queensrÿche released their sixth full-length studio album, "hear in the now frontier", in march 1997, to mixed critical and fan reception. the album debuted at no. 19 but quickly vanished from the charts. the musical sound and style of the album was more basic and stripped down than anything the band had released to date, and some fans and critics pointed to the grunge musical style as being a major influence on the record. despite the reaction, the singles "sign of the times" and "you" received substantial airplay.