Queensrÿche "Queen Of The Reich (Single & Video)"

"Queen of the Reich" is a heavy metal song first recorded in 1981 for a demo tape by "The Mob", later known as Queensrÿche. "Queen of the Reich" was first recorded on Queensrÿche (a.k.a. Queensrÿche EP) along with "The Lady Wore Black", "Nightrider", and "Blinded".

This song was also the basis for the band's new name. The spelling was altered from "Queensreich" to avoid connotations with Nazi Germany.

Chris Collins, the first vocalist of the progressive metal band Dream Theater, covered this song for his audition for the band. The British band Shadowkeep covered this song on the compilation album Rebellion – A Tribute to Queensrÿche, released on Dwell Records in 2000. Japanese power metal band Galneryus covered this song for their 2010 cover album, Voices from the Past III. Canadian power metal band Unleash the Archers also covered it for the Japanese release of their 2017 album, Apex.

The music video for "Queen of the Reich" opens with a text crawl somewhat similar to the Star Wars films. First, the viewer sees the words "Tales of Queensrÿche" zoom in before scrolling up with the rest of the text describing the backstory. It states that an evil adventurer has enslaved the world with an ancient computer energized by a crystal and declared herself "Queen of the Reich". The only thing standing in her way are five freedom fighters played by the band. Throughout the video, viewers get to see the band perform the song, singing and playing their respective instruments, and act out their roles as the freedom fighters in the story.

When doing the latter, four of the members get captured by the Queen's minions and taken to their mistress, who proceeds to have them absorbed into her computer shrine. The fifth freedom fighter, played by Geoff Tate, rescues a woman being led by another minion and the two of them proceed to follow the direction he was taking her in order to rescue the others. As soon as they reach the Queen's lair, however, the woman reveals herself to be yet another minion and the two of them struggle as the Queen fires laser beams at Tate to take him out. Tate dodges her shots and manages to temporarily stun the Queen, giving him time to free his four comrades. After being reunited, the five freedom fighters cautiously approach the Queen and remove her visor but then they are taken aback by an unseen force and the video ends with the text, "To be continued..."

Track listing

Side A

1. "Queen of the Reich" (radio edit) 4:08

Side B

1. "The Lady Wore Black" (radio edit) 4:51

- Promo featuring alternate versions of both tracks bearing the following description -

This newly edited and equalized version was created especially for radio.

- Issued in a plain white sleeve.

Recording information:

- Produced by Queensryche.

- Recorded at Triad Studios, Redmond, WA, late summer, 1982.

- Mastered at the Mastering Lab, Los Angeles., CA