OPERATION: MINDCRIME

Interesting work. A little overrated with preachy leftist lyrical content. Basically, this sounds like Iron Maiden discovering Rush's 2112...all the while kicking Ayn Rand in the pants. More metal than prog. Fates Warning do a better job at this sort of thing. Worth mentioning is that Geoff Tate is a master at what he does vocally - setting the bar for prog.metal vocalists on _Operation Mindcrime_. This album must be listened to as a whole to appreciate(even better to see it performed live), much like Marillion's _Misplaced Childhood_. If you were to ask me to rate this album in the early '90s, I'd have given this a very high rating. There was nothing quite like it in 1988 in the metal arena, save Voivod's _Dimension Hatross_ which is a masterpiece. In retrospect, I'd have given this a 4 star rating. As of now, I'd give it 2.5 to 3.0 rating. The production of Peter Collins seems to have muffled the cymbal work in the drum department. Everything sounds too compressed or cassette-like...except for the vocals. A pioneering effort worth checking out. Queensryche's _The Warning_ is a better start and quite progressive, sounding more like Rush with Mr. Tate on vocals instead of Geddy Lee.