Ha ha, well, as the story goes, the least metallically inclined guy in the band, Geoff Tate, but also the leader, sort of uses his front position to take the band unsuccessfully non-metal, and then goes even more pop as a solo artist. Well, now that he’s in bitter competition with the other QUEENSRŸCHE (more valid of course, just by the math), Tate realizes that making a dance record would be stepping into a trap. So Frequency Unknown is pretty rockin’ and more impressively, creatively front-edge, especially ‘Dare’ and ‘Slave’ and from a slant-eye, ‘In The Hands Of God’ each serving along with, yes, the few but always edgy mellow tracks, to create a smart album and one with an identity, sort of sinister, modern, a bit grungy, but actually quite creative down a Rage For Order path, specifically. Oh just to fan the flames, and I suppose I actually believe this, a vocalist and lyricist and writer like Tate is approximately half the band, so let the war continue. And here he is, applying that trademark twang to the point where, frankly, it would take a real deep music guy to think t’other Queensrÿche is going to sound more like Queensrÿche than this one. Sure the crack band is/was/will still be, journeymen, but they are of course super-talented as well, and what they’ve cooked up is a tempered yet proggy album, intellectually arranged, heavy to the edge of heaviness, but never over the top, again, Rage For Order in fecund origami permutation, but also atmospheric like Q2K and American Soldier. Hey, I know, I wanted to hate it too, but I’m super surprised, frankly, these guys could put together such a complicated and visionary album of almost a new type of metal, so quickly, and with so many bad vibes one would think draining batteries all around. And the controversy over the mix? Sounds good to me now, with bright, raucous drums, everything clear and correct. But sure, crunchy combative drums seems to have been a deliberate goal. Verdict: there’s a lot of Tate in this, but circumstances have kicked his ass as well, and the guy’s responded with fight.