''The Warning'' is the first studio album by American 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 ...

, released on September 7, 1984, and reissued on May 6, 2003, with three bonus tracks. In 2019, ''

Metal Hammer ''Metal Hammer'' is a heavy metal music magazine and website founded in 1983, published in the United Kingdom by Future, with other language editions published by different companies available in numerous other countries. ''Metal Hammer'' featu ...

'' ranked it as the 13th best power metal album of all time.

Background

Queensrÿche wrote the material for ''The Warning'' during their tour in support of the ''

'' EP, inspired by world events and the 1949

George Orwell Eric Arthur Blair (25 June 1903 – 21 January 1950) was an English novelist, poet, essayist, journalist, and critic who wrote under the pen name of George Orwell. His work is characterised by lucid prose, social criticism, opposition to a ...

novel ''

Nineteen Eighty-Four ''Nineteen Eighty-Four'' (also published as ''1984'') is a dystopian novel and cautionary tale by the English writer George Orwell. It was published on 8 June 1949 by Secker & Warburg as Orwell's ninth and final completed book. Thematically ...

''. The album was recorded in various

recording studio A recording studio is a specialized facility for Sound recording and reproduction, recording and Audio mixing, mixing of instrumental or vocal musical performances, spoken words, and other sounds. They range in size from a small in-home proje ...

s in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

with

Pink Floyd Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...

- producer James Guthrie. In 2013, lead singer Geoff Tate explained the band's dissatisfaction with the album's mix: "The only time I ever experienced record label restricting creative freedomwas during the recording of Queensrÿche's first album, ''The Warning''. We went $300,000 over budget and the label took the record out of our hands and gave it to someone else to mix. ... The guy that mixed the album had no clue what Queensrÿche was. He never listened to hard rock music and didn't take input from anyone in the band. He just mixed it according to how he thought it should sound. No-one in the band could listen to that record. We all hated it." ''The Warning'' shows the band in an early stage of development, playing straight heavy metal songs unlike later albums in which more experimentation was expressed. It was a moderate commercial success in the United States, although none of the singles charted domestically. However, "Take Hold of the Flame" was an international hit, particularly in Japan. In support of the release, Queensrÿche went on a worldwide tour from August 1984 through to July 1985. During the American leg of their tour, they were the

opening act An opening act, also known as a warm-up act, support act, supporting act or opener, is an entertainment act (musical, comedic, or otherwise), that performs at a concert before the featured act, or "headliner". Rarely, an opening act may perform ...

for

Kiss A kiss is the touching or pressing of one's lips against another person, animal or object. Cultural connotations of kissing vary widely; depending on the culture and context, a kiss can express sentiments of love, passion, romance, sex ...

on their 1984–85 Animalize Tour and

Iron Maiden Iron Maiden are an English Heavy metal music, heavy metal band formed in Leyton, East London, in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris (musician), Steve Harris. Although fluid in the early years of the band, the line-up for most ...

on their 1984–85 World Slavery Tour, while in Europe they opened for Dio on their The Last in Line tour 1984. They also opened for Accept on their Metal Heart tour in 1985.

Track listing

The album's original track sequence and sound mix that the band had approved, was changed by mix engineer Val Garay under orders from EMI-America, against the wishes of the band. This original intended sequence is identical to the final track listing but with the following exceptions: "N M 156" as the opening song, "Warning" as the second to last track, and "Deliverance" and "No Sanctuary" appearing in the opposite order. The band first learned of this in August 1984, while on tour in Japan. Original track listing (unreleased) #N M 156 #En Force #No Sanctuary #Deliverance #Take Hold of the Flame #Before the Storm #Child of Fire #Warning #Roads to Madness

Personnel

Queensrÿche

* Geoff Tate – lead vocals * Chris DeGarmo – guitars (lead guitar on "Take Hold of the Flame"), backing vocals * Michael Wilton – guitars (lead guitar on "Warning"), backing vocals * Eddie Jackson – bass, backing vocals * Scott Rockenfield – drums

Additional musicians

Michael Kamen Michael Arnold Kamen (April 15, 1948 – November 18, 2003) was an American composer (especially of film scores), orchestral arranger, orchestral conductor, songwriter, record producer and musician. Early life Michael Arnold Kamen was born in ...

–

conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or Choir, choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary d ...

, orchestral arrangement

Production

* James Guthrie – production * Val Garay – mixing * Neil Kernon – engineering, mixing ("The Prophecy"), production *Evren Göknar – 2003 remastering

Charts

Certifications

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Warning, The Queensrÿche albums 1984 debut albums EMI America Records albums Albums produced by James Guthrie (record producer) Power metal albums by American artists