Maximum Metal Rating Legend

This early Queensryche album saw the band leaving behind the abstract lyrics and unconventional song lengths of 'The Warning' for more standard song structures with complex arrangements. There seems to be a technology thread running through the romanticism of this progressive metal masterpiece.

I wonder how many tracks they used when recording this disc. The guitars, drums, bass and all are fantastic blending together, but Geoff Tate's vocals is the star of the show here. Tate has an amazing range and he goes from whispers to screams to speaking to everything else in between generally within the same song. Every song is a technical soundscape treat for the apathetic mind seeking creative sustenance. In "The Whisper" an ending guitar note transforms into a vocal wail. It's one of the many gems of sound that sparkle and wink at you amidst the dense tapestry of sound. "Screaming In Digital" may be one of the most incredible, vocally layered, songs I've ever heard.

There are no rock anthems on here. You won't bang your head to it. You won't dance to it and it won't make you break stuff. It may not sound right when you're cruising with your top down in the Summer sun. It's what you listen to in your dimly lit room on a quiet Autumn night at 1:00 AM when you want to escape from the world and go on an aural journey. I've heard people say they hate this disc and others say they love it. The experimentation and dramatics on Rage may have been a little too much for fans given the straight-forward guitar on their next disc, "Operation: mindcrime", but I think that those who like this cd on first listen will find that it grows on them with each subsequent play.

Rage For Order is digital loneliness and electronic drama.