BravePicks 2015 – QUEENSRŸCHE's Condition Hüman #2

Queensrÿche came back with a vengeance in 2015. The band, reinvigorated by frontman Todd La Torre, released not only their best album in years, but also one of the best metal albums of the year. The dark landscapes and textured leads bring back to mind better days when the band made their mark with Operation: Mindcrime and Empire.

“All the compositions are like little snapshots, little stories in themselves,” says Michael Wilton, asked about the band’s message on this record. Wilton went on to tell BraveWords’ Martin Popoff, “But they’re not interlinked. So it’s not conceptual or anything. But they all represent our human perception of how we deal with an ever-changing life that’s really just moving really fast for us right now. The songs deal with human relationships, fatality, morality, love, time—all of these things are there in each story.”

“What you get with Todd is the real thing,” continues Michael, asked to compare Todd as a front man with Geoff Tate. “There’s no act. He’s very earnest and he’s very forthcoming to the audience. He’s there with open arms. This is me—that kind of thing. And there’s no ego problem with him. Singers generally have to have a little bit of ego, but he is in check (laughs). And the fans, they’re the ones that have accepted him. It’s just really miraculous how he has fit into the position so well.”

Read more at BraveWords.

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2) QUEENSRŸCHE – Condition Hüman (Century Media)
3) PARADISE LOST – The Plague Within (Century Media)
4) IRON MAIDEN – The Book Of Souls (Sanctuary/BMG)
5) ENSLAVED – In Times (Nuclear Blast)
6) GRAVE – Out Of Respect For The Dead (Century Media)
7) ARMORED SAINT – Win Hands Down (Metal Blade)
8) NILE – What Should Not Be Unearthed (Nuclear Blast) 
9) CRYPTOPSY – The Book Of Suffering – Tome 1 (Defen Society 3000)
10) TRIBULATION – The Children Of The Night (Century Media)
11) ENFORCER – From Beyond (Nuclear Blast)
12) FEAR FACTORY – Genexus (Nuclear Blast)
13) CRADLE OF FILTH – Hammer Of The Witches (Nuclear Blast)
14) AMORPHIS – Under The Red Cloud (Nuclear Blast)
15) MELECHESH – Enki (Nuclear Blast)
16) NAPALM DEATH – Apex Predator – Easy Meat (Century Media)
17) GHOST – Meliora (Loma Vista Recordings)
18) MOTÖRHEAD – Bad Magic (UDR)
19) MARDUK – Frontschwein (Century Media)
20) LAMB OF GOD – VII: Sturm Und Drang (Epic)
21) SYMPHONY X – Underworld (Nuclear Blast) 
22) HELLOWEEN – My God-Given Right (Nuclear Blast)
23) MICHAEL SCHENKER’S TEMPLE OF ROCK – Spirit On A Mission (Inakustik)
24) SAXON – Battering Ram (UDR)
25) KAMELOT – Haven (Napalm Records)
26) VENOM – From The Very Depths (Spinefarm)
27) CHILDREN OF BODOM – I Worship Chaos (Nuclear Blast)
28) KATAKLYSM – Of Ghosts And Gods (Nuclear Blast)
29) EUROPE – War Of Kings (UDR)
30) MY DYING BRIDE – Feel The Misery (Peaceville)