April 2026 Feature Release - The Infinite Edition

So just like that we find that a new month is upon us which of course means that we’ll be nominating a brand new monthly feature release for each clan. This essentially means that we’re asking you to rate, review & discuss our chosen features for no other reason than because we enjoy the process & banter. We’re really looking forward to hearing your thoughts on our chosen releases so don’t be shy.

This month's feature release for The Infinite, nominated by me (Shadowdoom9 (Andi)), is the 1988 3rd album by Washington-based heavy/progressive metal forerunners Queensryche, Operation: Mindcrime. Just recently, former vocalist Geoff Tate announced the upcoming release of an album that would continue the Operation: Mindcrime saga. With that and my recent revisit of this masterpiece, there's no better time than now to make a feature release out of the album that began the story and pretty much kickstarted the idea of progressive metal concept albums.

https://metal.academy/releases/582

Here's my review summary:

Operation Mindcrime is a one-hour journey not to be missed out on! It tells a story (that I won't spoil in this review summary) of a drug addict who has spiralled down into disillusion, caused by the corruption of society, and joined a revolutionary assassination group. The songs themselves are quite progressive but at the same time make catchy 80s metal hits. And in the middle is a 10 and a half minute epic to really show their progressive side. It's hard to imagine that one of the greatest stories ever told is written by a metal band vocalist, but it's great that happened. This is Geoff Tate at his best in both writing and singing. You sometimes wonder whether you're listening to an album or a soundtrack-backed audiobook. And almost everything is connected together like a full-on suite! The story would continue 18 years later in Operation: Mindcrime II, which is underwhelming compared to the first album, but I'm satisfied with the story having a sequel. Operation: Mindcrime shall be heard by any music listener. A real gamechanger in both metal and music in general!

5/5

Recommended tracks: "Revolution Calling", "Speak", "The Mission", "Suite Sister Mary", "Breaking the Silence", "I Don't Believe in Love", "Eyes of a Stranger"

For fans of: Dream Theater, Crimson Glory, Fates Warning

With the exception of 2001's "Operation: LIVEcrime" live album, my knowledge of Queensrÿche is limited to their 1983-1990 period but I'm well across all of that material & "Operation: Mindcrime" is their finest work from that era. I don't think I can say that I've ever considered any of their releases to be genuinely classic but this is a very solid progressive metal release nonetheless. 4/5

I will be honest, when I saw this record put forward for a feature release this month, I groaned inwardly. Having tried to understand the hype around this album on many occasions previously, I could never quite fathom its cult status. For me personally, it has always been Empire that is my go-to Queensrÿche album. A factor in my opinion of Operation Mindcrime has always been its arrangement. Metal/rock operas are tedious affairs to me, often where songs get snarled up in acts at various points in the record, completely disrupting the flow of the album usually. Here on this record, there is the double whammy of two, largely non-musical intro tracks to open proceedings, so my irritation soon becomes difficult to control.

Arrangement challenges aside, this outing with album has been much more fruitful than I expected. If I divert my attention away from the actual storytelling, I can acknowledge that there are some fantastic tracks on this record. I recalled that I had always liked ‘I Don’t Believe in Love’, but on this outing the class of ‘Suite Sister Mary’ shone through. I am confident that with future listens I will be able to expand on the list of standout tracks as some made a more subconscious impact this time around.

There are still some gripes, however. I struggle to describe much of this as metal in all honesty. The extravagance of the leads perhaps is all that keeps the sound this side of the hard rock style that I recognise as being more prevalent. I don’t really buy the progressive tag either. I doubt if it were all that progressive, I would have found as much positivity in the album as I have. However, let’s try to keep those positive vibes coming and end on a high note. This has been a successful revisit for me, albeit an unexpected one. I have a feeling if I edit the track listing myself on this, I could even get a higher rating for this album in the future.

3.5/5