Not all the hits were so bad.

As much hell as I raise about mainstream music — roughly defined as "what they play on terrestrial radio" — I don't think ALL of it is that bad. Even from the bands that developed a following for their not-so-commercial music and later "sold out." I don't know if one could quite accuse Washington metal band Queensryche of selling out, because even with the radio hits they had from their 1990 Empire cd, the lyrical content of the other songs from it — at least the ones I've heard — was every bit as incisive and thought-provoking as what they wrote for Operation: Mindcrime. (an AWESOME record, by the way) And I say that as one who doesn't even agree with some of the sentiments expressed on those songs. The only two songs I'd ever heard from the band before I got Sirius were "Silent Lucidity" and "Jet City Woman," both from the Empire cd, and I really liked both of them. They played "Jet City Woman" the other day...and I was reminded that even when they adopt a more mainstream sound, Queensryche still sounds damn good.