Rage for Order

Rage for Order is the second studio album by American progressive metal band Queensrÿche, released on June 27, 1986. The album was re-released on May 6, 2003 with four bonus tracks.

Background and recording

The band's management insisted on Queensrÿche taking an image associated more with glam rock, glam metal or gothic metal. As a result, the promo photos and album artwork depicted the band members wearing trench coats, heavy make-up and perms.

The cover of the Dalbello song "Gonna Get Close to You" was chosen as the album's first single.

Some tracks recorded during the sessions for Rage for Order were not used on the album. "Prophecy" was released as the B-side of "Gonna Get Close to You" and later included on the 1988 re-issue of the Queensrÿche EP and the 2003 re-issue of The Warning. Other songs such as "From the Darkside" and "The Dream" remained demos. The band had also written "Rage for Order" as a title track. Although it was not included on the album, the main riff from this song was worked into an instrumental piece played during some shows on the tour in support of this album and eventually morphed into the track "Anarchy—X" on the Operation: Mindcrime album, released in 1988.

Music and lyrics

Musically, Rage for Order has been described as a heavy metal, progressive metal and glam metal album. Rage for Order was more progressive than the band's previous releases, with a layered and complex musical structure that employs a two-guitar approach, but also brought keyboards forward in the mix. It had originally been proposed for a 12" picture disc, which never materialized, but was used by EMI-America without permission for the album cover. A few thousand initial copies bear a bluish-silver banner that was later changed to black, in order to make the artist and title easier to read. The original cassette edition also had all the gold accents on the cover changed to white.

| rev2 =Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal

| rev2Score = 7/10

| rev3 = Kerrang!

| rev3Score =

| rev4 = Rock Hard (GER)

| rev4score = 9.5/10

| rev5 = The Rolling Stone Album Guide

| rev5Score =

In a retrospective review, Robert Taylor of AllMusic had a mixed reaction to Rage for Order. Taylor stated that the band had "lost their edge a bit on this release" and compared the album's sound to the glam metal movement of the time. The review praised Geoff Tate's vocals, but called the lyrics "heavy-handed" and stated that they had not aged well.

In 2005, Rage for Order was ranked number 343 in Rock Hard magazine's book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.

Track listing

Personnel

;Queensrÿche

Geoff Tate – lead vocals, keyboards
Chris DeGarmo – guitars, backing vocals
Michael Wilton – guitars, backing vocals
Eddie Jackson – bass, backing vocals
Scott Rockenfield – drums, percussion

;Additional musicians

Neil Kernon – keyboards
Bradley Doyle – emulator programming

;Production

Neil Kernon – production, engineering, mixing
Dave Ogilvie – engineering
Rob Porter – engineering
Keith Cohen – engineering
Howie Weinberg – mastering
Evren Göknar – 2003 remastering
Queensrÿche – album concept
Moshe Brakha – album photography
Henry Marquez – art direction
Glenn Parsons – design

Charts

{| class="wikitable sortable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"

! scope="col"| Chart (1986)

! scope="col"| Peak<br /> position

! scope="row"| Australian Albums (Kent Music Report)

| align="center"| 94

! scope="row"| Finland (The Official Finnish Charts)

| align="center"| 21

Certifications

Accolades

Rage for Order was ranked No. 88 on Kerrang! magazine's "100 Greatest Heavy Metal Albums Of All Time" in January 1989.