Newsgroup: it.arti.musica.metal
Titolo: Politica nei Queensryche

Interessanti speculazioni. Inoltro dal ng dei ryche:
"The first three albums had little specific political agenda besides
promoting
freedom of choice, blasting propaganda, and calling the youth to form the
future. And surgical strike sorta addressed the disconnection between
soldiers and their actions through technology.
Beginning with O:M the political lyrics were heated up. Although Nikki is
essentially a criminal, he is an anti-hero and the ideas that motivate him
are intended to inspire the listener. So through Nikki's musings, the
establishment is called to judgement, specifically the corruption of
politicians, the hypocracy of organized religion, the bias of the media and
how the 'holy dollar' is the common corrupting thread though it all.
I take from the lyrics
    Seven years of power
    ...
    the rich control the government,
    the media, the law
that this is an attack on the republican party and Reganomics specifically.
O:M was released in 1988. The seven years cooresponds to the seven years of
Regan's presidency.
More Republican policy bashing follows with
    Politicians say no to drugs
    while we pay for wars in South America
and
    As the one percent rules America
the 1% at the top who directly benefit from Reganomics, without
waiting for the 'trickle-down'.
These ideas are further enforced in the live concerts of O:M with a video
collage of then Pres. Bush Sr. side-by-side with 'evil-doers' such as
Hitler, Musulini, and Saddam Hussein. These scenes are interlaced with
images of the travesty of war and its inevitable pain and destruction.
Although, the lyrics of O:M do not specifically address war, the video
collage does, and paints it in a very unseamly light, along with those in
politics who promote it.
Empire was more of a pro-democratic stance than an anti-republican one. It
addressed issues such as gun control
    A child alone in daddy's room,
    The gun was hidden here,
    No one home to catch me when I fall
poverty
    You've got a cardboard house
    ...
    But living on the streets ain't bad,
    sad people make you glad.
    Pardon me, could you spare some change?
    ...
    Happiness seems so hard to win.
environmentalism
    Breathe deep before it's too late;
    The sky is falling, burning your eyes.
    Down in New Orleans river's boiling
    ...
    Burning coal. Got to keep the company warm
    as the rain keeps killing the trees.
while continuing to promote the 'open-minded', 'freedom of choice' ideology
of the earlier albums
    Read between the lines,
    criticize the words they're selling.
    Think for yourself and feel the walls
    become sand beneath your feet.
Fast forward to HITNF. These later albums are less politically charged and
clear cut, but the same ideas can be seen. Disappointment with politicians
is continued
    I'm tired of the insane running things,
    and I won't stop tryin' for change.
    We legislate and educate
    trying to find a way to fix the broken dream.
and
    Don't need persuading by the status quo.
    We can make changes.
    If we open up we'll see...
    the history they sell us holds the structure firm
    reinforce the mold.
    We need to strip it all away....
The futility of war is again discussed on Tribe
    Arabs and Jews at war, I don't care anymore.
    It's always the same tired story.
    How many dead in the name of some god?
    And what's the difference?
    Don't give a damn about their differences.
    Nothing's sacred once the shooting starts .
And again, this is a left-leaning stance since choosing sides in the
Israeli - Arab conflict is a greater concern to the modern hard-right GOP =
GOD movement and their belief that the Jews are god's 'chosen people'.
The themes of O:M is more specifically defined and assessable to listeners
in the simple lyric of 'Great Devide' that says our unity as citizenry is
the point of government, not government itself.
    Is there hope for America?
    Take the flag we wave, the freedoms that we sing.
    Without respect for one other,
    it doesn't mean a thing.
During the O:M concerts of the last few years, the video collage has been
updated. Cut-and-paste images of Pres. Bush Jr. were added. The lyric "Wars
in South America" changed to "Wars in South Arabia". I doubt those changes
would be made if QR no longer believed in the political charges of O:M.
The last 4 albums have definatly been more introspective. The lyrics are
more exploratory, open for debate and questioning. But I don't see change,
more of a maturity. The same ideas are there, but instead of hitting you
over the head with them, they are presented more in question form. 'Wouldn't
it be better this way?'"

I_AM_I wrote:
[cut]
Intanto, prime recensioni italiane online di O:MII: 
http://www.kronic.it/artGet.aspx?aID=2&sID=13144
Gianluca
-- 
"Year after year, with renewed ambition,
  we scale the walls to find there's nothing there."
                                                  Fates Warning 


di interviste in italiano niente ancora? sapevo che aveva fatto un giro 
europeo..