The Warning by Queensryche

The Warning, Queensrÿche's first full-length album, came out on EMI America after the Bellevue, Washington, band's self-released EP had won them a deal with EMI. The lineup that made it: Geoff Tate on lead vocals, Michael Wilton and Chris DeGarmo on guitars, Eddie Jackson on bass and Scott Rockenfield on drums. James Guthrie produced, with sessions at Abbey Road and Mayfair Studios.

This is the band before the experiments of Rage for Order and Operation: Mindcrime, playing straight heavy metal with twin-guitar muscle and Tate's operatic wail soaring over the top. The lyrics dabble in mysticism and the occult. It did moderately well in America, where none of the singles charted, but "Take Hold of the Flame" became an international hit, especially in Japan. Metal Hammer later ranked it 13th among the best power metal albums, and a 2003 reissue added three bonus tracks.

Written with AI assistance from RockLists chart data, MusicBrainz and Wikipedia.