Hear in the Now Frontier

Hear in the Now Frontier is the sixth studio album by American heavy metal band Queensrÿche, released in 1997. It was partly recorded at Studio Litho in Seattle, the home studio of Pearl Jam guitarist Stone Gossard, and was engineered and mixed by Toby Wright, who had recently worked with Alice in Chains.

The album debuted at No. 19 but quickly vanished from the charts. Hear in the Now Frontier features a more basic, stripped-down musical style than anything the band had released to date. Many listeners criticized the band's shift to a more mainstream sound.

Despite the reaction, the singles "Sign of the Times" and "You" received substantial airplay. Both tracks, as well as "Some People Fly", would later be featured on best-of compilations. Sign of the Times: The Best of Queensrÿche, a 2007 compilation, also takes its name from the song.

The song "All I Want" features guitarist Chris DeGarmo on lead vocals, the only time to date that any band member besides the incumbent lead vocalist had done so on a studio track. After the album's release, DeGarmo left the band.

Tour
During Queensrÿche's tour in support of Hear in the Now Frontier, their longtime label, EMI Records USA, went bankrupt and was merged into Virgin Records America. Queensrÿche was forced to use their own money to finance the remainder of the tour, during which founding member Chris DeGarmo announced he was leaving the band.

DeGarmo would return to play and co-write five songs for Tribe in 2003, but did not officially rejoin.

The band played only half the album on its 1997 tour, with five songs still unplayed as of 2021: "Cuckoo's Nest", "Hero", "Miles Away", "All I Want" and "sp00L". However, "sp00L" and "Hero" have been played by Geoff Tate's band during his 2002 tour to supporting his solo album.

The tour setlist also included "The Lady Wore Black", "Take Hold of the Flame", "Revolution Calling", "The Mission", "I Don't Believe in Love", "Breaking the Silence", "Spreading the Disease", "Eyes of a Stranger", "Empire", "Jet City Woman", "Silent Lucidity", "Another Rainy Night", "I Am I", "Damaged", and "Bridge". "Walk in the Shadows", and "Della Brown" were played a few times as well.

This was the last tour that Queensryche's popularity level allowed them to play large venues and amphitheaters.

Personnel

 * Queensrÿche
 * Geoff Tate – lead vocals
 * Michael Wilton – lead and rhythm guitar
 * Chris DeGarmo – lead and rhythm guitar, backing vocals, lead vocals on "All I Want"
 * Eddie Jackson – bass, backing vocals
 * Scott Rockenfield – drums


 * Additional personnel
 * Matt Rollings - keyboards, piano on "All I Want"
 * Steve Nathan - keyboards
 * David Ragsdale - violin on "Sign of the Times"


 * Production
 * Peter Collins - production
 * Toby Wright - engineering, mixing
 * Adam Atley - assistant engineering
 * Matt Bayles - assistant engineering
 * Steve Marcussen - mastering
 * Evren Göknar - 2003 remastering
 * Hugh Syme - art direction, design
 * Dimo Safari - art direction, design