OPERATION: LIVECRIME

While I have not watched this in a long time, it is one of the very first musid DVDs I ever purchased (in fact, I had the VHS version released way back in 1991). My live music DVD collection has grown to almost 100....so now that I have a significant library for comparison, I decided to go back and look at it again.

And boy was I impressed. This brings together eveything good that a live music DVD offers. You have outstanding production both visually and aurally. The band both looks and sounds great. The editing is also first-rate, though it does suffer from quick-edit MTV video stylings. The mixing in of the video images helps flesh out the story. Geoff Tate never sounds as good as here. In fact, for something that's almost 20 years old the production here is ahead of its time.

More importantly, this DVD captures QR at the absolute top of their game. Even though OM is what's presented here this was presented during thier EMPIRE tour. So you have outstanding stage presentation, with video screens, lasers and all the usual heavy metal 90's props. But you can also see the band is extremely passionate about what they're doing and also having a hell of a time. You also can't overlook their youth at the time. Most of the QR video library consists of them in their 40's....it's kind of eye- opening to see them when they were young, vibrant and full of energy.

For those who might wonder about the appeal of QR and why they have lasted 20+ years....this shows what they once were and what heights they once achieved.