Empire (Queensrÿche album)

Empire
Studio album by Queensrÿche
Released	August 20, 1990
Recorded	Vancouver Studios, Vancouver, Canada, Spring 1990 Triad Studios, Redmond, Washington, (tracks 6, 12-14)
Genre	Heavy metal, progressive metal
Length	63:23
Label	EMI
Producer	Peter Collins
Queensrÿche chronology
Operation: Mindcrime (1988) Empire (1990) Promised Land (1994)
Singles from Empire
"Empire" Released: 1990 "Silent Lucidity" Released: February 14, 1991 "Best I Can" Released: June 1991 "Jet City Woman" Released: August 1991 "Another Rainy Night (Without You)" Released: November 1991 "Anybody Listening?" Released: 1992
Music sample
"Silent Lucidity"

Professional ratings
Review scores
Source	Rating
About.com	(20th Anniversary Edition)[1]
Allmusic	[2]
Blogcritics	(20th Anniversary Edition)[3]
Entertainment Weekly	D[4]
PopMatters	(20th Anniversary Edition)[5]
Q	[6]
Record Collector	(20th Anniversary Edition)[7]
The Rolling Stone Album Guide	[8]

Empire is the fourth full-length album by the American heavy metal band Queensrÿche, released on August 20, 1990. The album stands as Queensrÿche's most commercially successful release, reaching triple-platinum status^[9] and the single extracted, the power ballad "Silent Lucidity", reached No. 1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks and No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.^[10] "Silent Lucidity" was also nominated for the Grammy Awards of 1992 in the categories Best Rock Song and Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.^[11]

Track listing

Side one
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Best I Can"	Chris DeGarmo	5:30
2.	"The Thin Line"	DeGarmo, Geoff Tate, Michael Wilton	5:42
3.	"Jet City Woman"	DeGarmo, Tate	5:20

Side two
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
4.	"Della Brown"	DeGarmo, Scott Rockenfield, Tate	7:04
5.	"Another Rainy Night (Without You)"	DeGarmo, Eddie Jackson, Tate	4:44
6.	"Empire"	Tate, Wilton	5:07

Side three
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
7.	"Resistance"	Tate, Wilton	4:47
8.	"Silent Lucidity"	DeGarmo	5:45
9.	"Hand on Heart"	DeGarmo, Tate, Wilton	5:30

Side four
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
10.	"One and Only"	DeGarmo, Wilton	5:52
11.	"Anybody Listening?"	DeGarmo, Tate	7:40

2003 CD reissue bonus tracks
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
12.	"Last Time in Paris"	DeGarmo, Tate	3:51
13.	"Scarborough Fair"	Traditional	3:51
14.	"Dirty Lil Secret"	DeGarmo, Tate	4:07

20th anniversary edition bonus disc (recorded live at the Hammersmith Odeon, November 15, 1990)
No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Resistance"		4:33
2.	"Walk in the Shadows"	DeGarmo, Tate, Wilton	3:56
3.	"Best I Can"		5:16
4.	"Empire"		5:11
5.	"The Thin Line"		5:43
6.	"Jet City Woman"		5:30
7.	"Roads to Madness"	DeGarmo, Tate, Wilton	9:32
8.	"Silent Lucidity"		5:43
9.	"Hand on Heart"		5:17
10.	"Take Hold of the Flame"	DeGarmo, Tate, Wilton	5:10

Personnel

Band members

• Geoff Tate - vocals, keyboards
• Chris DeGarmo - 6 and 12 strings electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards on "Best I Can" and backing vocals, lead guitar on "Best I Can", "Jet City Woman", "Silent Lucidity", and "Anybody Listening"
• Michael Wilton - 6 and 12 strings electric and acoustic guitars, lead guitar on "Empire", "Resistance", and "Another Rainy Night"
• Eddie Jackson - bass guitars, backing vocals
• Scott Rockenfield - drums, percussion

Additional musicians

• Michael Kamen - orchestral arrangements, conductor
• Randy Gane - message left on answering machine on "Empire"
• Robert Bailey - keyboards, programming

Production

• Peter Collins - producer
• James Barton — engineer, mixing
• Paul Northfield — engineer on track 6
• Tom Hall — engineer on tracks 6, 13
• Neil Kernon — engineer on track 13^[12]
• Marcus Ramaer, Tom Hall, Dan Harjung - assistant engineers
• Greenhouse Studios - recording and mixing studio, Vancouver, Canada
• Bob Ludwig - mastering at Masterdisk, New York

Charts

Album Year Chart Position 1990 Billboard 200 (USA)[13] 7 UK Albums Chart[14] 13 Norwegian Albums Chart[15] 14 Oricon Japanese Albums Charts[16] 18 Swiss Albums Chart[17] 22 Swedish Albums Chart[18] 26 Dutch Albums Chart[19] 56 1991 RPM100 Albums (Canada)[20] 18 New Zealand Albums Chart[21] 50 2010 German Albums Chart[22] 22

Singles Year Single Chart Position 1990 "Best I Can" Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks (USA)[10] 28 "Empire" Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[10] 22 UK Singles Chart[23] 61 1991 "Silent Lucidity" Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[10] 1 Billboard Hot 100 (USA)[10] 9 RPM100 Hit Tracks (Canada)[24] 9 UK Singles Chart[25] 18 German Singles Chart[26] 46 Swiss Singles Chart[27] 24 GfK Dutch Charts[28] 21 New Zealand Singles Charts[29] 11 "Best I Can" UK Singles Chart[30] 36 "Jet City Woman" Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[10] 6 RPM100 Hit Tracks (Canada)[31] 92 UK Singles Chart[32] 39 "Another Rainy Night (Without You)" Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[10] 7 RPM 100 Hit Tracks (Canada)[33] 76 1992 "Anybody Listening?" Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks[10] 16

Certifications

Country	Organization	Year	Sales
USA	RIAA	1994	3× Platinum (+ 3,000,000)[9]
Canada	CRIA	1991	Platinum (+ 100,000)[34]
UK	BPI	1993	Silver (+ 60,000)[35]

References

1. Simms, Kelley. "Queensryche - 'Empire'". About.com. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
2. Henderson, Alex. "Empire - Queensrÿche". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2012-05-07.
3. Beaumont, Chris (22 November 2010). "Music Review: Queensryche - Empire (20th Anniversary Edition)". Blogcritics. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
4. Farber, Jim (12 October 1990). "Empire Review". EW.com. Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2012-05-07.
5. Begrand, Adrien (7 October 2010). "Queensrÿche: Empire (20th Anniversary Edition)". PopMatters. Retrieved 2013-03-16.
6. "Queensryche - Empire CD Album". CD Universe. Retrieved 2013-05-10.
7. Pinfold, William (December 2010). "Queensrÿche - Empire: 20th Anniversary Edition". Record Collector (382). Retrieved 2012-05-08.
8. Rolling Stone list
9. RIAA Gold and Platinum Search for albums by Queensryche. Retrieved on 2013-02-15.
10. "Empire Billboard Singles". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2012-05-07.
11. "34th Grammy Awards - 1992". Rock on the Net .com. Retrieved 2012-05-07.
12. "Empire" Single. CD booklet.
13. "Empire Billboard Albums". Allmusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2012-05-07.
14. "Queensrÿche - Empire". Chart Archive.org. Retrieved 2012-05-07.
15. "Queensrÿche - Empire (Album)". Norwegiancharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
16. クイーンズライク - クイーンズライクのアルバム売り上げランキング (in Japanese). Oricon. Retrieved 2013-02-17.
17. "Queensrÿche - Empire". Hitparade.ch (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
18. "Queensrÿche - Empire (Album)". Swedishcharts.com. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
19. "Queensrÿche - Empire (Album)". GfK Dutch Charts (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
20. "Top Albums/CDs - Volume 54, No. 1, June 08, 1991". Library and Archives Canada. 20 June 1991. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
21. "Queensrÿche - Empire (Album)". Charts.org.nz. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
22. "Album – Queensrÿche, Empire". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
23. "Queensrÿche - Empire". Chart Archive.org. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
24. "Top Singles - Volume 54, No. 2, June 15, 1991". Library and Archives Canada. 15 June 1991. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
25. "Queensrÿche - Silent Lucidity". Chart Archive.org. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
26. "Single - Queensrÿche, Silent Lucidity". Charts.de (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
27. "Queensrÿche - Silent Lucidity". Hitparade.ch (in German). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
28. "Queensrÿche - Silent Lucidity (Number)". GfK Dutch Charts (in Dutch). Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
29. "Queensrÿche - Silent Lucidity (Song)". Charts.org.nz. Media Control Charts. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
30. "Queensrÿche - Best I Can". Chart Archive.org. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
31. "Top Singles - Volume 54, No. 11, August 17, 1991". Library and Archives Canada. 17 August 1991. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
32. "Queensrÿche - Jet City Woman". Chart Archive.org. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
33. "Top Singles - Volume 54, No. 26, November 30, 1991". Library and Archives Canada. 30 November 1991. Retrieved 2012-05-08.
34. "CRIA Gold and Platinum Search: Empire". Music Canada. Retrieved 2012-05-07.
35. "BPI Certified Awards: Search for Queensryche". British Phonographic Industry. Retrieved 2012-05-07.