Released: 1988
Tracks: I Remember Now; Anarchy-X; Revolution Calling; Operation: Mindcrime; Speak; Spreading the Disease; The Mission; Suite Sister Mary; The Needle Lies; Electric Requiem; Breaking the Silence; I Don’t Believe in Love; Waiting for 22; My Empty Room; Eyes of a Stranger
Best track: impossible to decide; what struck me most today was Revolution Calling & Spreading the Disease
Track to skip: it’s a concept album, all tracks are important
I have always had a fondness for intelligent music. If you’re any kind of reader from anything on this website, it’s easy to see that I pull away from ‘stupid’ music. I like things to be thoughtful and smart. When it comes to stuff I listen to, the ideal stuff is always music that’s musically and lyrically intelligent. When you add in socially and politically intelligent lyrics…well, you get Operation: Mindcrime. This album has existed for 15 years now, and it’s still just as powerful. None of the musical quality is sacrificed at the expense of the lyrics and story. Both the music *and* lyrics of this album are equally important.
It’s a political concept album, but there’s the social element as well. It’s hard to really describe ‘what the story’s about’ since it’s not just about one thing. It’s not just about the dirty things the government does. It’s not just about corruption in the Catholic Church. It’s not just about the dangers of heavy drug use. It’s not just about false prophets. Operation: Mindcrime is really all these things and more. And that’s just the lyrical side. It’s hard to convey how huge of a work this is without you just hearing it for yourself. The album is also not just a good ‘whole’, but the individual songs themselves are excellent.
This was the first Queensrÿche album I ever heard and it’s by far their best work yet. All five of the musicians (Geoff Tate-Vocals, Chris DeGarmo-Guitars, Michael Wilton-Guitars, Eddie Jackson-Bass & Scott Rockenfield-Drums) are great players and contribute wonderfully to this album. Like I’ve said before, the music on here is really fantastic. Not only is this a great concept album (and one of my faves), it’s also just a plain old great album anyway.
Rating: 97
Write a comment