EMPIRE (1990/2003) EMI Records

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Band Members:

Geoff Tate - Vocals
Michael Wilton - Guitars
Chris DeGarmo - Guitars/vocals
Eddie Jackson - Bass/vocals
Scott Rockenfield - Drums

Orchestration on "Silent Lucidity" by Michael Kamen

Produced by Peter Collins
Recorded and mixed by James "Jimbo" Barton
at Vancouver Studios, Vancouver, B.C., Canada (Spring 1990)*

*except "Empire," recorded by Paul Northfield (assisted by Tom Hall)
at Triad Studios, Redmond, Wash.

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Track Listing:

1. Best I Can

2. The Thin Line

3. Jet City Woman

4. Della Brown

5. Another Rainy Night (Without You)

6. Empire

7. Resistance

8. Silent Lucidity

9. Hand On Heart

10. One and Only

11. Anybody Listening?

12. Last Time in Paris *

13. Scarborough Fair *

14. Dirty Lil Secret *

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Empire marked the band's attempt to take their progressive/power metal sound and make it more commercially acecssible hard rock, without losing the integrity of their music. The album was a huge hit, and Empire has been the band's highest-selling album to date, with Queensryche earning a 3x Platinum Award from the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA).

Unlike Operation: Mindcrime, where the guitar tones were "cold and harsh," in an effort to present the seriousness of the concept, Empire's tones were warm and full, showing the full range of the band's songwriting and performance capabilities. Along with the standard hard rock anthems such as "Empire" and "Resistance," softer songs such as "Silent Lucidity" and "Della Brown" balanced the record. The epic feeling was also maintained, with the fan favorite, "Anybody Listening" surfacing as one of the band's most popular tunes of all-time.

The album was remastered and re-released in 2003 with three bonus tracks, including "Last Time in Paris" (found on the Ford Fairlaine soundtrack), a cover of Simon & Garfunkel's "Scarborough Fair," and "Dirty Lil Secret."