CWE-Rychean Archyves (R.A.R.E Society)

Ring Rage

It is a well known fact among Ryche collectors that of all the collectibles , the Rage for Order cover generates some of the more interesting facts, controversies and confusion. The Rage album cover has produced three different colored rings, which are the original blue, the traditional known black ring, and the grey-black Japanese version. This article will concentrate on the first two rings, since their linked history provide the " color " to the story, if you pardon the pun. The Ring was designed to highlight the band's name by placing it within the ring in the center of the cover. Unfortunately, as so eloquently stated, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." The folks at EMI found out the hard way.

The Rage for Order era of Queensryche was ushered in with the release of the 12" single "Walk in the Shadows" on 6/9/86. (The acetate, which I have a copy of, was cut on 5/9/86.) The Rage LP was officially released in the U.S. on 6/26/86. At the time it was released, it's predecessor, The Warning, had not even reached gold record status. As a result, while Rage was released in June, the LP was not pushed until August to coincide with the band's tour with Ozzy Osbourne. This opening became available as QR replaced Metallica as Ozzy's opening act due to the death of their bassist, Cliff Burton. (Yes, newer Metallica fans; there was another bassist before Jason Newstead!!) { EDITOR'S NOTE: The Metallica Line-up has changed since I originally posted this piece in the EYE on QUEENSRYCHE Fanclub Magazine.} This marketing ploy was not received well by the Harris management team, which complained about EMI's handling of the same. The delay would help undermine the Harris' role as the band's managers.

The initial pressing of Rage totaled 197,000 copies. The sales incentive to retailers allowed them to receive six free copies of the LP for every one hundred copies purchased. There were 35,000 promotional two-sided flats , with blue rings and 30,000 2"x3" posters. The original pressing was to include a four color inner sleeve, which featured the band. As everyone knows, it turned out to only be "plain as black and white" (Editor's Note: See the Dutch "Gonna Get Close To You" single to see what might have been. ) The initial pressing came with a round yellow sticker that read: "Featuring the tracks "Walk in the Shadows and The Whisper". The cover was to be red and white with a centered blue ring to accentuate the band's name and the album's title.

The ring was to showcase the band's name and highlight it as the center of attention on the cover. EMI attempted to archive this by using a color that would balance the album cover colors of red and white. The logical choice, or so they thought, was pale or light blue. EMI ended up with more than they bargained for with this choice. Unfortunately, the emphasis should be on the word pale, rather than blue, as to the results of their decision.

While the pale blue hue was aesthetically complimentary to the predominantly white and red cover, it was a major disappointment from an advertising standpoint. The blue ring did stand out prominently on the cover. Unfortunately , the band name paled in comparison to the overall cover design. The band's name was washed out by this color combination of the blue ring and the gold letters of the band's name. The advertising executives realized this fact only after the first pressing of the same! The very name recognition they were hoping to achieve was lost by this bad marriage of colors. While it was not the fans who complained about it, it was the retailers who had a fit over the packaging! They were concerned that when the album was stacked up on incaps, the lighting would hit the blue ring and obscure the band's name!!! This marketing gaff led to the second running of the album cover with the more familiar black ring with the band's name in gold.

This choice obviously highlighted the band's name, so that it stood out and provided the desired name recognition. This move was to correct the failed attempt with the blue ring, so that it would bolster album sales by prominently highlighting the band's name for their fanns. SURPRISINGLY enough, the black ring was for 86,000 copies, which was far less than the number of blue ring pressings!!!! This pressing was issued a mere two (2) weeks after the blue ring pressing!!!! Additionally, when the black ring pressings were shipped, the blue rings were left on the shelves due to it's brisk sales totals in it's two (2) week solo run!!!

While EMI spent much money to correct the Rage debacle, their loss turned into a Rychean collector's dream or expense, depending on your point of view. The different ring colors have sparked controversy as to the value of the one ring cover over the other. This controversy has led to a treasure trove for collectors.

Rychingly submitted,

Revolution Colin