Q2K

According to Geoff Tate, 1999 was one of the worst years of his life. Queensryche lost their record company and more importantly Guitarist and co-songwriter Chris Degarmo left before the release of Q2K on top of this the album prior (HITNF) had been criticised as it was a drastic change to the Queensryche sound of old.

All of these factors added up to produce a very disjointed album which lacked real cohesion. However if you persevere with Q2K you will be pleasantly surprised with a few excellent tracks. There are however a few weak tracks unworthy of the Queensryche name (Wot Kinda Man, anyone?). The other flaw in the album lies in Geoff Tate's overproduced vocals, If you have an incredible singer fronting the band why add stupid effects to his voice in places which deteriorate from the sound?

1. Falling Down: A catchy riff and beautiful dual guitar exchange are the force behind the first track. (8.5/10)

2. Sacred Ground: An excellent more melodic track which is let down slightly by below par lyrics. (8/10)

3. One Life: A decent enough track with fairly basic structure (7/10)

4. When The Rain Comes...: A beautiful ballad with emotive singing from Geoff Tate (9/10)

5. How Could I?: A straight up rocker, moderately uninteresting (7/10)

6. Beside You: Very good vocals from Geoff and nice melody make this a good track. (8/10)

7. Liquid Sky: The second best track on the album. Brilliant songwriting on this one. (9/10)

8. Breakdown: Probably the albums heaviest track with good energy. The overproduction of the vocals is annoying as the "Live Evolution" version makes Geoff Sound incredible, shame (8/10)

9. Burning Man: Good guitars, weak lyrics, not up to Queensryche standards (6.5/10)

10. Wot Kinda Man: A bad track. Vulgar lyrics mixed with a boring riff and grossly overproduced vocals. The worst studio album Queensryche track. (5/10)

11. The Right Side Of My Mind: The best track on the album, up there with the best Queensryche have ever written. Wonderful melodic and vocal performances. (9.5/10)

The worst Queensryche album? I would say no personally. Its a mixed bag with some excellent tracks and some dissapointing tracks but has more sonic energy and invention than Hear In The Now Frontier. I would rank it roughly on a par with the debut e.p in terms of quality

Overall: 79/100