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Queensrÿche: Operation: Mindcrime II

13/08/10 || revenant

I still remember the first time I listened to “Operation: Mindcrime”. I was floored. My jaw hung open for it’s entirety. I was stunned, awestruck and a whole bunch of other descriptives that can be found in the thesaurus. How do you put this into words? “Operation: Mindcrime” is an astonishing album, and from that first listen this album has been, and forever will be, one of my absolute favourite albums of all time. It is a thing of intricate beauty, it is song writing and performance at its finest. It’s Global Domination, penis, touchdown. But I’m not reviewing that album today, I’m reviewing the piece of shit sequel.

Here’s the thing about the sequel: I knew it would be bad. I knew I’d be disappointed. I knew I would curse Queensrÿche for this abomination, this blatant cash-in from past success. I knew all this, and I still brought it, because I had to. Queensrÿche knew this, and still they went ahead and did it. I just can’t make up my mind whether this makes them cunts, or utter cunts. I’ve owned the album for four years, and now that the rage (for order) has now somewhat subsided, I can give a more reflective review that what I could have done at first listen.

The first thing that must be said is that Queensrÿche’s sound has progressed (or should that be regressed?) since the classic 1988 release. Queensrÿche, in all honesty, are barely a metal band any more. This is a rock album with a few prog elements thrown in, plus the odd symphonic backing. Riffs are uninspired, there’s no melody, just simple chords. There’s the odd decent solo, drum fill and so forth, but never at any time does the band stretch themselves and try to produce anything special. Tate’s vocals are equally uninspiring, the emotion and pain that Tait expressed in the original album are long gone, as is his range.

The songs themselves range from decent to those which have you leaping across the room in order to hit the skip button on your CD player. The three best songs on this album (“One Foot in Hell”, “Hostage” and “If I could change it all”) are all a long distance behind the worst tracks on from the first “Operation: Mindrime” record. The worst tracks here are worse than having your own finger nails pulled out and then scraped down a blackboard (like “Circles”. What the fuck is this song? The only way this song could be more annoying is if Fran Drescher did guest vocals. Absolutely appalling). And there are no memorable choruses here, whereas the first album I could sing almost any song from without prompting.

Another area where this album is a letdown is in the lyric department. Remember the dramatic, winding story that was the first album? Well, here’s “Operation: Mindcrime II” in a nutshell: he gets out of jail, kills Dr. X, kills himself. The end. Errr… that’s it? I’m afraid so. Most of the lyrical content is introspective bullshit, completely directionless and in no way compelling. It gets so annoying that by the end of the album it’s a relief to know that the main character has finally offed himself, because that means the record has finally ended. I’m not sure who went through more pain on this one, me or the main character.

Come to think of it, even the cover is a poor imitation of the original. What do those two guys sticking their tongues out have to do with anything?

But let’s step away from the original for a minute. What if this album never was called “Operation: Mindcrime II”, and was just another concept album? Could I enjoy it not having it in the original’s shadow? Short answer: no. Long answer: noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo. It’s still a shit album.

If Queensrÿche set out again reach the promised land that was “Operation: Mindcrime”, they failed dismally. If Queensrÿche set out to lure back their old tribe of fans to sample their new sound, they both succeeded and failed, because although I’ve now heard their new sound, I won’t be buying any more Queensrÿche albums. “American Soldier” and anything else they do can fuck off. To my fellow Queensrÿche fans who haven’t bought this one yet, heed the warning and pretend this album never happened. I urge these fans, resistance. This album is, well, let’s let the score do the talking…

Information
Released: 2006
Label: Rhino Entertainment
Website: www.queensryche.com
Band
Geoff Tate: vocals
Michael Wilton: guitars
Mike Stone: guitars
Eddie Jackson: bass
Scott Rockenfield: drums

Tracklist
01. Freiheit Ouvertüre
02. Convict
03. I’m American
04. One Foot in Hell
05. Hostage
06. The Hands
07. Speed of Light
08. Signs Say Go
09. Re-Arrange You
10. The Chase
11. A Murderer?
12. Circles
13. If I Could Change It All
14. An Intentional Confrontation
15. A Junkie’s Blues
16. Fear City Slide
17. All the Promises

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