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intothewellsabyss
Jun 27, 20237 min read

Queensrÿche — Rage For Order

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟  𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…


37 years ago today, my favorite album of all-time was released!



On this day (June 27) in 1986, Queensrÿche released their second full-length studio album, “Rage For Order” via EMI Records.



The Wells Perspective:

This album has touched me in a way that no other album before it or after has done. When the video for their cover of the Dalbello song "Gonna Get Close to You" was first aired on MTV I was expecting another Power Metal style album, and I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I was completely mistaken.



The video was a dark depiction of what seemed to be a man stalking a woman he was obsessed with. He had been haunting the woman, lurking outside her doors and peeking into her windows. And, when the man finally ends up face to face with this woman, it turns out that he, not her was the prey. She was the true predator, for the woman was a vampire who was manipulating the man into her trap. Like I had previously expressed, one of the aspects I liked about Rock and Metal were some of the theatrical elements of certain bands.



And at this point of their career, Queensrÿche were definitely one of those bands who had a flare for theatrics. The band's management insisted on Queensrÿche taking an image associated more with Glam Metal in hopes of attracting a wider audience.



Guitarist, Michael Wilton has described their management as wanting a more “romantic vampire look”. As a result, the promo photos and album artwork depicted the band members clad in black, with long trench coats and wearing heavy make-up, looking more Gothic than anything. In later interviews, the band had expressed their distaste for the image they portrayed at the time, but I feel that the look was very fitting of the sound of the album.



Not only was “Rage for Order” more progressive than the band's previous releases, it had an almost mournful, melancholic appeal. The songs are enthralling complex musical structures, infused with layered guitars, drenched in a forward mix of preternatural keyboards that ultimately sets the tone for the lyrics.



Lyrically, the album traversed a conglomerate of social/personal, political and technological themes, among which appear to be an augury, foreshadowing the dangers of artificial intelligence and government intrusiveness. To accentuate the robotic element of the songs, the band employed the use of fragmented rhythms and effects such as a reverse echo, which gave them an even more compelling appeal.



Guitarist, Michael Wilton stated that the “Rage For Order” album was about finding themselves and experimenting with sounds and sampling, with Michael himself screaming the words “Neil, you bastard” into his guitars pickups (Neil Kernon was the albums producer).



The band came up with even more inventive ways to create some of the sound effects on “Rage For Order”, as bassist Eddie Jackson explains; “To get the exploding effect at the end of “Walk in the Shadows”, we recorded a car door being slammed shut in a parking garage, mic’ing it and recording it several times.”



Queensrÿche’s “Rage For Order” was a stark, epic and divergent release in its time. Although, it was not a conceptual album by the true meaning of the term, each separate track told a compelling story which made the album feel conceptual in nature. It quickly became my favorite release of that year and has stood in that position since then. I don’t think there is another album that could ever take its place in my heart and mind. — E.N. Wells



Background:

“Rage for Order” introduced a much more polished look and sound for Queensrÿche, while the band were pressured into adopting a more Glam Metal image, former lead vocalist Geoff Tate later described the period as "we were really into that image and we failed miserably." However, the album itself was slightly more progressive than the band's previous releases, having those layered and complex musical structures, featuring keyboards as prominently as guitars.



Queensrÿche filmed a music video for the song "Gonna Get Close to You", which was written and originally recorded in 1984 by Dalbello.



Unfortunately, this was the only video the band shot to promote the album. On the “Building Empires” home video, former guitarist Chris DeGarmo had expressed regret for not shooting anymore videos from the album considering the material they had to work with, saying that “they could have made some very interesting videos from that album”.



“Rage for Order” was the first album cover of Queensrÿche to prominently feature the band's Tri-Ryche logo, as nearly all later album covers would, each time with subtle changes made to the logo. Although not credited, the front cover was designed by the late English-born Metal and Rock journalist Garry Sharpe-Young (R.I.P.), who later also founded MusicMight.



It had originally been proposed for a 12" picture disc, which never materialized, but was used by EMI-America without permission for the album cover. A few thousand initial copies bear a bluish-silver banner that was later changed to black, in order to make the artist and title easier to read.



The original cassette edition also had all the gold accents on the cover changed to white. CDs bearing the blue ring cover are even more rare. Only a few hundred copies were printed before the ring was switched to black.



Despite the band's emphasis on keyboards and digital technology tricks such as the "reverse echo", “Rage for Order” was recorded and mixed in analog. On a short television documentary which aired in 1986, Scott Rockenfield stated that the drums were recorded in a stone warehouse using Le Mobile recording studios. Michael Wilton said that to get a guitar sound that they were happy with they "used two old Marshall's that were on the verge of exploding" by using a Variac causing the transformers to work harder.



Some tracks recorded during the sessions for “Rage for Order” were not used on the album. "Prophecy" was released as the B-side of "Gonna Get Close to You" and later included on the 1989 re-issue of the “Queensrÿche EP”.


("Gonna Get Close To You" Limited Edition UK Double Vinyl 7" Single)


("Gonna Get Close To You" 12" Vinyl Maxi-Single)


("Gonna Get Close To You" Vinyl 7" Single)


Other songs such as "From the Darkside" and "The Dream" remained demos. The band had also written "Rage for Order" as a title track. Although it was not included on the album, the main riff from this song was worked into an instrumental piece played during some shows on the tour in support of this album, and eventually morphed into the track "Anarchy—X" on the “Operation: Mindcrime” album, released in 1988.


("Walk In The Shadows" 12" Promo)


Along with the official single for "Gonna Get Close To You", other singles released from the album were the promotional versions of "Walk In The Shadows" and "The Whisper / I Dream In Infrared".


("The Whisper / I Dream In Infrared" 12" Promo)


Rage For Order Tour '86-'87:

Queensrÿche supported “Rage for Order” with a tour that spanned approximately seven months and included being the opening act for RATT, AC/DC, Bon Jovi and Ozzy Osbourne, although their music was not quite compatible. The tour also found them playing with other bands such as Black 'N Blue, Fates Warning, GangGreen, KEEL and Raven.



For complete tour dates, pics, tour posters and ticket stubs, follow this link; https://intothewellsabyss.wixsite.com/intothewells/post/queensrÿche-rage-for-order-tour-86-87


Critical Reception:

“Rage for Order” was ranked No. 88 on Kerrang! magazine's "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums Of All Time" in January 1989.



Musically, “Rage for Order” has been described as a Progressive Metal and Glam Metal album.



In a retrospective review, Robert Taylor of AllMusic had a mixed reaction to “Rage for Order”. Taylor stated that the band had "lost their edge a bit on this release" and compared the album's sound to the Glam Metal movement of the time. The review praised Geoff Tate's vocals, but called the lyrics "heavy-handed" and stated that they had not aged well.



In 2005, “Rage for Order” was ranked number 343 in Rock Hard magazine's book “The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time”.



Commercial Performance:

In 1986, “Rage For Order” peaked at No. 47 on the Billboard 200 in the US, No. 66 on the UK Albums Charts, No. 85 on the RPM100 Albums Chart in Canada, No. 58 on the German Albums Chart, No. 47 on the Swedish Albums Chart, No. 94 on the Kent Music Report in Australia, and No. 31 on the Dutch Albums Chart.



Also in 1986, "Gonna Get Close to You" peaked at No. 91 on the U.K. Singles Chart.



“Rage For Order was certified gold in 1991 by The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) for sales in excess of 500,000 copies in the USA.



Links to Artists, Albums, and Music Videos:

Click this link to listen to “Rage For Order (Remastered & Expanded)” via Apple Music: https://music.apple.com/us/album/rage-for-order-remastered-expanded-edition/724347774


Click this link to listen to “Rage For Order” via Spotify: Rage For Order (Remastered) [Expanded Edition] https://open.spotify.com/album/4bcTrCj8wfKsFMv8O0NwDe


Unfortunately, the official video for “Gonna Get Close to You” is unavailable on any platform, instead I have added a link to their live performance of the song in Montreal on September 24, 1986 during the “Rage For Order” tour: https://youtu.be/Fd0Ol-v_dd0


Click this link to follow Queensrÿche on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/QueensrycheOfficial


Click this link to follow Geoff Tate on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GeoffTateOfficial


Click this link to follow Scott Rockenfield on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/scott.rockenfield


Click this link to follow Michael Wilton of Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/michaelwiltonofqueensryche/


Click this link to follow Eddie Jackson on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/EdBassFanPage/



Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells



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To read more about this release and more, subscribe to Into the Wells at: https://intothewellsabyss.wixsite.com/intothewells






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