OPERATION : MINDCRIME II

The first time I listened to this album I felt quite dissapointed. I felt like it was just a cheesy way to cash in and put it aside for about three weeks. Now, the more I listen to it the better it seems to get!

The Producer, Jason Slater has done quite a remarkable job on this album. Listening on headphones, I started to really appreciate the sound of Scott Rockenfield´s drumming (a very underrated drummer) and gradually I began to realize just how much work went into this album. Lets face it, releasing a sequel to Mindcrime was a huge risk! Queensryche is still a band that doesn´t just "go with the flow" and mastermind Geoff Tate is very unpredictable!

The twin lead guitar solos, the duets with Tate and Pamela Moore, Ed Jackson´s dirty bass sound and the catchy melodies are all here on this album. There are some really strong tracks on this album. The opening instrumental "Freiheit Ouverture" sets the scene perfectly for the songs about to follow. "The Hands" sounds like it could be on the first Mindcrime album. Geoff Tate does a duet with the one and only Ronnie James Dio on the song "The Chase" which is simply brilliant the way in which their voices "entwine" around each other. "Fear City Slide" is a very positive song about "Nikki" rising above all his problems. The duet with Pamela Moore on "All the promises" sees Nikki and Sister Mary looking back on their lives and realizing their love for one another was right in front of their noses!

There are seventeen songs on this album which gives room for a lot of mood swings that the band takes the listener through. Starting with Nikki´s release from prison, to his (slowly building up) hatred of Doctor X, to his eventual confrontration, and then killing of Doctor X, finishing up with how he has to carry on with his life and find peace within himself.

But there are also some very average to below average songs on this album, sometimes sounding very forced and trying to recapture the atmoshere of the first Mindcrime album.

The burning question everyone asks is ;Is it as good as the first Operation Mindcrime? No, it isn´t. It´s not bad, but far from excellent.