Hear in the Now Frontier

Hear in the Now Frontier has been underrated since its release. This is an excellent Queensryche album and fits right in perfectly with what QR always was (up to the time Chris left): a band that challenged themselves to do something new on every album. It's a big part of why we QR devotees loved them. HITNF fits right in: it is a new sound for them, the songs are catchy, there are some really cool and different guitar riffs, Geoff's singing still top-notch, and includes some instant-classic tunes (for me those are Sign of the Times, Saved, You, and Spool). Plus on this edition you get the incredible live acoustic version of The Killing Words.Some call this their 'grunge' record, or that they 'sold out' with this record and tried to copy what was popular rather than blazing the trail as they always had. To that I say: these dudes are from Seattle and were around way before any of the grunge bands made it; they are totally entitled to make an album that is in line with the sound of their hometown. Shoot, directly or indirectly, they probably influenced all of those bands anyway.I love Hear in the Now Frontier. It's such a great record. It's really too bad Chris left. Starting with Q2K they totally lost the magic that captivated so many of us. Well, from the EP to HITNF it was a good run. They left us a lot of great tunes and great memories.Now we have the Todd-fronted QR, which I think is pretty good, and Geoff with Sweet Oblivion, which I think is pretty good, too. Neither has the magic the group had up to HITNF but both projects are definitely worth listening to. Both are kind of vindication for the years of mediocrity between Q2K and Geoff's departure.

Maybe I've just got a soft spot for Hear in the Now Frontier, I don't know. This was the album that got me into Queensryche in the first place -- a buddy loaned it to me and told me it might be something I'd like. I probably listened through it a million times, hooked on every track - so unlike any other music I'd ever heard - that I had to know this band better and went out to devour the rest of their catalog.To this day I still love Hear in the Now Frontier, even having been turned on to the rest of their older catalog. It may not have the raw one-two punch of Operation: Mindcrime (to many the be all, end all Queensryche album) or the synchopated flow of Empire. Queensryche excels at keeping their core sound and yet never delivering the same album twice. Hear in the Now Frontier shows not only an attempt to capture a more basic and open sound but also in retrospect serves as a warning of the turbulent times ahead of the band.Fandom is such a fickle and subjective thing, and I find it strange that Queensryche fans are immediately supposed to loathe this album and worship O:M. Open your mind a little and give this album another listen. No, you don't have to love every song. No, you don't have to leap up and proclaim, "It's genius! Why did I ever doubt?" But what you can take away is that there are some really worthwhile and catchy songs to be found here and that it is okay to say, "No, Hear in the Now Frontier is not the worst album ever written."I promise.

Empire took their blues exploration to a new level and came up with an underrated album; then, in "Promised Land", they kind of got back to "Rage for Order." In "Here in the Now Frontier." They took a new path from their anti-technology stance and embraced rationality and exploration and spiritual and ethical. Here is where the album landed in hot water with the public . . . .Music wise it also seemed at times hard to like; but, really, it just takes a little emotional/intellectual growth on the part of the listener to come to terms with it; i still little weary about 'cookoos nest' musically, but outside of maybe the fourth and fifth song being a little weak here and there, the rest of the album is amazing queensryche as usual! Getting back to the beatles thing; i find the sound is at least in the right direction for the feeling they were trying to bring, and yet, they still came up with songs that were as great as on "Rage for Order." In fact, I'd say "Here in the Now Frontier" and "Q2K" equal "Rage for Order" in both the cutthroat progressive metal and songs like "I dream in Infrared." 'Promised Land' stands unique amongst all the works of Queensryche.As usual, it takes 'learning' to come to grips with brain-food music like Queensryche music.

The version of Silent Lucidity on this CD may not be what you expect. There are *two* (or more) live performances of this song for MTV events that were released commercially.The first version I heard was from the extremely difficult-to-find EP "Sound of Building Empires". This version of the song appears to be mostly identical to that on "Empire", but is (obviously) performed live. The solo in the middle is the same, and an orchestra is present. I believe this performance is from the 1991 Video Music Awards.In the version of Silent Lucidity on the re-issued "Hear in the Now Frontier", the song is performed entirely with acoustic instruments. The solo in the middle is naturally changed dramatically, and no orchestra is present. This performance is from MTV Unplugged. The quality of the recording itself is greatly superior to the one found on "Sound of Building Empires".I really don't want to give this CD a star-rating, but I don't have an option. This "review" is really meant to be more of a commentary about 1 song on the disc.

Hear In The Now Frontier is the sixth full-length studio album by the Seattle based Progressive Metal Queensrÿche, it was recorded in Stone Gossard's home studio, produced by Toby Wright and released in 1997. With every passing album from the beginning of their career up until the time when this was released, Queensrÿche had reinvented their sound every time, and Hear In The Now Frontier takes a similarly large change in direction, crossing over into Alternative-Rock territory.The sound of the album isn't so much the sound of Prog-Metal in the Dream Theatre, Blind Guardian and Fates Warning sense; but rather a stripped down Alice In Chains, Pearl Jam and The Beatles inspired 90s-Alt sound with lots of jangly acoustic guitar and occasional down-tuned electric riffs.Some fans took this to be a sort of betrayal or selling out, but in all honesty looking back from now it isn't really any different from all of their huge stylistic changes before this album's release and its just furthering the band's mission to never make the same record twice.In my opinion, this album isn't the monstrous waste of space that it sometimes gets made out to be; tracks like `Saved' `Reach' `Spool' and the single `Sign Of The Times' all have some memorable moments. I actually like at least half of the album and don't exactly dislike the other half in any legitimate way.Ultimately, that just isn't enough however and so this just isn't all that amazing an album all things considered. There aren't tonnes and tonnes of memorable riffs, the lyrics aren't the sort of thing that stick in your head for days, the guitar solos aren't as impressive as in the past and some of the material is just a little too forgettable. Luckily Geoff Tate's voice is still very enjoyable, but then again he doesn't take it to as impressive heights as he once did.To be fair, even if this had have been the best Alternative album ever made, some people would still hate it just because the band changed to cash-in on the `in' thing of the time. That thing is though, Hear In The Now Frontier isn't the best alternative album ever made, it is just an average album. Its OK but it isn't perfect, it isn't something you'll want to play in its entirety all that often and it definitely shouldn't be the first Queensrÿche album that you buy unless you are a massive fan of 1990s Alternative Music and hate Prog or Metal.Overall; if you hate change then avoid it at all costs, but if you can actually accept that the sound of the album isn't all that Progressive or all that Metal, Hear In The Now Frontier is an OK addition to your collection that will deliver you a few more good songs to enjoy.

Very good

Good album by a great former band

good

fab