Let’s be real for a second. If you grew up in the late 80s or early 90s, you couldn't escape the "tri-ryche" logo. It was everywhere—on denim jackets, high school notebooks, and definitely on MTV every twenty minutes. When Queensryche dropped Empire in September 1990, they weren't just releasing another heavy metal record. They were pivoting. Coming off the back of the massive, heady concept album Operation: Mindcrime, the band had a choice: go weirder or go bigger.
They chose bigger.
The Queensryche Empire song list is a masterclass in how to transition from niche progressive metal to "holy crap, we're playing stadiums" rock without losing your soul. It’s got eleven tracks that feel like a journey, even if they aren't tied together by a single narrative about a brainwashed assassin. Honestly, it’s the variety that makes it stick. You’ve got the social commentary, the high-octane rockers about home, and that one ballad that basically bought the band members their houses.
The full tracklist: Breaking down the Empire
To get why this album works, you have to look at how it flows. It’s long. Clocking in at over 63 minutes, it was a beast for the CD era.
- Best I Can (5:30) – The opener. It kicks off with those "Milli Vanilli" keyboards that some old-school fans hated, but man, it’s an anthem. It’s about a kid in a wheelchair finding his way. Heavy stuff for a "metal" opener.
- The Thin Line (5:42) – This one is pure groove. Eddie Jackson’s bass is the star here. It’s funky, dark, and feels like walking through a rainy city at 2 AM.
- Jet City Woman (5:20) – If you haven't screamed "Headed for the islands!" in your car, are you even a fan? It's a love letter to Geoff Tate's wife and his home in Seattle.
- Della Brown (7:04) – This is the deep cut. It’s seven minutes of atmospheric moodiness. It’s about a homeless woman Tate used to see, and it’s arguably the most "progressive" thing on the record.
- Another Rainy Night (Without You) (4:44) – A straight-up melodic rocker. Pure AOR (Adult Oriented Rock) gold.
- Empire (5:07) – The title track. It’s heavy, it’s got those statistics about law enforcement spending being read over the bridge, and it feels dangerous.
- Resistance (4:47) – Environmentalism meets heavy riffs. This is Wilton and Tate at their most aggressive on this specific record.
- Silent Lucidity (5:45) – The big one. The Pink Floyd-esque ballad that went to #1 on the rock charts.
- Hand On Heart (5:30) – A bit of a sleeper hit. It’s got a huge chorus and a very polished "radio" feel.
- One And Only (5:52) – More of that classic Chris DeGarmo songwriting. It’s got a bit of a Journey vibe, but with more grit.
- Anybody Listening? (7:40) – The epic closer. It’s slow, it’s methodical, and it basically asks if all the success and noise even matter.
Why the sequencing actually matters
Sequencing an album is a lost art. Most people just shuffle now. But if you listen to the Queensryche Empire song list in order, you notice a weird trend. The first half is very "up." It's hits, it's energy, it's catchy. Then you hit "Empire" and the record takes a turn into some darker territory.
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"Della Brown" is probably the biggest risk they took. Putting a seven-minute, slow-burn track as the fourth song is a bold move. It forces you to slow down. If you’re looking for "Jet City Woman" part two, you aren't getting it there. But it sets the stage for the heavy themes later on.
Behind the board with Peter Collins
You can't talk about this song list without mentioning Peter Collins. He’s the guy who produced Rush’s Power Windows and Hold Your Fire. He brought that "expensive" sound to Queensryche. Everything on Empire sounds massive. The drums have that 1990 "thwack" to them, and the guitars are layered so thick you could get lost in them.
Geoff Tate has said in interviews that they wanted to "strip back" the production. Looking back, that's kinda hilarious. This is one of the most produced albums of the era. But compared to the dense wall of sound on Mindcrime, there is more "air" in these songs. You can hear the spaces between the notes.
The "Silent Lucidity" effect
Look, we have to talk about it. "Silent Lucidity" changed everything for the band. It’s the eighth track on the Queensryche Empire song list, and it’s the reason the album sold three million copies in the US alone.
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It wasn't even supposed to be a single. It’s a song about lucid dreaming—hardly the stuff of pop hits. But that acoustic intro by Chris DeGarmo and Michael Kamen’s lush orchestration tapped into something. It was the "soft" entry point for people who would never usually listen to a band that wrote songs about urban decay and political corruption.
Is it secretly a concept album?
There's a lot of debate on Reddit and in old fan magazines about this. Is Empire a concept album?
Strictly speaking? No. There isn't a plot. There isn't a "Nikki" or a "Dr. X" like there was on the previous record. But there is a mood. The songs deal with recurring themes: physical handicaps, poverty, the drug trade, and the disconnect between people in a big city.
Some fans have tried to piece together a story about a disabled journalist (the kid from "Best I Can") who eventually loses hope (the ending of "Anybody Listening?"). It’s a cool "head-canon" theory, but the band has pretty much said these were meant to be standalone pieces. They wanted a break from the pressure of telling a 60-minute story.
Actionable insights for the modern listener
If you're revisiting the Queensryche Empire song list or checking it out for the first time, here’s how to actually get the most out of it:
- Listen to the 2003 Remaster: If you want the bonus tracks. You get "Last Time in Paris," which was a massive hit on the Ford Fairlane soundtrack. It fits the vibe of the album perfectly and honestly should have been on the original release.
- Watch the "Building Empires" video: To really get the context, you need to see the videos. The "Empire" video, with its gritty warehouse shots, defined the band's aesthetic for years.
- Focus on the Bass: Seriously. Most people focus on Tate’s four-octave range, but Eddie Jackson’s bass work on "The Thin Line" and "Della Brown" is what gives this album its unique, slightly-funk-but-still-metal foundation.
- Don't skip the "B-Side": Songs like "One and Only" and "Resistance" often get overlooked because they are sandwiched between the hits. They’re some of the tightest songwriting DeGarmo ever did.
The album might be over thirty years old, but it doesn't sound "dated" in the way some 1990 hair metal does. It’s got a weight to it. It’s a snapshot of a band at their absolute peak, confident enough to write a pop hit about dreams and a seven-minute prog-jam about a woman living on the street.
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Go back and play "Anybody Listening?" at full volume. The way it builds from that quiet, fretless bass intro to the crashing finale is still one of the best moments in 90s rock. It's the perfect capstone to an album that defined a generation of "thinking man's" metal.