Dedicated To Chaos 2011

"This album has received a lot of really negative criticism from fans of the band, ranging from scathingly hateful reviews to reviews expressing disappointment and sadness that the once so mighty progressive metal band that was Queensrÿche has withered into a second-rate alternative rock band.

To be honest, I don't think that "Dedicated to Chaos" is that bad.

I mean, I certainly don't like it as much as I like "Operation: Mindcrime I & II", "The Warning", "The Promised Land" or even "American Soldier". There are non-metal alternative rock tracks on the album which lack the power and punch of the Queensrÿche albums of the golden age, such as 'Got it Bad', 'Around the World', and 'Big Noize', none of which I am a fan of which sound more like something U2 could have written (I have nothing agains U2 by the way). But I think that hardrocking tracks like 'Get Started', 'Hot Spot Junkie', 'Drive', 'At the Edge', 'I Take You', and 'Retail Therapy' are decent tracks which I do not mind listening to.

Now, the style is more in the vein of alternative rock and grunge rock than metal as such, and I do not consider this a progressive album at all. I prefer the Queensrÿche albums of the 80s and early 90s, but I actually enjoy "Dedicated to Chaos" more than "Hear in the Now Frontier".

For a progressive metal album, this is unimpressive. For a metal album, it is perhaps impotent. For a rock album, it is not bad.

(review originally posted at metalmusicarchives.com)"