QueensrA¿che - Operation: Mindcrime II

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The sheer volume of 1, 2, and 3 star reviews on this album is just appalling. O:M2 is a fantastic record, which only JUST falls short of the greatness of it's predecessor.

As a major fan of the original O:M album, you can't imagine my excitement when O:M2 was announced *18 years* after the original. I'm a casual Queensryche fan, much preferring their 80s material to everything that came later. They really kind of lost their way starting with Empire IMO. Because of this I was a little worried what O:M2 would sound like. I can safely say those fears were unfounded.

The album builds up quickly much in the same manner as the original, beginning with an instrumental piece before hitting you hard and fast with the radio-friendly "I'm American." This song in particular embodies exactly what I love about O:M2-- Queensryche was somehow able to capture the elements that made their 80s music so good, and yet make the tunes sound fresh, current, not cliched. The track is so good in fact, the following two songs seem a little lackluster in comparison. Make no mistake however, both are better than anything the band has put it in the 18 year interim, but when compared with the rest of the material here it's apparent they are the "weak link." The album really starts moving with "The Hands," a song that makes you double-check to see if you're not listening to the original O:M. From here, the album grips you and just builds up and up and up.... And when you think it can build no more, it proves you wrong. "Speed of Light" ebbs, while "All the Signs Say Go" flows, both building to the fantastic "Re-Arrange You," possibly the best track of the album. Things don't stop there however, as each progressive song just seems to be better than the last. All the while, the wailing guitars and drums are augmented by a supporting Michael Kamen-esque orchestration.

It's really tough to pick standout tracks on O:M2, as almost every single song is THAT GOOD. One thing I feel O:M2 does better than it's predecessor is create a unique atmosphere for each track, yet still have them flow perfectly together. I felt on the first record, some of the songs sounded a little too similar ("I Don't Believe in Love" and "Breaking the Silence" for example) to each other.

O:M2 packs just as many wailing guitars as part 1, but I feel the production here is better and the band has aged like wine in their playing style. Same goes for Geoff Tate's wonderfully versatile voice. He touches on many more vocal styles here than on part 1.

O:M2's weakpoint is unarguably the storyline. Luckily this has no effect on the performance of the band, the quality of the music, or the atmosphere of the record. You can listen to O:M2 casually and pay no attention to the storyline at all, still, I feel the story is part of the fun and that is the sole reason O:M2 isn't a five-star album.

O:M2 is a four-and-a-half-star album in my opinion, but Amazon doesn't allow for that kind of rating so we'll settle with four. O:M1, by comparison would be a five-star record. O:M2 triumphantly succeeds at sounding new, fresh, innovative while at the same time managing to embody almost all the aspects that made the original so great. Pamela Moore reprises her vocal role as Mary on certain tracks, and there is even a guest appearance by the venerable Ronnie James Dio on one track.

I wholeheartedly recommend O:M2 to fans of the original, and to Queensryche fans in general, especially those who appreciate the music they put out in the 1980s. September 19, 2008

Okay, I need a better guitar tone here...

What is going on with the guitar mix? There is no bandwidth, no seperation, not even detectable stereo 80% of the album. Not fun to listen to without some thickness, ya know?
A metal album first and foremost HAS to have a killer guitar tone. Especially from a heavy hitter big name band. Okay, some parts sound pretty good. Then, there are sections without a guitar at all that sound really unfinished, like they weren't done with the tracks and ran out of money/time? I dunno. What up, guys?
Get DeGarmo over there right away. Somebody help them with that! I can get a better sound in my buddy's studio, by far. And we don't even know what we're doing!
Still a big 'Ryche fan, just grinning and bearing it for the most part.
Personally, I enjoy my new re-masters of the first 4 albums much more. August 21, 2008

part 2

This is a unexpected very good release. There is something here that is original with that queensrche sound. my only complaint is the price which should be a lot less since there prime days were years ago! This is a concept release almost as good as part 1 and is totally differant than Tribe July 12, 2008

Music Review

As expected, not nearly as good as the first. Some songs are just flat out awful. Whatever, I'm a Queensryche fan so I still bought it.

At least they went back to their older style of music with this album instead of the progressive stuff they had been putting out. April 12, 2008

I had higher expectations

The problems start with the fact that OM1 was nearly perfect and totally mesmerizing. So, direct comparisons fail against that standard. There's no way OM2 delivers the magic of OM1. And rock concept albums are hard to get right and hard to market.. there SHOULD be few of them.

OM1 was among the all-time best concept albums - and it had many great songs that were memorable on their own, plus an attention-holding story woven through, and an unrelenting intensity. OM1 had the sense of being influenced by Broadway but still first and foremost it was great hard rock music. If I were to try to capture the main thing I disliked about OM2, it would be that it seemed like the rock was secondary to the theatre. Much of it sounds like the cast of Phantom met up with some rock musicians and tried to merge the two forms of entertainment together. I thought there was excessive conversational vocals instead of singing, and I thought the much-anticipated Dio-Tate "dual" was very forced and strange. I thought the orchestral stuff was overdone.

The songs often substituted complexity for creativity to try to keep them interesting, leaving some of them musically incoherent. I admit there were a few interesting songs early in the list of 17, but then they seemed to all start blurring together. The story seemed to be hard to comprehend and just wandered, asking a seemingly endless lyrical question of "what has my life become".

Having said all this, I beleive the album is NOT terrible. I won't throw it out (anyhow I used a gift card to buy it). Some songs are pretty good, and there is some sense of musical evolution with modern influences here and there, and modern themes in the lyrics. For folks like me who thought QRs (non-concept) albums after OM1 went into a gradual slide toward boredom, and wished for some QR re-invention, some of the songs are a good come-back. The problem is that a concept album shouldn't be just another CD were I cherry-pick the songs I want with the select button.

Maybe younger QR fans (?) whose expectations were not raised as high as mine will like this more. I gave up on Rush in the mid 80s, but younger friends thought they were great in the 90s while I was still craving 2112. I would never want Rush to do 2122.

A final thought - what might have been? A concept album from QR after 18 years since the last one maybe should have left Nikki and Dr. X lie in our memories and start a new story. They should have left the OM1 masterpeice stand alone. Sequels to great works are usually disappointing. I'm waiting for a new band to have the guts and creative spark to do a good rock concept album (and maybe radio stations would dare play it). After all, isn't there a unique modern angst to inspire new music, considering how the world has changed since OM1?

February 1, 2008

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