Silent Lucidity

"Silent Lucidity"
Single by Queensrÿche
from the album Empire
ReleasedMarch 1991
RecordedSpring 1990
Genre
Length5:47
LabelEMI America
SongwriterChris DeGarmo
ProducerPeter Collins
Queensrÿche singles chronology
"Best I Can"
(1990)		 "Silent Lucidity"
(1991)		 "Jet City Woman"
(1991)
Music video
"Silent Lucidity" on YouTube

"Silent Lucidity" is a song by the American heavy metal band Queensrÿche, released in March 1991 as the third single from their fourth studio album, Empire (1990). The power ballad, which was composed by lead guitarist Chris DeGarmo, was the biggest hit for the band, peaking at number nine on the Billboard Hot 100 and at number one on the Billboard Album Rock Tracks chart. "Silent Lucidity" was also nominated in 1992 for the Grammy Awards for Best Rock Song and Best Rock Vocal Performance by a Duo or Group.

Background

Guitarist Chris DeGarmo was inspired to write the song by the 1974 book "Creative Dreaming" by Patricia Garfield, which explained how to tap into one's subconscious to experience a lucid dream.

DeGarmo noted in an interview that the average person spends 4 1/2 years of their life in a vivid hallucination state during dreaming. During that time, they can do superhuman feats like flying and walking through walls, as well as experience incredible physical sensations. "We created a very real dreamlike landscape for this song. Everything from the vocal delivery to the orchestration, to the melody, the instruments, it’s all trying to create this very lush landscape. It’s a huge-sounding track," he said.

The song was originally only acoustic guitar and vocals, but additional instrumentation was added during the last week of working on the album. The album's producer was adamant that the song should not be included on the record, but the band members pushed for its inclusion.

Reception

Writer Chuck Eddy used "Silent Lucidity" as an example of hair metal's fading relevancy even before the rise of Nirvana, describing it as "a Pink Floyd pastiche by thinkers-of-big-thoughts more given to high-flown concept albums about technological conspiracy than lowbrow groupie gropes."

Track listing

Original 1991 release

  1. "Silent Lucidity" – 5:49
  2. "The Mission" [Live] – 6:17
  3. "Eyes of a Stranger [Live] – 8:03

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Chart (1991–1992) Peak
position
Canada RPM 7
UK Singles (Official Charts)18
US Billboard Hot 1009
US Mainstream Rock Airplay (Billboard)1

Year-end charts

Chart (1991) Position
Canada Top Singles (RPM) 69
US Top Pop Singles (Billboard) 82

Personnel

Additional personnel

Accolades

Publication Country Accolade Rank
Classic Rock US The 40 Greatest Power Ballads 36
Glide Magazine US Favorite Hair Metal Power Ballads 6
VH1 US Greatest Power Ballads 21

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Great Rock discography".
  2. ↑ Boehm, Mike (June 27, 1997). "Metal and Its Byproducts : Queensryche Upgrades the Machinery Without Undergoing a Retrofit or Total Conversion". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 24, 2021.
  3. ↑ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Queensrÿche | Biography & History". AllMusic. Retrieved February 2, 2021.
  4. 1 2 3 "The 40 Greatest Power Ballads". Classic Rock. February 14, 2015.
  5. 1 2 "Greatest Power Ballads". VH1.com. MTV Networks. Archived from the original on November 13, 2006. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
  6. ↑ "Billboard Hot 100". Billboard. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  7. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2004). The Billboard Book of Top 40 Hits (8th ed.). Billboard Publications. p. 514.
  8. ↑ "34th Grammy Awards — 1992". Rock on the Net.com. Retrieved May 7, 2012.
  9. ↑ Dome, Malcolm (June 15, 2022). "How a book on dreams inspired Queensryche's biggest ever hit single". Louder. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  10. ↑ Miller, Gerri (December 1990). "Queensrÿche build an empire". Metal Edge. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  11. ↑ MacIntosh, Dan (November 29, 2012). "Queensrÿche founder Geoff Tate : Songwriter Interviews". Songfacts. Retrieved June 8, 2023.
  12. ↑ Eddy, Chuck (2011). Rock and Roll Always Forgets: A Quarter Century of Music Criticism. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-5010-1.
  13. ↑ "RPM Top 100 Singles - June 8, 1991" (PDF). collectionscanada.gc.ca.
  14. ↑ "Search results for "Queensryche" | Official Chart". Official Charts Company. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  15. ↑ "Queensryche Chart History (Hot 100)". Billboard. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  16. ↑ "Queensryche Chart History (Mainstream Rock Airplay)". Billboard. Retrieved February 21, 2021.
  17. ↑ "RPM 100 Hit Tracks of 1991". RPM. 17 July 2013. Retrieved November 23, 2017.
  18. ↑ "1991 The Year in Music & Video: Top Pop Singles". Billboard. Vol. 103, no. 51. Nielsen Business Media. December 21, 1991. p. YE-14.
  19. ↑ Bernstein, Scott (4 January 2007). "The B List: Favorite Hair-Metal Power Ballads". Glide Magazine. Retrieved 2023-06-07.