Remembering 'Anybody Listening?'

I wonder why the Queensryche tune "Anybody Listening?" is so underrated? Each time I listen to the track, I'm blown away by the sheer magnitude of the song.

I've mentioned the song a zillion times because it's one of my favorites. I listen to it in all moods - and when it comes on satellite radio, I nearly wreck the car to crank it up.

Feeling particularly blue and exhausted last night, I found myself listening to the song. It's so hard for me to believe the song is from Empire - and that means 1990. For me, "Anybody Listening" is timeless - and just doesn't sound dated. I think "Anybody Listening?" is probably my favorite Geoff Tate/Chris DeGarmo collaboration. The song always gets overshadowed by "Silent Lucidity" and "Another Rainy Night (Without You)" which just isn't fair. Yes, I love those tracks -- all the tracks! -- on Empire, but there's some weird feeling I get from "Anybody Listening."

I came along some old Spin.com article last night talking about the death of hair metal, to which I couldn't help but laugh because, 1) Glam isn't dead and, 2) the article tried to put the blame on Queensryche in a roundabout way.

Please.

The guys in Queensryche are great, by the way. I think - nay, truly believe - Geoff Tate is a genius. He doesn't have time to debase his band or brand by scoffing at other musical acts with which he might someday perform alongside. I've seen Queensryche several times - and each was with a legacy act. I doubt "hair metal" is really dead considering Queensryche sailed right along with RATT and Skid Row on Shiprocked last year.

So anyway, "Anybody Listening?" The song is special to me and the lyrics pure brilliance. What say you?