By: Jack Mangan

Queensryche's legacy may someday be defined by the "Operation: Mindcrime" albums and stage shows, their Floydian smash hit ‘Silent Lucidity’ from the "Empire" album, and, sadly, the ugly legal battle between ex-singer Geoff Tate and the core Queensryche unit. These are undeniably major elements of the band's story, and their popular songs are worthy of the high praise they receive, but we do them a disservice by neglecting their earlier material, specifically the "Rage For Order" album.

With titles like ‘I Dream in Infrared’, ‘Chemical Youth (We Are Rebellion)’, and ‘Screaming in Digital’, building on concepts of humanity's place in a mechanized future as heard in ‘NM-156’ from their debut full-length, "The Warning," the "Rage For Order" album's look, feel, and sound fully embody the 1980s cyberpunk aesthetic, without devolving into synthesizer over-saturation. Spoken word soundbytes integrate deftly with Queensryche's trademark see-saw of arpeggios and electric riffs, spear-headed by Geoff Tate's iconic vocal wail (his delivery and emotional performance here are every bit as powerful as they'd be on "Mindcrime," their follow-up album). This was the release that rightfully earned them the label "the thinking man's Metal band".

Aside from the big brain stuff, however, the album is just a satisfying, eclectic mix of music, skillfully leaping from straight-forward metal release, to heady ballads, to atmospheric experimentations, to a creepy cover of Dalbello's obscure stalker opus, ‘Gonna Get Close To You’. The originality and brilliance behind ‘Neue Regel’ make this QR's most underrated tune. Well. . . OK, maybe that honor goes to ‘NM-156’. . .

Anyway, I encourage you to enjoy "Operation: Mindcrime" for all its narrative majesty, along with the highlights of the material that would follow, but make sure you don't overlook "Rage For Order". While you're on that archaeological dig, you might as well also check out "The Warning" and their debut eponymous EP. All of this material deserves more attention than it receives.