OK so TWO Queensryche's, but only one winner.

This is so sad. One of the best 80's (yes, I am that old) metal bands has splintered on account of creative differences. It happens but you always want them to be friends and somehow reunite. Alas, this rift seems mighty huge...too huge to bridge.
Back in 1982 Queensryche mainly consisited of vocalist Geoff Tate, guiatrists Chris DeGarmo and Mike Witlon, bassist Eddie Jackson and drummer Scott Rockenfeld. AOR hits like "Queen of the Reich", "The Lady Wore Black" and "Take Hold of the Flame" followed but it wasn't until 1988 when their first ever theme album OPERATION: MINDCRIME was released and, as they say, history was made. IMHO the entire MINDCRIME album was/is awesome and it still holds up in 2013. A long form video compilation was made for 5 of the songs, but the hit was undoubtely "I Don't Believe In Love", still one of my fave metal songs of all time. EMPIRE followed, and yet another huge hit, "Silent Lucidity" topped rock radio along with "Jet City Woman". The years that followed were harsh, as Queensryche tried to recapture the magic that made those two albums so iconic. Many years and albums and the departure/return/departure of writer/guitarist Chris DeGarmo would come to pass with no interest. Even revisiting an old concept in OPERATION:MINDCRIME II failed to garner even a spark in record sales. It seemed the best years had come and gone and with the decline of heavy metal getting airplay, it was really no surprise that Queensryche sorta faded into the background.
Then in mid-2013 this surfaced:

What in the world is this? A new Queensryche CD? Amazingly, yes. This incarnation has ONLY Geoff Tate as a returning member and a new line up of musicians, some new some not. Most notably (or not) are bassist/ex-Quiet Riot & Whitesnake Rudy Sarzo and ex-AC/DC's Simon Wright. Can this new version recapture the flame held by the band so long ago? The down-and-dirty IMHO: No. Tate's voice is showing his age and the once melodic passages he sang come out a bit screechy and crackly. On this outing they even re-recorded some past hits..and this just proves my point above. Alluding to the infamous falling out with the other members, the title of the CD is "Frequency Unknown" or "F.U." for short. Yeah, a bit childish but there you have it.

BUT WAIT...the story doesn't end there because nary a week later, this pops up:

Wait...what??? ANOTHER Queensryche album? But how can they...oh...ah...I see what they did. The umlaut/horizontal colon mark above the "Y"..that's how they did it. Seems Version 3 kept the original logo yet both share the mascot imagery.
The band consists of the rest of the 'Ryche lineup except for (surprise,surprise) Chris DeGarmo who may have made the right decision to stay away. This line up adds new Tate-esque singer Todd La Torre, who IMHO does a decent job filling Geoff's shoes. He is by no means the Geoff Tate we knew back in the 80's...only Geoff can claim that right. But Todd does OK and the material is much better-sounding. Also, it doesn't sound like he's gonna burst a blood vessel hitting the high notes.
So does Version 3 have a chance? IMHO: Yes. This incarnation feels more like the old 'Ryche than Version 2 does. But the combination of Tate/DeGarmo/Wilton as writers is still unmatched today so both Version 2 and 3 have a ways to go.

UPDATE: Trying to figure out why this is dropping from RSS feed. :(