OPERATION: MINDCRIME

Oh boy. 1988. I was sporting a Garfield sweat-shirt, watching Ben Johnson being kicked out of the Olympics due to drugs. 'Pour some sugar on me' by Def Leppard, R.E.M. and the rising on New Kidz on the Block where on heavy MTV rotation. Also, the DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince hits with 'Parents just don't understand' and De La Soul is a newcomer on the rap scene. Ahh, a good time to be alive. Just good times.

But not being a very metal guy, I always stayed away from Poison, Judas Priest and Motley Crue. And Queensryche is, to say the least, a good representation of the 88' sound. Big hair, big voice and hooker leather attitude on scene.

Queensryche, being famous for 'Silent Lucidity' (another super MTV product) never got a high rating in my book. Until now. I take back EVERYTHING bad I said about this band because this record is the grandfather of conceptual Ayreon, Dream Theater and co. Torn between adrenaline and more adrenaline, Operation Mindcrime is fun to listen to and bitchslaps hair metal with a spiked glove. They are obviously skilled musicians (those bass riffs!) and Geoff Tate is nothing less than vocal royalty, with as many octaves as Mariah Carey on a good day. No kidding, Tate is a primo howler, a king of falsetto, the pope of pipes.

Of course, I always want more keyboards and this album could (I said 'could') benefits of more ivory, but the orchestration is tasty overall. The REAL prog metal masterpiece before Dream Theater, have a slice and chill.