SHE WORE HER PAIN
LIKE A SHACKLED SPIRIT
ETERNAL LIFE
WAS HER DEBT TO PAY
Queensrÿche
is the debut EP
by
American
Heavy Metal band
released independently
in 1982
through 206 Records
and reissued later
that next year
through
EMI America Records.
A Remastered Edition
was reissued
in 2003
through
Capitol Records.
Background
In the early 1980s,
Queensrÿche
was known as
The Mob,
a cover band
that played songs
from popular
Heavy Metal bands
such as
Iron Maiden
and
Judas Priest.
Their line-up consisted
of guitarists
Chris DeGarmo
and
Michael Wilton,
drummer
Scott Rockenfield
and bassist
Eddie Jackson.
Without a singer,
they performed
several shows with
Geoff Tate,
who at the time
was the front man
of the local band
Babylon,
and later
of Myth.
Tate chose not to join
The Mob,
because he was
not interested
in performing
heavy metal covers.
Inspired by the
positive responses
from their performances
at local rock festivals,
The Mob
decided to switch
from playing cover songs
to writing original music.
The four members,
who were between
17 and 19 years old,
rehearsed
five days a week
in the basement of
Rockenfield's parents ,
and took on
at least two jobs each
to earn enough money
to record a
24-track demo tape.
They booked
the graveyard shifts
from Monday
through Friday
at Triad Studios
in Redmond, Washington,
to record four songs.
Tate was asked
to join the band
for the
recording sessions,
and in the same week
write the lyrics
to one
unfinished song,
which became
"The Lady Wore Black".
The whistle at the beginning of
"The Lady Wore Black"
was unintentional,
as Brett Miller recalls:
"Geoff needed to set the mood,
so he had the lights turned off
and sang with a
single candle
burning in the studio.
While waiting
for his first verse
to come up,
he whistled along
with the opening guitar
not realizing they
were taping him.
He told them
it was a mistake,
but everyone agreed
it was cool,
so they kept it."
Attempts to be signed
to a label through
the demo
were unsuccessful.
Kim and Diana Harris,
the owners of
Easy Street Records,
ultimately offered
The Mob
a management contract.
As the band name
"The Mob"
was not available,
it was changed to
"Queensrÿche".
Kim Harris
sent the demo tape
and a band photo
to a friend at the
British music magazine
Kerrang!,
resulting in a
glowing review
and causing a
growing buzz
in both
the United States
and Europe,
following which the
Harrises released
Queensrÿche's
demo tape
as a self-titled EP
on their independent
206 Records label
in 1983.
After the EP
garnered
international praise,
receiving much airplay
and selling an
unusual number of copies
for a small
independent release,
Tate agreed to leave
Myth
and become
Queensrÿche's
permanent
lead singer.
On the 2003
remastered edition,
tracks 5–14
were live recordings of
Queensrÿche's
second performance
in the tour supporting
The Warning,
held
August 5, 1984,
at the
Nippon Seinenkan
in Tokyo, Japan.
The performance was
previously released
on VHS
in 1984 as
Live in Tokyo,
but is now
out of print.
.jfif)
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