I Queensryche sono uno dei gruppi più influenti dell'Heavy Metal, che spesso vengono ricordati solo per il loro capolavoro "Operation Mindcrime" del 1988. A differenza di altre formazioni metal, i quattro ragazzi di Seattle hanno evoluto il proprio sound nel passare degli anni, rimanendo però sempre molto affezionati al progressive metal, che loro stessi hanno ampiamente contribuito a sviluppare.
Prima ancora che il chitarrista e compositore di gran parte del materiale della band, Chris DeGarmo, lasciasse soli gli altri componenti del gruppo nel 1997, i Queensryche avevano già eseguito una notevole svolta del loro sound verso un Heavy Metal-Hard Rock con componenti Grunge ("Hear In The Now Frontier" ne è la prova). "Tribe" (2003) è forse il miglior album "sfornato" dai Queensryche dopo "Promised Land" (1994), che era stato un pò lo spartiacque del sound della band. Questo è forse in parte anche dovuto all'aiuto che DeGarmo ha dato nella composizione di molte canzoni dell'album, e nella loro prima interpretazione nelle sessions; il ragazzo, infatti, non si è mai separato del tutto dalla band, ed ha spesso contribuito con idee interessanti, che sono sempre state accettate da Tate & Soci. Tutta l'atmosfera dell'album, come suggerito da cover e nome stesso, è decisamente tribale ed a tratti orientale (vedi "Desert Dance" più di tutte). A questo compito contribuisce fondamentalmente Scott Rockenfield, dietro le pelli, ma anche Geoff Tate alla voce, profondamenta cambiata dal passato, ma sempre molto bella; un pò il marchio di fabbrica dei Queensryche.
La chitarra "d'accompagnamento" è suonata bene da Mike Stone, e gli assoli eseguiti da Michael Wilton sono, come sempre, mozzafiato. Una nota negativa è forse il basso di Eddie Jackson, meno presente che in passato (si veda "Operation Mindcrime" o "Empire"); in ogni caso possiamo apprezzare la sua ottima tecnica fin dal primo brano, "Open", in cui esegue un ottimo assolo (seguito da un formidabile urlo di chitarra elettrica). Possiamo notare, in brani come "Rhythm of Hope", l'ottimo accompagnamento con la chitarra acustica che contribuisce a sfatare la brutta equazione, creata dall'ignoranza, metal = casino e urla. Eh si, perchè di casino ed urla ce ne è ben poco in questo album; ci sono piuttosto ottimi riff di chitarra elettrica, ed una voce stupenda, quella di Tate, che è sempre in primo piano. L'atmosfera di "Tribe", come già accennato, è spesso molto cupa e tribale. La title-track è forse il pezzo più rappresentativo dell'album, da questo punto di vista. "Losing Myself" e "Falling Behind" sono episodi minori dell'album, come, putroppo, anche l'ultima traccia "Doin' Fine", il che lascia molto stupiti, dato che i Queensryche ci avevano abituati da sempre con ottime chiusure (si veda "Eyes of a Stranger" o "Anybody Listening").
"Blood" e "The Art of Life" sono ottimi pezzi; il titolo di quest'ultima canzone, variato di una lettera, darà il nome al live "The Art of Live" rilasciato un anno dopo l'uscita di "Tribe", che vede i Queensryche suonare quasi tutti i pezzi dello stesso più molti altri vecchi successi, ed anche due cover ("Confortably Numb" dei Floyd e "Won't Get Fooled Again" degli Who) insieme ai Dream Theater. Consiglio per altro a tutti i fans dei due gruppi la visione/ascolto di tale live. Per concludere direi che "Tribe" non è un capolavoro, ma è un album in grado di mostrare come i Queensryche del 2000 sono validi quanto i Queensryche dell'80, l'importante è giudicarli per il nuovo genere che suonano, che non è più il caro vecchio progressive metal di "Operation Mindcrime" o "Rage For Order". "Operation Mindcrime 2" (2006) è stata un'uscita obbligata dalla grande attesa dei fans (che aspettavano di sapere che fine aveva fatto Nikki ed il Dr. X), e nonostante ciò è un buon album.
Speriamo che l'evoluzione del gruppo porti alla luce nuovi capolavori come Mindcrime.
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Open (04:32)
You're an angel with your wings broken,
wearing sandals that I tripped in.
You're a holiday already taken,
a cocktail that's stirred never shaken.
Your heads in overload.
You've reached your threshold
and you're about to explode.
Open your eyes. Just say what you want to say?
Open your eyes, you see yours isn't the only way .
Open your eyes. To you everyone is blind.
Open your eyes and your mind.
You're like a hand gun that's fully loaded
making idle threats of violence.
Your heads in overload.
You've reached your threshold
and you're about to explode.
Open your eyes. You take what you want for free,
Open your eyes. and you see what you want to see.
Open your eyes. To you everyone is blind.
Open your eyes and your mind.
Open your eyes. Just say what you want to say?
Open your eyes, you see yours isn't the only way .
Open your eyes. Do you really think I'm blind?
Open your eyes and your mind.
Open your mind.
Open your eyes. and you see what you want to see.
Open your eyes. To you everyone is blind.
Open your eyes and your mind.
Open your eyes. Just say what you want to say?
Open your eyes, you see yours isn't the only way .
Open your eyes. Do you really think I'm blind?
Open your eyes and your mind.
Open your mind.
02 Losing Myself (04:12)
There's a thunder in my head,
a roar I can't escape.
I can't ignore this certain fate
I'm experiencing something.
I can't explain.
There's a frame of reference fragile at best.
An itching fear that's stronger than the rest.
Follow the black ribbon into the sun.
Push it further baby, careful with this burnout now.
I'm losing myself in you
and trying to get back to me.
But I'm so far away, I'm losing myself.
The sand in my mouth,
the wind and heat I feel numb.
Ten days on the road and it feels
like where I've been ain't so bad.
Gotta get back home to you.
Gotta get back home to you.
Gotta get back home.
Throttle back slowly there's no time like now.
Red line it baby I'm pushing to the edge now.
I'm losing myself in you
and trying to get back to me.
But I'm so far away, I'm losing myself.
I'm beating down this desert highway
one hundred miles an hour times two.
But I'm so far away, I'm a million miles away.
I'm losing myself in you
and trying to get back to me.
But I'm so far away, I'm losing myself.
Get me off this desert highway.
Gotta get back to you but I'm so far away.
I'm a million miles away.
03 Desert Dance (03:57)
With a simple wave,
her hand creates my universe.
She spins and dances around the fire.
Eyes search the open road,
caught up in the sound of
transmissions burning down the wire.
We reach out for the sky
and were never coming down.
We reach out for the sky
and were never coming down.
Live life in extreme
better then any magazine could ever hope to describe.
Ripped, we sweat this desert dance, baby do your best.
We're on our way to higher consciousness.
We reach out for the sky
and we're never coming down.
Keep reaching, keep reaching.
We're never coming down.
High on a million breaths of her,
I surrender to the magic all around me.
We reach out for the sky
and we're never coming down.
05 The Great Divide (04:01)
I'd reconciled my anger got outside of danger.
I was waiting for some signal, a sign from angels.
When the tide turns against you
it's a strange sensation, a revelation of imagination.
I could change my course and face the flow,
reap the seeds that I had sewn or follow that old river south.
Here's what I found out.
I was standing on the Great Divide looking out across America.
Trying to find my truth, define it for myself.
I died the day when I saw this place.
I saw what I could lose.
A very simple mechanism separates the fool from wisdom.
The lines between us are not real.
Conditioning is what makes us feel ignorant.
And apathy will feed our hate.
So we can never give in.
There I was standing at the Great Divide, looking for the truth in America.
For all that time I searched, when I closed my eyes,
I found the thing I was looking for.
I had it all the time.
So are we standing at the Great Divide?
Is there hope for America?
Take the flag we wave, the freedoms that we sing.
Without respect for one other,
it doesn't mean a thing.
06 Rhythm of Hope (03:31)
Lying here awake again.
Minutes before dawn I hear your breathing,
your heart beat like a song.
Lately I've been feeling a little less then good but
seeing things for the first time like I never could.
I've had my head down against the door,
trying to get to something I couldn't find before.
That special something, that feeds my soul,
is a rhythm to live by, it's a rhythm of hope.
Something drives us onwards.
Something gives us strength.
What makes our judgment falter is the questions we think.
Who am I to fly so high?
What gives me the right to dream of what could be,
keep reaching for the light?
I've been standing in front of that door,
basing my happiness on what' I knew before.
Searching for something that moves my soul.
A rhythm to hold to, a rhythm to live to.
Have you been down like this before?
I guarantee there's something waiting for you just open that door.
A rhythm to live by, that moves your soul.
A rhythm that holds you.
A rhythm to live to.
And if there's one thing we all need now,
it's a rhythm to live by, a rhythm of hope.
Lying here awake again.
07 Tribe (04:39)
Taken to a place underground,
a cavern, ten thousand steps down.
The only light was fire fly glow,
reflecting in the blue crystal show.
Feeling in the darkness surrounding me,
roots of giant Sequoia trees
anchor the canopy of life that's above.
The answer to the mystery of life is _
Traveled through the jungles of the Yucatan
and drank the potion from the magic man.
Held the starlight inches from my face,
pushed the door open, # 7.
I walked the path way to heaven.
Saw the same face of God.
Seems every where I go
I see the same face, I feel the same flow.
With every one I meet and every hand I shake,
I'm every man, trying my best to get to know
because everything's at stake.
We're the same tribe.
Passing through Morocco for the faithful is a trip.
Hallucinating visions drives my desert ship.
For a thousand miles we could not fail,
can't enjoy if you can't inhale.
Clearly a lifetimes need of some experience and
for the record, peace.
Seems every where I go
I see the same face, I feel the same flow.
With every one I meet and every hand I shake,
I see myself in every man, trying my best to get to know
because everything's at stake.
We're the same tribe.
08 Blood (04:13)
Thank-you for the lies, the lies you sold us.
Thank-you for this vision of violence.
Thank-you for this song you gave me to sing.
Thank-you for the capping day
of a culture that lay dying.
Yes it's us dying.
Maybe it won't be long,
now that it's all gone on.
It's all gone wrong and
there's blood on our hands.
We saw them lying there
with their arms around each other,
staring through their fear and
the miles between our heads.
You could have told the truth.
It was your decision to
sacrifice integrity and compassion for greed.
Now it's all gone wrong and
there's blood on our hands.
10 Doin' Fine (03:52)
Have you noticed The way people seem today?
Look in their eyes, you can feel their uncertainty.
Working hard for what they fear others would think.
Empty hearts are afraid to break away:don't be afraid.
We could all use a little sunshine
Take the day off :outside.
Hey look around, everything's better now
And here we are and we're doin' fine.
If we look inside, breath deep, and count to ten.
We'll find what we need to see us through
All the way to the end.
We'll know all the answers
Once we stop this judgment game
And realize deep down we're all the same.
We could all use a little sunshine
Take the day off and smile.
Hey look around everything's better now,
And here we are and getting along fine.
Yeah, we're doin' just fine.
We could all use some sunshine
Take the day off and smile.
Hey look around, everything's better
And here we are getting along just fine.
Next time we could try a little harder
And quickly put out the fire,
By working out our differences and
Finding truth we can all believe in.
We're looking at life from a different side.
We're looking at like from a different side.
And I know that we'll all be fine.
And I know that we'll all be fine.
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Di ryche72
"La vena d'oro dei Queensryche si era esaurita? Lo pensavo sinceramente... Dieci anni dopo colgo l'essenza di un album comunque degno di essere riscattato."
"The chain around the neck of humanity is our tendency to pass judgment on others. Mai verità fu più autentica."