ProStudioMasters.com

Capitol Records reissues Queensrÿche's groundbreaking 1988 release Operation: Mindcrime, a lofty concept album that shattered metal boundaries and landed the band in a realm previously dominated by Pink Floyd and Rush. Having honed their playing and writing chops over the greater part of a decade, Queensrÿche were in fighting shape when they started working on the album. Geoff Tate’s vocals were clear and booming and while his high tenor vibrato still brought to mind Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson, it was imbued with a sensitivity and vulnerability that stemmed more from the singer’s love for David Bowie and Depeche Mode. Guitarists Chris DeGarmo and Michael Wilton, meanwhile, were more entrenched in eclectic but razor-edged 70s and 80s metal, and handled delicate arpeggios and asymmetrical riffs with equal enthusiasm, trading off searing leads and providing the songs with point-counterpoint dynamics. Thematically, Operation: Mindcrime addresses governmental corruption, media manipulation, addiction, exploitation, revolution, and murder. Tate assembled the treatment after hearing outrageous stories from militant Quebec separatists. Combined with subplots about heroin abuse and doomed romance, what could have been a complete mess congealed into the most enthralling concept metal album of the 80s. To make Operation: Mindcrime even more immersive, Queensrÿche hired film composer Michael Kamen and producer Peter Collins (who, not so coincidentally, worked on two albums for heady power-trio Rush). Finally, the band solidified the story by adding between-track sound effects and hiring five actors to read scripted dialogue. The results are grandiose without being overindulgent.