Reviews list for Queensrÿche - Operation: Mindcrime (1988)

So this is my second attempt at writing a review for this Queensryche masterpiece. I've gotten rid of my first review for Operation: Mindcrime when I was distancing from heavy/power metal a few years ago. But now that I'm getting back into the Guardians zone, it's time for me to revisit this album that pretty much kickstarted the idea of concept albums in progressive metal. It's a one-hour journey not to be missed out on!

In case you don't know the story, it is centered around a drug addict (voiced by Geoff Tate) named Nicky (yeah I know the original spelling is Nikki, I just thought that was a bit girlish, no offense). He has spiralled down into disillusion, caused by the corruption of society.

The one-minute intro track, "I Remember Now" shows Nicky having been put to a drug-induced sleep and then waking up to remember all that has happened to him before. Next up is another one-minute interlude, the overture "Anarchy-X". It transports you to the beginning of the story. The nefarious Dr. X (Anthony Valentine) tells his henchmen his plan as solid guitar and drums fills the music void. On top of that, there's actual orchestration arranged by late film score composer Michael Kamen. And there would be more of that orchestration later on. "Revolution Calling" is the best way to introduce vocalist Geoff Tate, and learn more about Nicky and Dr. X. The title track does a great job letting you know what to expect in the whole f***ing story, as well as a full introduction to Dr. X. The strong "Speak" details Nicky submitting to the doctor's grand plan.

"Spreading the Disease" adds in another character to the story, Nicky's love interest Sister Mary (Pamela Moore), a prostitute-turned-nun. "The Mission" makes another definite highlight. Some of the best guitar, one of the best choruses! Nicky meets Mary, and it was love at first sight. "Suite Sister Mary" is the longest song in the album and possibly by the band, last over 10 and a half minute epics. It's a true f***ing progressive epic! Dr. X orders Nicky to kill Mary and the priest Father William. The best parts of that track are when Tate and Moore sing a duet, as well as the orchestra and choir. Man I feel tempted to call this album the first symphonic metal one ever! "The Needle Lies" is not the best song but I still love it. Nicky tells Dr. X, "I've had enough and I WANT OUT!" The doctor responds, "You can't walk away now." Apparently he can help Nicky out. "Electric Requiem" is another interlude. Nicky enters Mary's house and finds her dead. It was later revealed that she killed herself, but of course, Nicky didn't know that.

"Breaking the Silence" is another f***ing terrific track. The chorus and soloing are so awesome and emotional. Nicky wanders around town screaming out her name. Then in "I Don't Believe in Love", he gets caught and knocked out by the cops who suspect that he murdered Mary and all his other victims. The song itself is so catchy and has some wonderful soloing. "Waiting for 22" is another instrumental. All it has is clean guitar and some background soloing by guitarist Chris DeGarmo. It really gets you on the edge of the seat for how the story ends. "My Empty Room" follows as another interlude. Nicky wakes up in an empty room all alone and with no memory of all that happened up to that point. And now we get to the closing track, "Eyes of a Stranger". It still remains as my favorite song of the album and possibly by the band! Everything's amazing, from the buildup to the climax. Yes, the climax, in which the melody keeps repeating until it is cut off, and nothing happens until Nicky says one last time, "I remember now." One of the best ending tracks, and certainly the best one in 80s heavy/progressive metal!

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 quite 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!

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

The history of rock operas all begins with Tommy, a weird little concept that made The Who one of the biggest bands on Earth.  This concept was a fairly psychological one, and since then some of the biggest names in rock wanted to recreate that.  Pink Floyd took a much more surreal approach, upping the psychological ante.  Queensryche did it differently.  it was all about crime, drugs, conspiracies and the like.  And in the end it became recognized (as it should) as a creative peak in heavy metal.  Operation: Mindcrime is a diversified metal opera that has tons of replay value because heavy metal catchiness is treated as importantly as the concept.  And because the concept has a lot of sides to it, we get a lot of different types of music taking turns delivering their parts without waning in either heaviness, jam factor or concept delivery.  There's some of the classic US power metal, noticeable hints of prog (it's DEFINITELY not a prog album), little bits of speed metal, hair metal production and more.  And even though Queensryche albums tend to be flawed, this time they don't really have any, as if for once in their lives the art of music was important to them, and by the time they were huge they thought they didn't need to focus on it as much.  At least we still have this outstanding work here, and it may very well be the greatest metal opera I've ever heard.  But I still don't think it's prog, or that it belongs in the Infinite.

I remember… My first expectations of this album, before having heard anything, were that I wouldn’t love it, or at least, not as much as Rage for Order. The reasoning is simple; I loved Rage for Order because despite being an 80’s Prog Metal album, it was built on incredibly emotive songs centering on the passionate vocals of Geoff Tate. The music was awesome, but the song structures were very straightforward and filled with explosive, anthemic choruses, and so it served the mood and the song rather than showing off technical prowess or wankery.

There are two reasons I was afraid this might change on Operation: Mindcrime. Firstly is the fact that it’s much more readily labeled Progressive Metal, while Rage for Order seems to be considered more (un)traditional Heavy Metal with some prog elements, so I was afraid the songs might leave their simple yet catchy structures behind in favor of showing off how good they are. Secondly, I was fairly certain the album was politically based. I don’t dislike political lyrics, but the problem is, I like music that makes me feel something. Political lyrics don’t make me feel anything (other than frustration, either because the message is sadly true, or because it isn’t true at all). I can appreciate sharp political commentary, but I can’t fall in love with it or feel my chest tighten due to it. I feared Queensryche would abandon their emotive cheese in favor of a more educated and sophisticated lyrical direction.

I was so wrong.

YES this album is centered around politics and social issues, and it nails them unabashedly with an unforgiving edge, taking hits at capitalism, religion, the culture of pay offs and the tyranny of the one percent in America. But the album is not politically driven. It is character driven, and that is why it succeeds in terms of both storytelling and delivering powerful, emotive songs. Without spoiling anything major, the album is a very clear conceptual story of a man who becomes disillusioned with American society (highlighting the political and social issues). He ends up joining an underground revolution, experiencing crime, addiction, love, loss, insanity, and making all these things extremely personal (this is how the album holds you and doesn’t let go). Lyrically, it remains incredibly passionate and evocative, a fantastically emotional tale that takes stabs at the big evils but never lets you forget about the individuals and their important experience.

Musically, they sacrificed absolutely nothing. The songs are still very catchy and hell-bent on creating melodies that will kick your ass, make your heart ache, or at the very least ingrain themselves in your head forever. And once again, Geoff Tate’s vocals steal the show. The amount of harmonizing he does with himself here is insane, with just about every song featuring a chorus that could go down on any all time best vocal lines ever laid down. His voice is crystal clear, he enunciates well so following the story is easy, and his range is killer. The production for everything sounds amazing, especially standing out as an 80’s album that hasn’t aged a bit.

Another thing? There are no flaws. Not every song is perfect, but they are never doing anything wrong. Nothing remotely mediocre on this 15 track epic. Even the segues are cool, providing key story bits and often having some killer music to them, which is usually where concept albums can fall apart. One of the greatest albums of all time.