This week, Queensryche unveiled four proposed artwork ideas for the front cover of their 1984 debut album, The Warning, that ultimately didn't make the final cut.
Longtime Queensryche fans know well the chosen album cover for The Warning that ended up accompanying the power metal classic from the prog-metal masters nearly 40 years ago. But the four rejected album covers look almost equally preternatural.
Sharing the treatments with fans on social media on Wednesday (Sept. 7), Queensryche asked, "Attached are a few photos of album artwork for The Warning that did not get picked! Did we make the right choice?" (See them near the bottom of this post.)
On the original front sleeve of The Warning, as it was released, a mystical hand selects a tarot card amid a spacey scene, an image of Earth occupying the background. A Queensryche press release from the period illustrated individual tarot cards for each album cut, as Rumored.com remembered.
Queensryche, founded in 1980, followed their initial self-titled EP with The Warning. At the time, the band's lineup was composed of singer Geoff Tate, guitarists Chris DeGarmo and Michael Wilton, bassist Eddie Jackson and drummer Scott Rockenfield. Queensryche, together to this day, still count Wilton and Jackson as members, but with singer Todd La Torre, guitarist Mike Stone and drummer Casey Grillo supplanting the others.
This fall, Queensryche hit the road with Judas Priest for an extensive 2022 U.S. tour. See all the tour dates down underneath the artwork. (Get tickets here.)
Flip through the below Queensryche Instagram images to check out all four rejected The Warning covers.
Oct. 13 – Wallingford, Ct. @ Toyota Oakdale Oct. 15 – Albany, N.Y. @ MVP Arena Oct. 16 – Boston, Mass. @ MGM Music Hall Oct. 18 – Uniondale, N.Y. @ Nassau Veterans Oct. 19 – Wilkes-Barre, Pa. @ Mohegan Sun Arena Oct. 21 – Kalamazoo, Mich. @ Wings Ctr Oct. 22 – Detroit, Mich. @ Masonic Oct. 24 – Cincinnati, Ohio @ Brady Music Ctr Oct. 25 – Waukegan, Ill. @ Genesee Theatre Oct. 27 – Green Bay, Wis. @ Resch Theater Oct. 29 – Moline, Ill. @ TaxSlayer Ctr Oct. 30 – Mankato, Minn. @ Mayo Clinic Ctr Nov. 1 – Sioux City, Iowa @ Tyson Ctr Nov. 2 – Rapid City, S.D. @ Monument Nov. 7 – Ontario, Calif. @ Toyota Ctr Nov. 8 – Tucson, Ariz. @ TCC Arena Nov. 10 – Loveland, Colo. @ Budweiser Ctr Nov. 12 – Park City, Kan. @ Hartman Arena Nov. 13 – St. Charles, Mo. @ Family Arena Nov. 15 – Corbin, Ky. @ The Corbin Arena Nov. 17 – Southaven, Miss. @ Landers Ctr Nov. 18 – Baton Rouge, La. @ River Ctr Nov. 20 – Oklahoma City, Okla. @ Paycom Ctr Nov. 22 – San Antonio, Texas @ Tech Port Nov. 23 – San Antonio, Texas @ Tech Port Nov. 25 – Dallas, Texas @ The Factory Nov. 26 – Corpus Christi, Texas @ Concrete St. Nov. 28 – Edinburg, Texas @ Burt Ogden Arena Nov. 29 – Houston, Texas @ 713 Music Hall