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The Hard-Rock collective, Queensrÿche were formed in the Seattle
suburb of Bellevue, Washington USA, in 1981 when all the band members
were in their late teens; singer Geoff Tate, guitarists Chris DeGarmo
and Michael Wilton, bassist Eddie Jackson and drummer Scott Rockenfield
started gigging around the local bar circuit and recorded a demo-tape
of four songs that caught the attention of the Kerrang Magazine, the U.K.
Heavy-Metal bible.
Their first release was a self-titled EP which came out on EMI America
Records in 1983; it sold more than 350,000 copies and reached the #81
on The Billboard Top 200 chart.
The following year Queensrÿche's first full-length album, "The
Warning" was recorded in London, the set peaked at #61 in the United
States and established the band as a creative force.
On their next release, 1986's "Rage For Order", Queensrÿche
captured the power an discipline that defined their music, it eventually
peaked at #47 on The Billboard Top 200 Albums chart.
In spring 1988 the quintet released an ambitious concept album called
"Operation: Mindcrime" which crossed over to mainstream success
breaking the top 50 in the U.S. chart going gold; "Eyes Of A Stranger",
the first single on the record, hit on Billboard's Rock top 40.
Two years later Queensrÿche scored their second Mainstream Rock top
40 hit with "Last Time In Paris", a song which originally appeared
on the soundtrack of the film "The Adventures Of Ford Fairlane".
The band's fourth album, "Empire", exploded into The Billboard
200 chart at #7 upon its September 1990 release and also hit the top 10
in Britain; it sold over 3 million copies worldwide reeling off an unprecedented
six Mainstream Rock charting singles including two top 10 hits: "Jet
City Woman" and "Another Rainy Night (Without You)", three
top 30 hits: "Anybody Listening?", the title-track and "Best
I Can" plus the massive smash "Silent Lucidity" which soared
to #1 on album Rock radio chart and also hit #9 on The Billboard Hot 100.
An extensive tour followed and the concert album, "Operation LIVEcrime",
was issued in October 1991.
1993 saw the Seattle heavy rockers enjoying further success when their
contribution to the soundtrack to the film "Last Action Hero",
the single "Real World", climbed into the top 3 of the Billboard's
Active Rock Tracks chart.
In October 1994 Queensrÿche finally delivered the follow-up to "Empire";
written and recorded at the band's home studio and an isolated cabin in
the San Juan Islands, off the coast of northwestern Washington State,
"Promised Land" achieved a career-best peak of #3 on The Billboard
Top 200 Albums list and was certified platinum spawning two Mainstream
Rock top 10 hits in "Bridge" and "I Am I", plus a
minor hit single with "Disconnected".
1997 saw the the group moving into the alt-Rock territory with their seventh
studio record, "Hear In The Now Frontier"; it reached the #19
position on The Billboard 200 and its main single hit the top 3 of The
Mainstream Rock list; the second single off the CD, "You", peaked
at #11 in the same chart.
In January 1998, guitarist Chris DeGarmo announced his departure from
the band he co-founded and after several months of discussions, the position
was filled by longtime Queensrÿche friend and producer Kelly Gray.
The revamped line-up issued the band's Atlantic Records debut, "Q2K",
in September 1999, but the album didn't rise higher than #46 in the U.S.
and generated only one Mainstream Rock top 40 single, "Breakdown".
In July 2003, reunited with DeGarmo, the group released "Tribe"
through Sanctuary Records, reaching #56 on The Billboard 200; the band
kicked off their world tour in Europe that June and returned to the States
for a co-headlining run with fellow progressive stalwarts Dream
Theater.
Queensrÿche returned to the studio in 2005 for the long-anticipated
sequel to 1988's acclaimed "Operation: Mindcrime"; the new album,
titled "Operation: Mindcrime II", is performed by the Seattle-based
quintet, Tate, Wilton, Jackson, Rockenfield along with new guitarist Mike
Stone, will be on store shelves on April 4.
Queensr˙che biography is an exclusive of 100xr.com
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