My God, has it really been 18 years?
It seems like only yesterday, doesn't it?
Take my hand now and step with me into the Way-Back machine, and let us travel way back (that's why we call the machine that, of course) to 1988, a simpler time before Olestra, iPODs, and the killer combination punch of low-rise jeans and thongs. Let us drift back to a time when Lucky Charms cereal still had only 5 or 6 shapes, and you didn't need a third mortgage to fill your vehicle with gasoline. Ok, we have arrived, so let's take it all in for a second.
Weird.
Looking around in slack-jawed amazement, we see a young man standing at the checkout of a local small-town department store buying a new album. He seems like a decent chap, despite his strange garb. Let us zoom in on him now……….
Wait, that's not him. Don't ask me who the hell THAT guy is. Is it me or does he smell funny too?
And so we wander about the misty images of years gone by and eventually we find me, your humble reviewer, purchasing the new Queensryche album, Operation: Mindcrime. Operation: Mindcrime, a whimsical, lighthearted little tale revolving around Nikki, a frustrated heroin addict who becomes a political/religious assassin, believing he is the salvation of a nation on the edge of political rebirth. His only love is Sister Mary, ex-prostitute, Nun, and hired whore for the Catholic Church. You know, the kind of girl Mom would approve of. Eventually Nikki is requested to kill Mary by the movement's shady leader, Dr. X, and the story spirals into a Shakespearian tragedy of huge depth and scope. It's an amazingly complex story, all wrapped up in a tight package of some of the best heavy metal music ever conceived. It was, is, and always will be, the perfect metal album.
Yes, I used the word “perfect”. Hey, it's MY spectral past that's at the counter buying the thing, not yours.
Eighteen years later, Queensryche has tried to make lightning strike twice, as Operation: Mindcrime II is released.
It's all so sad, really. Sister Mary has been dead eighteen years, Nikki, who was framed and imprisoned for her murder (the poor chump, we all saw it coming by track 5 of the original Mindcrime) is released and back on the streets, only to be a confused ex-political/religious assassin (the most dangerous kind). He vows to get himself a Dunkin Donuts Coolata, and then some sweet, sweet revenge………..
And this is where this album review must take two different paths, following the musical progression of the Mindcrime saga, as well as the lyrical progression…………
Let's start with the music…………..
Wow.
With guitarist/lyricist Chris DeGarmo in and out of the band more often than we can keep track of, the shoes of lead axeman are filled now by Mike Stone, who also played with the band on their last live effort. Along with original band members Geoff Tate (vocals), Michael Wilton (guitar), Eddie Jackson (bass), and Scott Rockenfield (drums), this Queensrcyhe album seems to be a return to the style that made us all (well, me and a select group of ninnies anyway) fall in love with them. The album has some ferocity that seemed missing on the last few Queensrcyhe efforts. Early Queensryche had some amazing Iron Maiden-ish licks and hooks, which was one of the things that made the original Mindcrime such a delight. The band, constantly evolving (a good thing in many ways) starting toning back much of their music, and certainly started reeling in the vocals of Geoff Tate. Gone was the crunchiness of Mindcrime and the earlier albums, but the more progressive path produced some incredible music as well, even though it seemed like at a certain point the band really took on a wholly different sound.
So musically, the best part of Mindcrime II is that the music seems to be a perfect morph of the lightning-fast riffs of early Queensryche, and the haunting sounds that began to appear on later albums such as 1997's “Hear in the Now Frontier”. The two overlap brilliantly, complimenting each other. Musically, this is an album that seems to contain elements from just about every Queensryche release, yet in many ways this is an album that sounds like no other. On one track, Ronnie James Dio lends some vocals, playing the part of the sinister king of truth-spinning, known only as “Dr. X”. Geoff Tate's powerful vocals are just as incredible as always, and the return of Pamela Moore as Sister Mary makes for another round of the Tate/Moore power-duets that made the original Mindcrime so much fun. That is, as much fun as a conceptual album about murder, corruption, and the always goofy Catholic church can possibly be.
Musically, this thing has got SACK.
SERIOUS sack.
Which brings us to the other path, the lyrics and concept of this album…….
This is where the sequel tends to fall apart a little bit. The storyline from the original work of 1988 was damn near flawless, and it was jam packed with deep philosophies and a story complex enough to stand up to eighteen years of close scrutiny, with it's fans still finding new hidden gems in the story. In the sequel, most of the “action” seems to be taking place in Nikki's head, as his thoughts and frustrations are the hub of the story. The story takes on a dreamlike quality which reminds me, oddly enough, of Frank Zappa's classic “Joe's Garage” of 1979. In the third act of Zappa's concept trilogy, most of it takes place in their now insane mind of our hero, Joe. Comparing Mindcrime II to Mindcrime I, we see that the sequel is much bigger on “indecisive pondering” than the original. By the time the lengthy sequel plays out, we have spent most of it in Nikki's head, which, as always, is a pretty fucked up place to be hanging out.
So the big question that seems to be hanging in the air here is whether Mindcrime II is actually the next installment in the Mindcrime saga, or is it just the latest Queensrchye album that just happens to have the same title as their most critically acclaimed release. Well, that is a tough call to make. The album is amazingly good compared to the last few Queensryche efforts, and does seem to retain quite a bit of the sound that made Mindcrime so fascinating. Still, at certain points in the album it's almost too easy to forget the lyrics are part of a story, and the songs just seem like arbitrary songs that could settle comfortably into any Queensryche collection. That's where Mindcrime II suffers the most. Not once do we feel that sense of immersion you just could not escape when spinning the original. Mindcrime had a tone that has never been recreated, and it looks to me like it never will be. While I think Queensryche is back on track and sounding better than ever, this album will never be what the original has become- a timeless piece of rock-solid perfection.
The theme of the first album was remembering. The theme of the second album is trying to forget. I suppose the people who hate album one will have fun with that one. But overall, as far as sequels go, I think this one is pretty decent.
Dr. Torgo (who also misses Sister Mary more than some people will ever know)
Oh, and you can stop looking at the guy in the record store now. I think we were starting to freak him out a little.
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