OPERATION: MINDCRIME

This is often considered one of the classics of progressive Metal music. I, however, do not find the music of Queensryche to be any more progressive than that of their main influences Iron Maiden, Judas Priest and Roger Waters-era Pink Floyd. These are all fine bands though, and Queensryche are not bad either! The vocals of Geoff Tate are excellent and quite distinctive and the whole band are indeed very competent instrumentalists up to par with the bands that influenced them.

Operation: Mindcrime is a story based concept album and hidden behind the story line and the way the tracks are linked together by pieces of spoken dialogue and sound effects, we find a mostly ordinary but fine set of well written New Wave Of British Heavy Metal songs. The style of music involved here might perhaps be called 'conceptual Metal' rather than Prog Metal? The operatic, 10 minute plus Suite Sister Mary is the exception that confirms the rule as it is more progressive in its structure than the other songs.

I often find the pieces of spoken dialogue a bit cheesy and the sound effects dated, they sometimes come across as a bit amateurish - like a cheap radio play. For me the dialogue and sound effects brings the music down (even if this is primarily what is supposed to make the music progressive).

All in all, Operation: Mindcrime is a fine, albeit a bit overrated, conceptual Metal album in the tradition of the New Wave Of British Heavy Metal movement and deserves to be heard by anyone with such interests.

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