Queensrÿche has sold over 20 million albums worldwide, including over 6 million albums in the United States. They are considered one of the leaders of the progressive metal scene of the mid-to-late 1980s, and often referred to as one of the "Big Three" of the genre, along with Dream Theater and Fates Warning. The band received worldwide acclaim after the release of their 1988 album Operation: Mindcrime, which is often considered one of the greatest heavy metal concept albums of all time. Their follow-up release, Empire, released in 1990, was also very successful and included the hit single "Silent Lucidity". The band has received three Grammy Award nominations for songs from both albums. In 1998, drummer Rockenfield received an individual Grammy nomination.
Also in 1998, guitarist and primary songwriter Chris DeGarmo left the band for personal reasons, returning briefly in 2003 to write and record the Tribe album. Over the years, his replacements have been Kelly Gray, Mike Stone, and Parker Lundgren. Following a highly publicized backstage altercation before a show in São Paulo, Brazil, in April 2012, Tate was fired from the band and replaced with then-Crimson Glory singer Todd La Torre. In response to his dismissal, Tate and his wife Susan (who served as the band's manager from 2005 to 2012) filed a lawsuit in a Washington court, claiming that he was wrongfully terminated. The ruling in the preliminary injunction was that both parties were allowed to use the name Queensrÿche until a court ruling or a settlement decided who would get to use the name. A settlement was reached on April 17, 2014, in which founding members Wilton, Rockenfield and Jackson were awarded the rights to the band trademark, continuing to play with the lineup that additionally includes singer La Torre and guitarist Lundgren.
During the time, both parties could use the name Queensrÿche, Tate created his own lineup featuring former guitarist Gray and musicians from bands including Blue Öyster Cult, Ozzy Osbourne, Whitesnake, Dio, AC/DC and Quiet Riot. This version of Queensrÿche with Geoff Tate released the album Frequency Unknown on April 23, 2013, while Queensrÿche (with La Torre replacing Tate) released their eponymous album on June 24 and 25, 2013 (European and American release date, respectively). Both bands toured in 2013 and 2014.
Full article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queensrÿche
Studio albums
The Warning (1984)
Rage for Order (1986)
Operation: Mindcrime (1988)
Empire (1990)
Promised Land (1994)
Hear in the Now Frontier (1997)
Q2K (1999)
Tribe (2003)
Operation: Mindcrime II (2006)
Take Cover (2007)
American Soldier (2009)
Dedicated to Chaos (2011)
Queensrÿche (2013)
Condition Hüman (2015)
The Verdict (2019)
Digital Noise Alliance (2022)
Geoff Tate's Queensrÿche
Frequency Unknown (2013)
The Lady Wore Black
Queensrÿche Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
A light mist in the air
Dark clouds laughing at me in silence
Casting shadows through my hair
In the distance I saw a woman
Dressed in black with eyes of grey
She wore her pain like a shackled spirit
The lady wore black
It's the sign of the prisoners lives
The lady wore black
See the years through the tears in her eyes
The lady wore black
Her mystic power calls to me
The lady wore black
Her love can set me free
The wind song whispered a warning
Telling me to beware
Of the quiet shadowed woman
And of the sadness I would share
We sat together for sometime together in silence
Never speaking in words
Of all her thoughts she spoke with her eyes
And I listened remembering all I heard
The lady wore black
It's the sign of the prisoners lives
The lady wore black
See the years through the tears in her eyes
The lady wore black
Her mystic power calls to me
The lady wore black
Her love can set me free
The words she spoke were of forgotten lives
And of all knowledge gained
Memories I had and didn't know why
With a smile she explained
I should have listened to the wind's cold warning
And walked the other way
I touched her soul and now I bear her sentence
But for her love I'll gladly pay
The lady wore black
It's the sign of the prisoners lives
The lady wore black
See the years through the tears in her eyes
The lady wore black
Her mystic power calls to me
The lady wore black
Her love can set me free
Queensrÿche's song "The Lady Wore Black" tells the story of a lonely wanderer who encounters a mysterious woman dressed in black. The singer is warned by a wind song of the dangers that may come from the woman, but he ignores the warning, ultimately sitting with her in silence. Through her eyes, he learns about forgotten lives and gains knowledge from memories he didn't know he had.
The lady in black wears her pain like a shackled spirit and has eternal life as her debt to pay. The lyrics suggest that she is a prisoner, and her clothing represents the metaphorical uniform of her sentence. Her mystic power calls to the singer, and her love can set him free, even though he now bears her sentence.
The song explores themes of loneliness, regret, and accepting the consequences of one's actions. The lady in black represents the weight and responsibility of one's choices, and the singer ultimately chooses to bear her burden as a result of their encounter.
Line by Line Meaning
On a lonely walk this morning
I was walking alone this morning
A light mist in the air
There was a slight fog present
Dark clouds laughing at me in silence
The clouds seemed to be mocking me without making a sound
Casting shadows through my hair
The shadows created by the clouds made dark spots on my hair
In the distance I saw a woman
I saw a woman far away
Dressed in black with eyes of grey
She was wearing black clothes and had gray eyes
She wore her pain like a shackled spirit
She carried her pain as if it were a burden that weighed her down
Eternal life was her debt to pay
She was doomed to live forever, paying for some past mistake
The lady wore black
The woman was dressed in black
It's the sign of the prisoners lives
Black clothing symbolizes imprisonment
See the years through the tears in her eyes
Her eyes revealed the pain and sadness she had experienced over time
Her mystic power calls to me
I felt drawn to the woman's mysterious aura
Her love can set me free
The woman's love had the potential to lift me out of my own pain and suffering
The wind song whispered a warning
The sound of the wind seemed to be cautioning me
Telling me to beware
The wind was warning me to be careful
Of the quiet shadowed woman
The warning was about the woman I had seen in the distance
And of the sadness I would share
The wind was warning of the sorrow I would feel if I approached the woman
We sat together for sometime together in silence
The woman and I sat in silence for a while
Never speaking in words
We did not speak aloud to each other
Of all her thoughts she spoke with her eyes
The woman communicated her thoughts and feelings with her eyes
And I listened remembering all I heard
I paid attention and tried to remember everything she seemed to be saying to me through her eyes
The words she spoke were of forgotten lives
The woman spoke of people and events long past
And of all knowledge gained
She shared the lessons she had learned over the years
Memories I had and didn't know why
She triggered memories within me that I couldn't explain
With a smile she explained
The woman explained things to me with a happy expression on her face
I should have listened to the wind's cold warning
I should have heeded the wind's warning and not approached the woman
And walked the other way
I should have gone in a different direction
I touched her soul and now I bear her sentence
I connected with the woman on a deep level and must now experience the same pain and suffering as she has
But for her love I'll gladly pay
Despite the consequences, I am willing to endure it all for the love of this woman
Lyrics © TRI-RYCHE CORPORATION DBA QUEENSRYCHE PUBLISHING COMPANY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@paisleyprincess7996
Man, I miss this Queensryche. That band got me through some of my darkest times in my life. Great songs from a once great prog metal group!
@levinolan636
Got me through some bad shit too.
@Appalachiangirl
As long as Tate sings and has a great band there will always be Queensryche.
@PaulFE7
I was listening to the Empire album during desert shield / storm. A perfect album for such a surreal time.
@QuantumMind88
I wouldn't say they were once great, but rather, were always great and still are to this day!
@jessmason2112
✌️
@norisalinas9414
Geoff Tate... One of the best singers to ever exist, my favorite band.
@redkop510
Great band...great vocalist. Wish there was more bands like this today.👍
@lawrencelorentz8998
@@redkop510 check out " the VERDICT !!! It is probably the best Queensryche album since , Operation Mindcrime....
@davidgambon1283
Yep, great voice!!