Artist: QUEENSRYCHE
Album: "OPERATION: MINDCRIME II (CD)"

Year: 2006
Media type: CD

With Queensryche’s third album, Operation: Mindcrime, the Seattle quintet transcended the metal label assigned to the band and cemented its reputation for cerebral music and heady lyrical vision. Praised by critics upon its release in 1988, the acclaimed concept album was certified platinum. Even today, Operation: Mindcrime’s dynamic music and powerful message still resonate.

On April 4, 2006, Queensryche – singer and chief songwriter, Geoff Tate; guitarists Michael Wilton and Mike Stone; bassist, Eddie Jackson and drummer, Scott Rockenfield – will release the much-anticipated sequel, OPERATION: MINDCRIME II. Set 20 years after the original, the 15-song story arc continues the story of Nikki, Dr. X and Sister Mary.

Tate says he intentionally left the original Operation: Mindcrime open-ended and planned a sequel to tie up loose ends. The current political and social climates, he says, inspired him to revisit the storyline. “Considering where we are today and how little things have changed, it was too ironic not to continue the story,” he explains. “We’ve entered this brave new world were everything feels the same, but is really worse.”

Recorded at several studios between Seattle and Northern California, Tate says the band went into the studio with a clear vision of what they wanted to create. “I sketched an outline of what I thought Nikki’s process would be for dealing with his need for revenge and then we started writing music to fit the different moods of the outline,” he says. “For example, I told the band I needed a song that conveyed apathy. They recorded several musical ideas for me to pick from. I chose what I thought best conveyed the emotion and then added melodies, harmonies, multiple character parts and lyrics. Writing this album was like putting a complex puzzle together one small piece at a time.”

Much like the original album, Tate says OPERATION: MINDCRIME II repeats musical motifs throughout the album to give it a subliminal coherence. “Before we started writing anything for the new album, I went back and listened to the original,” he says. “I thought we did a great job weaving recurring musical themes in and out of the first Mindcrime. We’re all older now and hopefully more mature musically, so I wanted the musical themes on Mindcrime II to be more subtle and complex to reflect who we are now as a band.”

Arranged so that all 15 songs flow into each other, Tate says the band recorded instrumental interludes to act as bridges between songs. “I’m proud of the fact that this album doesn’t make any compromises – it’s really an anomaly in an age where people have short attention spans and don’t listen to albums. The songs are strong enough to stand on their own, but the album was written to be played from start to finish – to be experienced as a whole – not shuffled around randomly. This is an album that demands your attention.”

The original Operation: Mindcrime’s intriguing and complex plot revolved around Dr. X, a pharmaceutical engineer and political puppet master who brainwashes Nikki – the story’s main character – to assassinate corrupt public figures. The story also includes Nikki’s lover, Sister Mary, a former teenage prostitute who becomes a nun. The story ends with Sister Mary’s mysterious murder and Nikki imprisoned for his crimes. Set 20 years after the original, OPERATION: MINDCRIME II explores Nikki’s fate after being released from prison, his quest for revenge against Dr. X and reveals the identity of Mary’s killer.

On its most basic level, Tate says OPERATION: MINDCRIME II is a study in revenge and what it does to a person. “It’s such a powerful motivator that makes ordinary people perform extraordinary acts. What would the need for revenge do to Nikki? What would he do so that he could rejoin the world and exact his revenge? Would he take his revenge and is it justifiable given this circumstance? Would he choose a different path? When I started thinking in those terms, the story fell into place quickly.”

“The Chase,” and “A Murderer”, serves as the album’s climax. “Everything has been building to this point,” Tate explains. “After hunting Dr. X down, Nikki is literally chasing him and it culminates with the confrontation between the two characters. The music provides a vivid soundscape and the conversation between the two men, I believe, will challenge the audience because it asks them to decide what is right and wrong. The way the music complements the lyrics in this song is very much like something you would hear in an opera.”

Earlier this year, Queensryche launched a sold-out tour featuring the original Operation: Mindcrime performed in its entirety with actors on stage portraying the characters alongside the band. Tate says the band plans to launch a tour in 2006 that will feature a stage performance of both Mindcrime’s in their entirety. In addition, Tate is putting the finishing touches on a screenplay of the original Mindcrime. “Somewhere down the road, I’d love to see the story on the big screen,” he says. “The album is very cinematic in its scope and I know in the hands of the right director it would be an amazing film.”

While working on the screenplay, Tate says he felt compelled to start working on OPERATION: MINDCRIME II. The album presented an opportunity to resolve the Mindcrime story, and was a chance for Tate to comment on society’s superficiality, a strong undercurrent in all of Queensryche’s work and an issue about which he feels passionately.

“I think we’re in even worse shape as a society than when we wrote the original. It’s something I couldn’t ignore,” he explains. “We’ve lost the capacity to know the truth because everything is spin. Everyone is addicted to the media, which tells them to buy more things that they don’t need. Art is the soul of a civilization. We’ve devalued art to a dangerous level by not teaching music in school. We’ve brought up an entire generation that thinks it’s okay to steal music. People are consumed with celebrity. You don’t have to actually be good at anything to be famous anymore. All that matters is that you are a gifted self promoter.”

“Not too long ago, you could at least fool yourself into believing the lie that everything was going to be alright. That veil has been ripped away now and it’s impossible to ignore the obvious fact that our society is in trouble. How could I not say something?”

www.queensryche.com

“One of the most interesting songs on the CD is “The Chase”, which combines the vocals of Ronnie James Dio (as the bragging Dr. X) with Tate. It’s a unique combination of two of the greatest vocalists of all time, yet neither truly dominate the song. As a band, they are as solid as they’ve been in years. As a record, OPERATION MINDCRIME II is a success.”

www.pitriff.com

TRACKLIST:

01. Freiheit Ouverture
02. Convict
03. I'm American
04. One Foot In Hell
05. Hostage
06. The Hands
07. Speed Of Light
08. Signs Say Go
09. Re-Arrange You
10. The Chase
11. A Murderer?
12. Circles
13. If I Could Change It All
14. An Intentional Confrontation
15. A Junkie's Blues
16. Fear City Slide
17. All The Promises

Produced by Queensryche & Jason Slater.

LINE-UP:

Geoff Tate (vocals);
Michael Wilton, Mike Stone (guitar, background vocals);
Eddie Jackson (bass, background vocals);
Scott Rockenfield (drums, percussion)