Empire is the fourth full-length studio album by the American heavy metal band Queensrÿche, released on August 20, 1990. The album is Queensrÿche's most commercially successful release, reaching triple-platinum status.[11] The primary single, the power ballad "Silent Lucidity", reached number 1 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks and number 9 on the Billboard Hot 100.[12] "Silent Lucidity" was also nominated in 1992 for the Grammy Awards for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.[13] The album won a 1991 Northwest Area Music Award for Best Metal Recording.[14]
Empire has received generally positive reviews from critics since its release.
AllMusic praised the album, selecting the songs "Jet City Woman", "Empire", and "Silent Lucidity" as the album's best tracks. The review stated that the band went for "a song-oriented approach that is more art rock and less metal" with lyrics that talk about social and physical handicaps in "Best I Can" and issues such as poverty and regret in "Della Brown" and romance with "Another Rainy Night (Without You)" and "Hand On Heart". The reviewer concluded by praising the band's mature sound and the work of producer Peter Collins.[4]
Record Collector gave the 20th anniversary edition of the album a generally positive review. The reviewer called the album a "very pleasant, but only intermittently gripping" listen, identifying the songs "Best I Can", "Silent Lucidity", and "Jet City Woman" as some of the band's best material. Comparing Empire to the band's earlier albums, The Warning and Rage for Order, the reviewer wrote that it is "a little boring". The reviewer concluded by calling the live CD accompanying the re-issue "flawless", making it a "worthwhile reissue".[8]PopMatters reviewer Adrien Begrand also reviewed the album's 20th anniversary release. Begrand called the album an "enigma" that's "beautifully produced and features some of the band's quintessential songs, but at the same time it's a rather bloated, conceptually scattershot piece of work containing filler that honestly has not aged very well". Begrand praised the songs "Empire", "Another Rainy Night", and "Silent Lucidity", calling them the album's best tracks, favorably comparing "Silent Lucidity" to Pink Floyd's "Comfortably Numb", which also includes orchestra arrangements from Michael Kamen. Begrand had a mixed reaction to the live CD and referred to the cover of "Scarborough Fair" as being "abysmal".[7]
Jim Farber of Entertainment Weekly was highly critical of the album. He criticized both the album's progressive metal riffs, calling them "tuneless bombast", and the dire nature of the lyrics. Farber concluded his review by calling the band members "relentless killjoys".[6]
Chris DeGarmo – six-string and 12-string electric and acoustic guitars, keyboards (on "Best I Can"), lead guitar (on "Best I Can", "Jet City Woman", "Silent Lucidity", "Anybody Listening"), harmony vocals (on "Anybody Listening"), backing vocals
Michael Wilton – six-string and 12-string electric and acoustic guitars, lead guitar (on "Empire", "Resistance", "Another Rainy Night")
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