easy must be some kind of
   fabulous bassist - I've always found his work to be incredible,
   intricate, and difficult to decipher or play.
   
   Geoff's Love Life? - Hokan (hokan@dircon.co.uk)
   
   What has happened to Geoff's love life? On other albums, there have
   been songs with strong lyrics about love and relationships, but on
   Promised Land there is no real "love song." I'm not complaining, but
   I'm just curious - has he gone into some sort of "safe" relationship
   now so that the heart-breaking lyrics aren't that important?
   
          Actually, Geoff's been married for some time now, but you're on
          the right track. After the Building Empires tour ended, he
          decided to focus more on his relationship with his wife, Susan.
          It's easy for the "rock star lifestyle" to destabilize a
          relationship, and he didn't want that to happen. -sh
          
   
   
   
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Roads to Madness - Tours & Shows

   Rotterdam Show - Sold Out! - Anne-Marie (annemarie.debont@kub.nl)
   
   Last Saturday I got up really early to make sure I was in time to buy
   tickets for the March 8 concert in Rotterdam. Even though I was there
   ten minutes after the opening, the front seats were already gone, and
   their computer didn't work so we could not book the tickets at the
   central database. I got tickets for seats a little further from the
   stage, and I'm very glad I got tickets at all. When I called later
   that day, the lady on the phone told me that the concert was almost
   sold out and that she expected it would be totally sold out by the end
   of the day. I know it's nothing like the Rolling Stones concerts where
   three nights sold out in about two hours, but still, for a relatively
   unknown band I think it's an achievement.
   
   Rotterdam Show - Sold Out! - Neil (neilu@gti-ia.nl)
   
   Last Saturday tickets went on sale for the one and only Queensryche
   date in Holland, namely the Ahoy in Rotterdam. I arrived at the shop
   at around 11 a.m. to find they had _completely_ sold out. The album
   did reasonably well in the charts here, getting as high as position
   18, but I certainly did not expect a venue as large as this one to
   sell out so soon, certainly not in the space of two hours. If anyone
   has a spare ticket for this show that they want to sell, I'd be very
   interested in it. Thanks. Tour Dates in the South - Joe
   (jmbaylot@whale.st.usm.edu)
   
   Does anyone know if the band have set up any dates in the southern US?
   I hope that they come back to the Fairgrounds Coliseum in Jackson,
   Mississippi. I saw them there with Suicidal Tendencies and I must say
   it was the best concert I've ever seen. There were only three or four
   thousand people at the show, but that didn't stop them from giving a
   superb performance. I was kind of disappointed that they didn't do
   anything from the Queensryche EP - probably because of the small crowd
   - but it was a fine show all the same. From the aggression of songs
   like Resistance and Walk in the Shadows to the brilliance of Jet City
   Woman, Roads to Madness, and the Mindcrime saga, to their
   ultra-professional attitudes and the fact that they didn't resort to
   the cliched solo shots, Queensryche rocked Jackson harder than any
   band ever did. If they don't come to Jackson, then I hope they come to
   Biloxi.
   
          No dates have been announced for North America yet, but there's
          plenty of time for that, since they'll be overseas until this
          spring. -sh
          
   
   
   
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Spreading the Disease - Info & Resources

   Bay Area Rarities? - Remco (remco@aura.eecs.berkeley.edu)
   
   Can anyone name stores in the San Francisco Bay Area, preferably in
   Berkeley or Oakland, where I could buy bootlegs and CD-singles of our
   favorite band? In the Netherlands - my native country - I couldn't
   find any. I found out through Jennifer Pike - if you're still out
   there, Jennifer, send me mail - that many existed.
   
   I also just read about the I Am I single. I'm particularly interested
   - as most fans probably are - in the extras. Will the US single
   contain the same extras that Clive mentioned on the UK release - Real
   World, the full band Someone Else? and Dirty L'il Secret? Has it
   already been released here? Where can I buy it?
   
   Mindcrime Poster? - Daniel (hcicc01.rebenn01@ssw.alcoa.com)
   
   I would like to know if a poster-sized copy of the Mindcrime album
   cover exists. When I was an active fan club member in '91, I did not
   see anything like that available on the merchandising list. It would
   be cool to hang in my office at work. I also remember seeing a wall
   painted with the art in mural fashion during the last concert tour.
   Wouldn't that be a great souvenir?
   
          Walls are a little bulky to carry around, though. -sh
          
   
   
   Singles in the US? - Jason (cavalier@shadow.net)
   
   When will the singles for I am I or Bridge be released in the United
   States? I went in looking for the Bridge single, hoping for a b-side,
   and was shocked to find that not even the I am I single has been
   released! All whining aside, I'd like to hear Dirty Little Secret and
   anything else new that Queensryche puts out as b-sides - but there
   need to be singles released in order to have b-sides!
   
   
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The Whisper - Discussion

   Album Covers - Joe (jmbaylot@whale.st.usm.edu)
   
   I feel that the Promised Land album cover was the best-looking album
   cover of 1994, hands down. That really trippy sculpture of the
   ever-infamous tri-ryche logo, and the bird that appears directly
   underneath, reminds me of many famous Native American sculptures, past
   and present. The cover is so breath-takingly beautiful, it reminds me
   of so many pictures of rolling rivers and streams, oceans and seas.
   Thinking about it gives me the sensation of actually hearing water
   flowing through my hometown of Vicksburg, Mississippi, from the
   Mississippi River.
   
   I liked the album cover so much that I voted for it as "best album
   cover" for the recent Rolling Stone Reader's Poll, though I voted
   through e-mail, since I didn't get my copy in time for writing it in,
   and my vote probably didn't count.
   
   Album Covers - Neil (neilu@gti-ia.nl)
   
   I was interested by James's comments on album covers in the last
   issue, and have to say I agree with him on most counts. It's funny how
   the album cover can set you off thinking about the musical contents. I
   wasn't impressed much by the cover of The Warning, but Rage for Order
   I liked. Promised Land is my favorite, but it doesn't give me a "dark
   alley" chill. It doesn't strike up any sort of modern day impressions
   for me at all. I find it has more of an ancient appeal, something old
   and mysterious, perhaps a little frightening. Like visiting an ancient
   monument. Somewhere quiet and a little wild, somewhere to contemplate
   in harmony with nature. I suppose this fits in with the album "theme"
   by bringing up thoughts of the past. I like it. I want a giant sized
   version that I can put on my wall!
   
   Album Covers - Andy (st92jwlc@duvm.bitnet)
   
   I need to clarify myself on to the album covers issue. I never said
   the album covers were bad art, I merely wondered what happened to the
   imagery - the covers no longer have anything to do with the issues
   Queensryche covers in the music from each album. On the EP cover, they
   came out and stated their identity. The Warning cover gave me the idea
   of destiny. The covers for Rage and Mindcrime contain information on
   what's inside the packaging. I just think it would have been nice to
   see them do the same thing with the last two albums. Although the
   covers for Empire and Promised Land are beautiful, they don't reflect
   what they're trying to say on the albums about the loss of the
   American dream, et cetera.
   
   Mindcrime Opera - Joe (jmbaylot@whale.st.usm.edu)
   
   I hear a lot of people showing interest in a Mindcrime movie or even a
   Mindcrime comic book. But for you fans of Queensryche who love opera -
   after all, isn't Geoff a trained singer - why not a Mindcrime Opera? I
   think it would be a trip! Have the principal characters - Nikki, Dr.
   X, Sister Mary. Throw in something for Father William to do - maybe an
   aria or a duet with Sister Mary - and something for the Preacher to
   do, along with a lot of chorus stuff and you've got a jim-dandy of an
   opera.
   
   My idea would have Jerry Hadley playing Nikki and the beautiful Kiri
   Te Kanawa playing the role of Sister Mary. For those of you not
   familiar with these names, they are well-known in the opera world. I'm
   not too familiar with basses who could play Dr. X or Father William -
   basses are usually bad guys in opera - but then again, I'm a tenor. If
   anyone has any suggestions for a bass, feel free to e-mail me. I know
   this probably wouldn't be popular, but I like it.
   
   Defending Disconnected - Rory (u9119530@muss.cis.mcmaster.ca)
   
   Most of the posts that cut down Disconnected seem to call it a bad
   attempt at funk. I don't want to start an argument about what defines
   funk, but since there are no slaps or pops in Eddie's bass playing,
   and there is distortion on the guitars while the wah is in the
   background, it doesn't sound like funk to me. What they sound like
   they're trying to do - and in my opinion they do very well - is match
   the music to the words. You can't have a song called Disconnected with
   legato phrasings. You have to use different accents and staccato
   notes. What results is a very dry sounding funk, if you want to
   compare it to that.
   
   I see it as one of the most experimental and progressive things that
   they've done - I might even put it right after Neue Regel as their
   most experimental. I love the line "I must release my rage." It kind
   of sounds like someone trying to express emotion through a computer,
   trying to scream in digital perhaps? And the chorus, where the
   sentence "I'm feeling so down" is broken apart by the word
   "Disconnected," makes the song one of my favorites on the album. I
   guess this also answers the complaints about Geoff rapping. However,
   enough of the soapbox, if you don't like the song, you don't like the
   song.
   
   
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The Killing Words - Interpretation

   Song Meanings - Andy (st92jwlc@duvm.bitnet)
   
   I understand what Christopher said about all interpretations being
   valid, but some of Queensryche's songs do have a certain meaning. I
   could, for example, write a good document saying that Bridge is about
   the relationship between man and God, but I'd bet my life's earnings
   that's not what Chris was thinking about when he wrote it.
   
   Lady Jane Meaning - Hokan (hokan@dircon.co.uk)
   
   I think I understand, or at least have a faint idea of, what Geoff is
   trying to say with the lyrics of Promised Land, but when it comes to
   Lady Jane, I just haven't got a clue. Does anyone know what the song
   is about? Is Jane a real person, or just a symbol?
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I Will Remember - History

   Promised Land Review - Squrille - (c561423@mizzou1.missouri.edu)
   
   Now that the semester has ended, I have had a chance to read the last
   half of the semester's student newspaper. I was surprised to see a
   review of Promised Land. Here it is:
   
          A Thinking Man's Metal Band
          Eugene Smith, staff writer
          
          Queensryche's 1988 album Operation: Mindcrime catapulted the
          Seattle quintet out of metal obscurity into the vanguard of
          "thinking man's metal," a genre once dominated by Rush.
          Mindcrime's operatic tale of political assassination,
          religious hucksterism and addiction (I still would like to see
          a movie made) revived an art form not seen since the '70s - the
          Concept Album. It was a thematic masterpiece.
          
          That the follow-up, Empire, sucked was to be expected. These
          guys are smart enough to realize that the rock 'n' roll gravy
          train comes with an exit door, and they dutifully had their
          tickets punched for the scenic route. The result, while wildly
          lucrative, sounded like it was assembled by the Committee for
          Radio Hits, Inc.
          
          With the release of the new album, Promised Land, Queensryche
          rides the pendulum back towards the direction hinted at since
          Rage for Order. After two minutes of tension-building sound
          bite, I Am I opens the album with a disturbing metallic waltz
          that segues nicely into the grungey Damaged. By now, you've
          already heard the radio-friendly Out of Mind, a haunting ballad
          that does not draw upon the band's Pink Floyd influences for
          once. That all the songs have a sense of unity is both the
          album's greatest strength and weakness.
          
          The unity is a result of composition. Guitarist Chris De Garmo
          is listed as sole or co-writer of nine out of eleven songs.
          Since his compositional style tends toward the moody and
          ponderous, the overall feel of the album is dramatic sturm und
          drang. The title track is a prime example of this, as well as
          De Garmo's introspective study of the father-son relationship,
          Bridge. The biggest surprise of the album comes from the pen
          of drummer Scott Rockenfield, who serves up a delicious slice
          of outer space Alpha Centauri funk in Disconnected.
          
          Michael Wilton, the other half of Queensryche's fearsome guitar
          tandem, penned some of the bands more memorable musical moments
          in years past. On Promised Land, his role is diminished
          virtually to that of a sideman, with only two co-writing
          credits. The contrast between the two guitarists' songs was the
          essence of the band's aural roller coaster. The absence of
          Wilton's distinctive up-tempo rockers results in an album of
          very good, but ultimately very predictable music.
          
          In the end, you must buy this CD. Simply put, the worst moments
          on this album (the lyrics of Promised Land, for example) are
          not as bad as the best moments of Boxcar Willie. Additionally,
          they have once again revived a lost art - the CD folds out into
          a nice poster.
          
   Once again, an article ignores the bass. Does anyone know what the
   deal is here? Is it my imagination that articles normally leave out
   the bass and drums? I do find it interesting that this one article
   doesn't say a word about Geoff Tate. Does Eddie Jackson really do
   anything? I have no musical background, and am probably tone deaf -
   how can I find out? - but it seems to me that sometimes he doubles the
   guitars. I do hear other little things going on in the background that
   are done by Eddie. If the article's writer is complaining about not
   hearing anything from Mike Wilton, what about Eddie? He has the fewest
   credits of all. Why are all the music credits given to the guitars? Do
   they tell Eddie and Scott Rockenfield what to play? I have read that
   Scott comes up with his own stuff. What about Eddie? This guy is never
   interviewed on paper, either. If someone out there knows any answers,
   please, drop me a line. I don't want to sound like I'm really
   criticizing Eddie, I just don't know how the full band works. Maybe
   this will change when the CD-ROM comes out. Please, anyone out there
   have some answers?
   
   
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Anybody Listening? - Advertisements

   Bootlegs to Trade - Scott (scottttocs@delphi.com)
   
   I have some bootlegs for trade - e-mail me for a list. Who was the
   gentleman who offered a video of the last show of the Building Empires
   tour?
   
   
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   That's all for now, and again, sorry this didn't come out on time.
   
   'Ryche on,
          -Shag