Operation: Mindcrime

Operation: Mindcrime is Queensrÿche’s finest masterpiece and a landmark concept album, binding anger at society, one man’s confusion and fall, and a dramatic story into hard riffs and extremely refined melody. Not merely heavy, the temperature of the sound and the taut tension vividly change from scene to scene. A record that can be called one complete form of progressive metal. From the power of the politically themed “Revolution Calling” and the dramatic title track “Operation: Mindcrime” to the grandeur of the ten-minute suite “Suite Sister Mary” and “Eyes of a Stranger,” which caps a moving ending, the songs color the story while each shines as an independent classic, and a cut like “Spreading the Disease” heightens the story’s tension. Geoff Tate’s expressive singing powerfully moves this grand story forward, and the guitar and rhythm section draw its background extremely precisely. Its immense value lies in beautifully bringing progressive metal’s intelligent structure and rich emotional expression to fruition as one grand epic. An enduring masterpiece shining brilliantly in the history of rock opera and of metal.