OPERATION: MINDCRIME

Perhaps lovers of traditional, symphonic prog will think this record far too metal for their tastes, and therefore give it a miss. This would be a pity, though, for Operation: Mindcrime has much more in common with real prog than with out-and-out, mindlessly bludgeoning heavy metal. -- Raff

Raff is talking about me! I'm a traditional, symphonic prog lover!!

But somehow, I didn't give this album a miss. And I quite like it.

If you are a lover of the music in prog music, this one is acceptable. You won't claim that it's brilliant. You won't be wowed by multiple unusual time signatures, chords that nobody has ever heard or sheer virtuosity. Yet, you will not be dissappointed either. This is a good album from the beginning of the mating of Metal with Prog. It's a sign of things to come musically, not the second coming.

Where this album goes way over the top is the mating of a concept to the basically good musical foundation.

I say concept instead of lyrics. The lyrics are only a part of this. Lyrically a great story is told here, but the music also takes a large part in telling the story in a way that regrettably few concept albums incorporate. The prog in this album isn't from one seperate element. It's a synthesis of the whole.

If this were a rating of the best concept albums ever, this would get five stars. If this were a rating of the complexity and progressiveness of the music this would hit three stars (mostly due to it's historical influence on later prog metal groups and general likeability.) So I'm taking the happy medium and giving this one four stars, mostly because I truly do enjoy listening to this.

Despite being a traditional, symphonic prog guy.