Operation: Mindcrime

Product Information

It is a concept album and the sequel to the group's third studio album, Operation: Mindcrime (1988). The album resumes the story of Mindcrime, which is that of Nikki, a drug-addicted political revolutionary who had worked as an assassin before his disillusionment and arrest. Nikki had been jailed for the murder of prostitute-turned- nun Sister Mary at the end of Mindcrime, with his sanity slipping as he genuinely didn't know who had killed Mary and had grown close to her before her death. As Mindcrime II begins, eighteen years later, Nikki is released from prison and begins to plot his revenge against Dr. X, a manipulative demagogue from the first album that had treated Nikki as his puppet. Essentially, while it is by no means some kind of pop-oriented, image-obsessed hair metal, it's still the type of music that was essentially commercially annihilated by Nirvana's Nevermind in the early '90s -- in a way that rougher bands like Metallica or Megadeth or Pantera, for example, were not. Electric Requiem” is another scene setter as Nikki finds Mary dead in her room apparently she’s committed suicide and again this is incredibly atmospheric. This is as I said a scene setter but it contains a short display of vocals, which are once again incredibly impressive and softer than others in this album! Geoff Tate's Operation: Mindcrime Detail Their Debut Album, 'The Key' ". Music Enthusiast Magazine. July 2, 2015 . Retrieved July 2, 2015. Of course, I always want more keyboards and this album could (I said 'could') benefits of more ivory, but the orchestration is tasty overall. The REAL prog metal masterpiece before Dream Theater, have a slice and chill.

Queensryche's biggest success is a milestone in metal history, and there are few who would argue with that. It takes music to a whole new level, where it is not just'pleasant sound', but substance and thought-provoking art. It is easy to listen to, yet it is also deep and emotional. Plus, it has one of the best replay values of any CD in my collection. Highly recommended to fans of heavy metal, or fans of almost any branch of metal.

If there was something like a perfect album, "Operation: Mindcrime" would be very close to that status.....VERY VERY close. Lee, Cosmo (April 17, 2006). "Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime II - Review". Stylus Magazine . Retrieved May 10, 2013. minutes. "Operation:Mindcrime" opens with the phone ringing and then a heavy rhythm comes in and some screaming guitar, and

So, what does make this album so special to me and thousands of other fans? I guess everyone does have his own explanation of that question, since everyone does experience music in his own way. Just like any idea, it takes time to fully explain the potential of something,” Tate reflects. “A band is always a very political entity. I had to do some wheeling and dealing to make it happen. Once I had one guy interested in my idea it kinda snowballed. And Chris really launched into it with me.” Well in my opinion it is not, but only because there will never be such a thing as a perfect album. Divita, Joe (January 25, 2017). "The Best Metal Album of Each Year Since 1970". Loudwire. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019 . Retrieved June 24, 2020.a b c d "Chris Degarmo explains "Operation:Mindcrime" in his own words". Metal Hammer. Vol.3, no.11. June 6, 1988 . Retrieved May 8, 2018. We had to try to figure out in our heads what his voice would’ve been like,” Tate explains. “Guys would come in, and in their best Shakespearian delivery would say [adopts plummy, Donald Sinden-like tones]: ‘Kill her, that’s all you’ve got to do.’ It was just too over the top. Next!” a b c "Producer, Session Guitarist Claim QUEENSRŸCHE Drummer Didn't Play On 'Operation: Mindcrime II' ". Blabbermouth.net. Roadrunner Records. July 15, 2012 . Retrieved March 3, 2013. Ha-ha. That’s a great story!” Tate laughs. “I’d like to think it was true, but I really can’t remember. I wish I could.” Eighteen years after the release of Operation: Mindcrime Queensrÿche put out the sequel Operation: Mindcrime II. Unfortunately, DeGarmo didn’t contribute to the album and the music failed to enthrall or even meet the expectations of most fans, even with Ronnie James Dio playing the role of the evil Dr. X on tour. Queensrÿche played Operation: Mindcrime and Mindcrime II one after the other. Both included actors, video screens and lots of sonic firepower, which kept fans attention for the entire show event though most came for the first act.

a b c d e "RUDY And ROBERT SARZO Discuss Recreating 'Operation: Mindcrime' With TATE's QUEENSRŸCHE". BLABBERMOUTH.NET. September 12, 2013 . Retrieved May 21, 2023.a b c "QUEENSRŸCHE Guitarist: GEOFF TATE Spat In My Face, Punched Me And Called Me A 'Pussy' ". Blabbermouth.net. Roadrunner Records. July 11, 2012 . Retrieved December 27, 2014. Offiziellecharts.de – Queensrÿche – Operation: Mindcrime II" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved September 7, 2022. This is a concept album, but it takes awhile to realize that for the unknowing listener. It took a summary I found on Wikipedia for me to get the gist of it, and I wish I hadn't. I story is thoroughly depressing, and driven by protagonist Nikki's facepalmingly bad mistake of agreeing to assassinate politicians in exchange for... heroin? However, the poor storyline can be brushed aside because of the incredible instrumental work. Some parts were easy, others… were not necessarily difficult, more time-consuming,” Tate says. “Communication-wise, we were on a roll. Having made a couple of records by then, we had a good system in place. The segues between the songs, for instance, required quite a lot of planning, but you don’t mind that when you’re enjoying your work.”

It's not the storyline; on the contrary, the tale that Queensryche has told is one of intrigue and suspense. I even found myself drawing a few parallels to Orwell's 1984, a classic of dystopian fiction that this album surely took some inspiration from. But it's a story that seems like it would have played out much better as a novel, or even as a screenplay. The concept album format almost exclusively makes the storyline of an album a bit difficult to follow, even more so if the listener isn't taking the time to read along with the lyrics in the sleeve. So for an album of this type, it's usually necessary to listen to it several times before one finds that they truly understand and appreciate it the way it was meant to be heard. And for that to be possible, the album (musically) must be compelling enough to warrant a second, a third, or a hundreth listen-through in its entirety, however long it takes before the listener 'gets' it. And that right there is where Queensryche failed me as a listener. Zero compulsion to listen to it again. After a series of interludes and the song "I Don't Believe in Love", all with deeply pessimistic lyrics detailing Nikki's loss, his insanity and subsequent hospitalization, the song "Eye of a Stranger" begins. The song is 6 and a half minutes in length, and details Nikki remembering the past and wondering how he got into this particular situation, alone in a mental hospital. It ends as it began, with Nikki saying the words "I remember now..."Dr. X is a prime example of a criticism I've often had of the various people trying to reform the American government, the cure is 5 times as grotesque as the disease it claims to be opposed to. Dr. X is actually a rather clever philosophical figurehead for a kind of person that has been with humanity since the beginning of time, the manipulator. In olden times we referred to him as the witch-doctor, the one who instigated the atrocities of history by inspiring the Attilas, Genghis Khans, and the Ottoman Empires of the world to strike out at what they defined as evil. The modern witch-doctor that X portrays is a combination of the idiot-philosopher who can manipulate the ideology of the impressionable student, and the drug pusher who sells an alternate reality as a reward for serving his ends. The idiot-philosopher label can apply to people like Kant, Marx, Hegel, Rousseau, and other collectivists who inspired irrationality and then destruction. Swisscharts.com – Queensrÿche – Operation: Mindcrime II". Hung Medien. Retrieved September 7, 2022. I suppose, what I enjoyed most about Operation: Mindcrime, was not so much how wonderful Geoff Tate’s vocals sound or how great each of the instruments were played, but rather how they sound together. My love for this album is attributed to just how well they all mesh into one cohesive sound forming a single heartbeat that pumps the lifeblood throughout the album’s entirety. It’s true that on their own, the vocals and instruments could be viewed as a success, but the reason this album is so widely praised is the fact that Operation: Mindcrime serve as a perfect analogy to a completed puzzle. Each piece is just as important as the rest, but even if just one is missing, you’ll never have a whole product. You’ll never truly be complete. That is how you sum up this album: complete.