Operation: Mindcrime |
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Released: April 27, 1988 Peak: 50 US, 58 UK, 75 CN, -- AU, 8 DF Click for codes to charts. Sales (in millions): 1.0 US, -- UK Genre: metal |
Tracks:Song Title [time] (date of single release, chart peaks)
Total Running Time: 59:14 The Players:
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Rating: 4.245 out of 5.00 (average of 30 ratings)
Awards:(Click on award to learn more).
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The Band’s Early YearsThe progressive metal band Queensrÿche formed in Bellevue, Washington, in 1980. The original band consisted of Chris DeGarmo (guitar), Michael Wilton (guitar), Eddie Jackson (bass), and Scott Rockenfield (drums). They added singer Geoff Tate in 1982. They released an eponymous EP that year. After signing with EMI Records, they released the studio albums The Warning (1984) and Rage for Order (1986) before making 1988’s Operation: Mindcrime.The Concept AlbumOperation: Mindcrime went platinum after the band’s first two albums had reached gold status. It is considered one of the best concept albums of all time. Nikki is a “fortune hunter” AM and “drug addict” WK who has become “disillusioned with the corrupt” WK “Reagan-era American society.” AM He “reluctantly becomes involved with a revolutionary group” WK who have hatched “a shadowy plot to assassinate corrupt leaders.” AMSinger Geoff Tate got the idea for the album after hearing talk from members of a militant separatist movement in Quebec. He also worked in memories of some friends whose heavy drug use had led them to become derelicts. WK “The lyrics and political observations can sometimes be too serious and intellectual for their own good…But despite the occasional flaws, it’s surprising how well Operation: Mindcrime does work, and it's a testament to Queensrÿche’s creativity and talent that they can pull off a project of this magnitude.” AM The StoryThe album starts with Nikki, the protagonist, in a hospital in a near-catatonic state. In the song “I Remember Now” his memories come flooding back. “He remembers how, as a heroin addict and would-be political radical frustrated with contemporary society due to the economic inequality, corruption and hypocrisy around him, he was manipulated into joining a supposed secret organization dedicated to revolution (‘Anarchy – X,’ ‘Revolution Calling’).” WKDr. X, who heads the organization, manipulates Nikki into becoming an assassin who will act whenever Dr. X uses the word “mindcime” (‘Operation: Mindcrime’). As his position in the “organization grows, so does Nikki’s ego and adherence to his master’s vision” WK (‘Speak’). Nikki befriends a “a teenage prostitute-turned-nun named Sister Mary (‘Spreading the Disease’)” WK and begins questioning what he is doing, as well as Dr. X’s agenda (‘The Mission’). Dr. X orders Nikki to kill her and a priest. While Nikki complies with the latter command, he can’t murder her (‘Suite Sister Mary’). They decide to leave the organization but Dr. X tells Nikki he will “go back to his bleak life as a self-loathing but helpless addict (‘The Needle Lies’).” WK Nikki leaves anyway, but when Mary ends up dead (‘Electric Requiem’) he can’t cope, especially thinking he might have killed her. A 2007 live DVD revealed Mary killed herself when Dr. X threatened to kill Nikki. Nikki starts succumbing to insanity, running through the streets calling her name (‘Breaking the Silence’). Police take him into custody for the Mary’s potential murder as well as other murders he committed (‘I Don’t Believe in Love’). With almost complete memory loss, he is institutionalized in a mental hospital, where he retraces his final moments with Mary (‘Waiting for 22,’ ‘My Empty Room’). The story then comes back to the present with Nikki regaining his memory, “but now stares at his image in a mirror, unable to recognize who he is and what he has become (‘Eyes of a Stranger’).” WK
The Music and Songs“For such a detailed story line (there is also a tragic romance thrown in), the band keeps its focus remarkably well, and the music is just as ambitious, featuring a ten-minute track with orchestrations by Michael Kamen. Those experiments don't tend to work as well as the tighter, more melodic prog metal songs, which are frequently gems, especially the singles ‘Eyes of a Stranger’ and ‘I Don’t Believe in Love.’” Those two songs were both released as singles and marked Queensrÿche’s first chart entries on the album rock chart.ReissuesDuring the 1990 tour for the band’s Empire album, they performed Operation: Mindcrime in its entirety and released it as Operation: Livecrime in 1991. In 2006, the original album was expanded to a deluxe box set which also included a full live performance of the album as well as a DVD collection of videos. |
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First posted 9/6/2025. |
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