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Released as the first single from their 1990 album, Empire in September of that year.
"Empire" was co-written by frontman Geoff Tate and guitarist Michael Wilton. In a November 2010 interview with Get Ready To Rock, Tate explained: "It dealt with issues like gang warfare and drugs and how the police [deal] with that and in that situation nothing has really changed!"
The middle of the track includes a spoken section relating to law enforcement spending in the US comparing it unfavorably with spending on space exploration and national defence.
The video was directed by Matt Mahurin, who was already well known as a video director, having directed U2's "With Or Without You", Peter Gabriel's "Red Rain", REM's "Orange Crush" and would later go on to direct videos for Metallica, Soundgarden, Motley Crue, Bonnie Raitt, Living Colour, Ugly Kid Joe, Alice in Chains, Bush, Soul Asylum, Urge Overkill, Def Leppard and Disturbed.
Known as a fan favorite, the group has played the song often live, doing so over a thousand times as of April 2016, and the track is the band's second most played song in its setlist history. It is exceeded only by "Eyes of a Stranger".