Queensryche

It’d be easy to dismiss a Queensrÿche covers album as "for diehard fans only,” but one glance at the track listing reveals that front-man Geoff Tate and company put some major thought into this compilation. The opening cut, Pink Floyd’s "Welcome to the Machine,” is an obvious choice and the band stay faithful to the original. Sabbath’s "Neon Knights” throbs anew, with Tate matching Dio’s pipes note for note. Though he falters a bit in the higher registers during a valiant rendition of the Police’s "Synchronicity II,” Tate lays down poignant improv on their live cover of U2’s "Bullet the Blue Sky.” Though Peter Gabriel’s "Red Rain” was done much better last year by Ill Niño, the inclusion of Queen’s "Innuendo” (with orchestration), Jesus Christ Superstar’s "Heaven on Their Minds” and the O’Jays’ eternally funky "For the Love of Money” speak more about these aging prog rockers than their fatigued and somewhat obligatory covers of CSNY’s "Almost Cut My Hair” and the always gag-inducing Buffalo Springfield workhorse "For What It’s Worth.”