I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: QUEENSRŸCHE-Queensrÿche EP (1983).

Back in high school, I spent many a night listening to M-m-m-m-metal Shop on the radio.  When I first heard “Queen of the Reich” I was blown away.  It was heavy, with blistering guitars and, amazingly, that Voice.  Many is the argument that my friends had about just how great Geoff (Jee-oph) Tate’s voice was. 

But this EP came out before most people had heard of them.  At this state they were a speed metal band from Seattle.  And, yet, despite all of the accolades they would later receive and the huge hits they would have and the prog-metal sound they would develop, for me this EP is the purest Queensrÿche.

I am particularly in love with the wild soloing that happens at the end of “Blinded.”  The guitars are sailing and wailing way.  Then the voices begin chanting and Tate’s voice is screaming (then hitting a minor note) and then screaming again until it just–

Opens the awesome “Lady Wore Black.”  Queensrÿche (yup umlaut on the y, thank you much) have done ballads throughout their career and this is where it started (true, nothing original about a song that starts slow and builds to heavy, but man how heavy this song gets).  The solos are also stellar.

My version of the vinyl has only 4 songs.  The CD added an extra track and the remastered version added like ten more songs.  But to me, these 4 songs are quintessential heavy metal.

[READ: October 27, 2011] “Tenth of December”

This was a surprisingly moving and reasonably dark story from “humorist” Saunders.  I really enjoyed it quite a lot and was very engaged with the whole thing.  And, yes there was a funny line or two in it, but it can hardly be called a funny story.

There are two main characters in the story: Robin, an overweight boy who spends most of his time playing with imaginary friends and Eber, an old man who is slowly losing his faculties.  While they have nothing to connect each other, it soon becomes apparent that their stories will intertwine.

Robin is playing a game in the woods–it’s the kind of game that I think is wonderful for kids to play, and I have to say that I didn’t think it was sad that he had such a creative imagination and played with imaginary friends–of course, since he doesn’t seem to have any friends in real life, I guess it is pretty sad. 

Anyhow, Robin is fighting against the Nethers, an alien race that only he knows about and whom he has no trouble dispatching (even if they do occasionally torture him).  When the Nethers come for Suzanne, a girl in class that he likes (but who called him Roger), he springs into action. 

This section of the story was written so wonderfully–all from the point of view of Robin–it was very serious and felt like a real sci-fi story.  Even though you know it’s not real (that’s where the funny parts come in) it is taken so seriously that you have to wonder.  That is, until Robin finds a coat on a bench.

We learn that the coat belongs to Eber.  He has lived a pretty full life, but he has had it with the state of life he is in now.  His memory is failing, his physical body is rebelling against him and he feels like a burden to his wife and children.  So, he decides to end his life with dignity by walking out to the pond (it’s ten degrees out) and just sitting in the snow.

Robin sees this as a chance to help someone for real.  And Eber, although annoyed at the interruption of his plans, also finds himself being useful for the first time in a long time. 

The details of the two struggling in the cold–the desire to simply give up when you’re freezing–was so vivid, I genuinely worried for the characters.  Unlike many of Saunders irreverent works, this one was full of emotion and tenderness.  It was really wonderful and shows what a powerful writer Saunders is.

For ease of searching I include: Queensryche