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Queensr˙che - Operation : Mindcrime II CD (album) cover

OPERATION : MINDCRIME II

Queensr˙che

 

Progressive Metal

3.23 | 264 ratings

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Hrvat
2 stars Like many other people I was quite skeptical about this release. Queensryche had become a parody of its former glory. The move away from their metal roots and a string of what were quite frankly crap albums over the past decade made them a joke in the metal world.

So my expectations were not high. Having listened to this album quite a few times now, I have to say I have been pleasantly surprised. Operation Mindcrime II is a quality release, the best since Promised Land.

Queensryche brings back a lot of the metal that has been missing for so long. There are some great riffs, solos and you really get a sense of the dual guitar battle between Wilton and Stone. The musicianship is much improved, and the most impressive stuff we've heard on that level quite possibly since the original Operation Mindcrime.

Some of the stand out tracks are I'm American, The Hands, Hostage, The Chase, Murderer?, Re-arrange You, All The Promises and Fear City Slide. Ronnie James Dio is awesome on the track The Chase I wish he was used more on this album. Pamela Moore is back as Sister Mary and is used to great affect, particularly on the closing ballad All The Promises.

This album in no way competes with the brilliance of Operation Mindcrime and really you'd be a fool to expect that. From the release of their 1983 EP and 1990's Empire Queensryche produced some of the most essential metal of that golden era of the genre, putting them up there with the great thrash acts of the 80s like Metallica, and the British legends like Iron Maiden and Judas Priest. And they gave us the new genre of progressive metal which would give us monumental bands like Dream Theater, Fates Warning, Psychotic Waltz, Riverside and Pain of Salvation. We should all be forever grateful.

Operation Mindcrime II proves Queensryche still have much more to offer, and gives me hope that if they could produce a quality release after a decade of disappointment then so can Metallica.

Hrvat | 2/5 |

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