EMPIRE

the only reason i feel for this album is that it gave the band a tremendous success and money and fame that Empire may not worth it but Queensryche do... plus, with the money they gained they managed to put on the stage show for performing Operation : Mindcrime like a real play...can you imagine that? the band was on "Empire" tour and they were performing O:M instead...

only 3 (another rainy night, silent lucidity and anybody listening) out of 11 tracks barely verge the band's former releases grandeur... and that's poor...

sure, Geoff proves, once more, why he is among the best metal singers ever, sure, Chris reminds us how great his loss was, sure Rockenfield is still one of the strongest drummers (you should see him performing live, he stole thunder many times, during the show..) but the essence of "Empire" which is the songs themselves are less than mediocre...