I’ve had enough and I want out. Ever get to the point where you’d like to say that in a situation and mean it? I know I have. Just a couple of months ago I was feeling that way working on huge Christmas CD. Two years is a fucking long time to spend on something. The bonus is, now it’s done and I can relive it year after year after year after year for at least another 125 years (I plan on breaking the record for old age). I’m also starting to hit that point with the media player I’ve been working on, you know, the one I mentioned yesterday. In the past several days, I’ve gotten to the point where I think it’s done, and then a glitch comes up, or something isn’t flowing the way it should. Each time it means, yet more time.
Hit me up with a comment about a story of you and that time you wanted out. I’m curious what pushes your buttons.
In keeping with my theme for Friday’s I’ve chosen Queensrÿche. Oh how the mighty do fall. I loved this band in my formative playing years. The power, the precision, the melody’s, the brilliant guitar playing. This band had it all. They even had the storybook beginning. Plucked from nowhere to instant arenas bypassing the whole club scene. Lucky for them, they had someone on the label keeping a eye for them. Their first 3 releases are amazing, but if I’m not mistaken didn’t sell for shit. No hits, no massive following.
Boom, here comes an album called Operation: Mindcrime and the whole game changed. Actually it’s where I learned about them. I had some music buddy’s that I hooked up with that would sit in a room, turn out all the lights, light a couple of candles, max out the stereo and listen to this from beginning to end. To put it mildly it’s an experience I’ll never forget. Being young and impressionable, it left a big impression on me and my musical direction. I ended up buying everything they released, I was hooked. Does anyone get together and listen to music with friends like that anymore? I wonder. Could this be why people don’t feel as connected to music?
You see to me… Operation: Mindcrime was probably the most perfectly recorded CD ever. Most well thought out story and music. I’d rank with the top of the top of concept albums like the Who’s Tommy, or Pink Floyd’s The Wall. It doesn’t get any better than that. Every sound, every note, perfection. Finally a hit, and a cool video too.
But it still wasn’t enough for the majority of consumers. Along comes Empire. No major concept here, but still a notch of perfection to be admired. Finally the big band and Queensrÿche explodes with today’s selection: Silent Lucidity. I don’t know if it ever hit Billboard’s number one, but I know it was a success for the band. A cool, but weird video and it’s the token power ballad. The coolest thing about it? The intro is in a really abnormal time signature. I think it’s something like 13/16 or something along that line. That was the beauty of a lot of their music, odd meters that grooved like you can’t believe.
It all came down to Chris DeGarmo. He is the man, the myth the legend. He reigned the Queensrÿche universe. Two albums later and he split the band. Without Chris they totally lost it. There was no more direction. There were far fewer of the cool musical ideas. It was a meltdown of a career. I remember the speculation of the how and why it happened. Most people attributed it to Chris’s wife who left him.
Chris is a cool guy. I got to meet him once. Extremely nice, superb intelligence. Obviously a great guitar player, and had a knack for writing the melodic odd meter stuff. Then after he quit, he started a group called Spies 4 Darwin. Not only did his departure destroy Queensrÿche, but it seemed to have led to demise of his musical magic. Spies 4 Darwin was some of the most unlistenable material. Horribly written, horrendous singer and painful lyrics. Bad all the way around. Fortunately for us, there is still a good catalog of Chris’s brilliance. If you don’t have today’s Single of the Day, you can’t go wrong with hitting that iTunes link and making it a part of your collection. It’s a brilliant song.
(** Disclaimer: If Queensrÿche or their label decides to kill me like they did Mary, then I’ll have to unload the audio like Nikki unloaded his drugs. The post will remain to show that corner of my heart that holds a place for their greatness – may it return. **)