"Empire" is a song by the heavy metal band

Queensrÿche Queensrÿche () is an American progressive metal band. It formed in 1982 in Bellevue, Washington, out of the local band the Mob. The band has released 16 studio albums, one Extended play, EP, and several DVDs, and continues to tour and record ...

, appearing on their

1990 Important events of 1990 include the Reunification of Germany and the unification of Yemen, the formal beginning of the Human Genome Project (finished in 2003), the launch of the Hubble Space Telescope, the separation of Namibia from South ...

album ''

Empire An empire is a political unit made up of several territories, military outpost (military), outposts, and peoples, "usually created by conquest, and divided between a hegemony, dominant center and subordinate peripheries". The center of the ...

''. The lyrical content of the song warns of a foreboding and unstoppable "Empire" of drug trafficking within the United States and its related crimes, that will inevitably lead to the breakdown of civility in American society. Known as a fan favorite, the group has played the song often live, doing so over a thousand times as of April 2016, and the track is the band's second most played song in its setlist history. It is exceeded only by " Eyes of a Stranger".

Track listing

;7" single ;12" single ;CD single

Chart performance

Personnel

Geoff Tate Geoff Tate (born Jeffrey Wayne Tate, January 14, 1959; he later changed his first name to Geoffery or Geoffrey) (Pp. 11, 48). is an American singer and songwriter. He rose to fame with the progressive metal band Queensrÿche, who had commercial ...

– vocals *

Michael Wilton Michael F. Wilton (born February 23, 1962) also known as The Whip, for how fast his fingers "whip" around the guitar fingerboard, fretboard, is an American musician, best known for being a guitarist and songwriter in the progressive metal band Q ...

– lead guitar *

Chris DeGarmo Christopher Lee DeGarmo (born June 14, 1963) is an American guitarist and songwriter, best known for being the former co-guitarist, backing vocalist, and primary songwriter in the progressive metal band Queensrÿche from their formation in 1980 ...

– rhythm guitar * Eddie Jackson – bass *

Scott Rockenfield Scott Rockenfield (born June 15, 1963), also known as SRock, is an American drummer and composer. He is best known as the drummer for the progressive metal band Queensrÿche, which he co-founded in 1982, and the hard rock band Slave to the Syste ...

– drums

Additional personnel

Randy Gane Operation: Mindcrime (also known as Geoff Tate's Operation: Mindcrime) was a progressive metal band that was fronted by the former lead singer of Queensrÿche, Geoff Tate. It is named after Queensrÿche's 1988 album of the same name. Various m ...

– message left on answering machine

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Empire (Queensryche Song) 1990 singles 1990 songs EMI Records singles Queensrÿche songs Song recordings produced by Peter Collins (record producer) Songs about drugs Songs written by Geoff Tate Songs written by Michael Wilton