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QUEENSRŸCHE
Operation: Mindcrime

EMI (1988)
Rating: 9.5/10

I must admit that I’ve never been a great fan of Queensrÿche. True, I loved their debut EP, but I found their last two albums, The Warning and Rage For Order, totally tedious, especially the latter which was all atmospheric and lacking in aggression.

However, with Operation: Mindcrime Queensrÿche are an entirely different proposition and have produced one of the best metal concept albums of all-time, that deserves to stand alongside the likes of The Who’s Quadrophenia and Pink Floyd’s Dark Side Of The Moon for its conceptual brilliance.

Lyrically, the songs deal with a whole range of subjects, from government manipulation and revolution to the meaning of life in general, with enough twists in the storyline to keep even the most casual listener in suspense until the final moments of the closing track, ‘Eyes Of A Stranger.’

Each track is linked together with clever fills and musically Queensrÿche push metal into a whole new dimension with some of the most innovative material to hit vinyl in a long while. ‘Spreading The Disease’ and ‘The Mission’ are my particular favourite tracks, the latter having an almost Led Zeppelin edge to it. But where bands like the hugely overrated Kingdom Come can take a tried and trusted formula and blatantly rip it off, Queensrÿche succeed by injecting new blood into old ideas and stamping their own authority over them.

I may have had my doubts about Queensrÿche in the past, but believe me with Operation: Mindcrime the Seattle rockers have come as close to perfection as any band is likely to get.

Bernard Doe

Review taken from Metal Forces, Issue 28 (1988)

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