Operation: Mindcrime
Queensrÿche's 1988 album, Operation: Mindcrime was the best concept album of the 80's. For those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about, this was the album that preceded Empire, from whence the song "Silent Lucidity" arose. You know, the song that marketing sold to AOR radio dubbing Queensrÿche as the next Pink Floyd. Being a fan of both bands, I can assure you that was a load of crap. But that's the music industry for you.
Operation: Mindcrime told the story of Nikki, a young man disillusioned by the crap being pawned off as the American dream. Remember the mid to late 80's? Corruption in government, corporations taking control, religious leaders getting caught in sex scandals, and a complicit news media (sound familiar?). He meets Dr. X who takes Nikki in and explains to him how he can make a difference. After a series of addictive psychotropic drugs and brainwashing, Dr. X turns Nikki into an assassin and revolutionary leader.
In between assassinations, Nikki is visited by Sister Mary, a runaway turned hooker who is "saved" from the streets by Father William, an associate of Dr. X. As part of Nikki's conversion, he's addicted to the drugs that Dr. X fed him. Sister Mary provides Nikki with his daily dosage while he waits for Dr. X to call with his next assignment.
One day, Dr. X decides that Mary and the priest are a risk and orders Nikki to kill them. Nikki attempts to carry out his orders, but he realizes that he has strong feelings for Mary. These feelings lock horns with Dr. X's conditioning and the ensuing struggle tears Nikki apart.
By the end of the album, Nikki is straitjacketed in a hospital, trapped in a catatonic state. Mary is dead but Nikki doesn't know if he's responsible. There are huge gaps in his memory. He can't remember yesterday. He just remembers doing what they told him.
Operation: Mindcrime 2 picks up 18 years later, just as OM2 follows OM1. Nikki has been released from prison and discovers that not much has changed in America. The revolution is dead. As he returns to a life of crime, other memories start coming back to him. He's haunted by Mary's death and Dr. X is to blame. Nikki tracks down Dr. X to exact his revenge.
But revenge doesn't turn out to be so sweet. Nikki looks upon his life and wonders if he's nothing more than a murderer. Whether killing in the name of revolution or revenge, it's still killing. He spirals into depression and reverts to heavy drug use to kill the pain. Mary's ghost comes to him and he longs to be with her once again.
OM1 is better than OM2. The story and music are vibrant. The songs are alive and the emotions of the characters smack right into you. Each song is a chapter in the story. OM2 starts off well but over the last few tracks, Nikki wallows around in so much misery that it drags. There's not as much to the story in OM2 and it comes across. The story would've come across as much tighter if the album had a few less tracks. It's growing on me thorugh.
The Operation: Mindcrime saga can be said to be all about finding purpose in one's life. One can choose from a myriad set of ways to rise to fame, fortune, and power, but none of them truly matter compared to love. This may sound trite, or overly simplistic, but the simplest answers are often the truth.
Queensrÿche are currently touring in support of OM2. In concert, they're playing both albums in their entirety, over 2 hours worth of music. And, if you're lucky, they'll even throw out a few songs for an encore. I went with several friends to see them at the old Oakdale Theater in Wallingford. We all seemed to be a bit skeptical as to how it would come across live, but, except for the opening number (which was a bit rough. Soundcheck anyone?), it was great! They've got video and on stage acting to flesh out the scenes in the songs. But at no point do the sights upstage the sounds. The music is what drives this show. No trends, gimmicks, or stereotypes. Just good music that just so happens to be metal.
Update: Thanks to Mike for pointing me in the direction of this more in-depth review of the show I was at. Definitely worth reading.
\_/
DED
Operation: Mindcrime told the story of Nikki, a young man disillusioned by the crap being pawned off as the American dream. Remember the mid to late 80's? Corruption in government, corporations taking control, religious leaders getting caught in sex scandals, and a complicit news media (sound familiar?). He meets Dr. X who takes Nikki in and explains to him how he can make a difference. After a series of addictive psychotropic drugs and brainwashing, Dr. X turns Nikki into an assassin and revolutionary leader.
In between assassinations, Nikki is visited by Sister Mary, a runaway turned hooker who is "saved" from the streets by Father William, an associate of Dr. X. As part of Nikki's conversion, he's addicted to the drugs that Dr. X fed him. Sister Mary provides Nikki with his daily dosage while he waits for Dr. X to call with his next assignment.
One day, Dr. X decides that Mary and the priest are a risk and orders Nikki to kill them. Nikki attempts to carry out his orders, but he realizes that he has strong feelings for Mary. These feelings lock horns with Dr. X's conditioning and the ensuing struggle tears Nikki apart.
By the end of the album, Nikki is straitjacketed in a hospital, trapped in a catatonic state. Mary is dead but Nikki doesn't know if he's responsible. There are huge gaps in his memory. He can't remember yesterday. He just remembers doing what they told him.
Operation: Mindcrime 2 picks up 18 years later, just as OM2 follows OM1. Nikki has been released from prison and discovers that not much has changed in America. The revolution is dead. As he returns to a life of crime, other memories start coming back to him. He's haunted by Mary's death and Dr. X is to blame. Nikki tracks down Dr. X to exact his revenge.
But revenge doesn't turn out to be so sweet. Nikki looks upon his life and wonders if he's nothing more than a murderer. Whether killing in the name of revolution or revenge, it's still killing. He spirals into depression and reverts to heavy drug use to kill the pain. Mary's ghost comes to him and he longs to be with her once again.
OM1 is better than OM2. The story and music are vibrant. The songs are alive and the emotions of the characters smack right into you. Each song is a chapter in the story. OM2 starts off well but over the last few tracks, Nikki wallows around in so much misery that it drags. There's not as much to the story in OM2 and it comes across. The story would've come across as much tighter if the album had a few less tracks. It's growing on me thorugh.
The Operation: Mindcrime saga can be said to be all about finding purpose in one's life. One can choose from a myriad set of ways to rise to fame, fortune, and power, but none of them truly matter compared to love. This may sound trite, or overly simplistic, but the simplest answers are often the truth.
Queensrÿche are currently touring in support of OM2. In concert, they're playing both albums in their entirety, over 2 hours worth of music. And, if you're lucky, they'll even throw out a few songs for an encore. I went with several friends to see them at the old Oakdale Theater in Wallingford. We all seemed to be a bit skeptical as to how it would come across live, but, except for the opening number (which was a bit rough. Soundcheck anyone?), it was great! They've got video and on stage acting to flesh out the scenes in the songs. But at no point do the sights upstage the sounds. The music is what drives this show. No trends, gimmicks, or stereotypes. Just good music that just so happens to be metal.
Update: Thanks to Mike for pointing me in the direction of this more in-depth review of the show I was at. Definitely worth reading.
\_/
DED
Labels: music
posted by DED at 10:44 AM
9 Comments:
Ded-
Check out Two Glasses (a blog, I link to it on my roll). he wrote up something about a show they did last week. In CT I believe.
Thanks, Mike! It's the one I went to. Pretty spot on review too. Adding a link to it from my original post.
Wait a second: You're a Queensrÿche fan and you do beer reviews? What're you, my long-lost twin?
This just gets funnier and funnier: Went to college for aerospace engineering, switched majors, then eventually wandered into software? Check, check, and check. Good lord, you didn't go to RPI, did you?
Loved the bit in your bio about imagination leading you into Aero. I spent a good chunk of Junior High drawing jets and spaceships, so I, too, assumed Aero would be a good career. Turned out that fluid dynamics and partial differential equations didn't agree with me.
Holy shit! I was accepted to RPI but I opted for Syracuse instead.
LOL! Differential equations were a bitch! I barely got through all 4 semesters of calc. By the time we got to Second Order Homogeneous Non-Linear Differential Equations my brain melted. I don't even know what the fuck those are anymore.
I didn't fully escape fluid dynamics though, Chem E's are stuck dealing with the flow of fluids through pipes. Eventually I kinda got the hang of it. But if someone were to ask me how to find Reynolds, Nusselt, or Prandtl numbers I'd run screaming for my old textbooks!
Nowadays all I have to worry about is the viscosity of my daughter's cereal.
Oh, I dealt with the flow of fluids in college. Just not in the classroom...
Didn't Second Order Homogeneous Non-Linear Differential Equations cease to exist in the Sanitarium :)
Thanks for the update on OM2. Not sure I'm ready to have anything ruin my high regard for OM1. It reminds me of a scene from Mel Brooks' Spaceballs when he talking about the sequel release: "Spaceballs 2, the quest for more money"
toast wrote: Oh, I dealt with the flow of fluids in college. Just not in the classroom...
Doh!
Jim wrote: Didn't Second Order Homogeneous Non-Linear Differential Equations cease to exist in the Sanitarium
Yes, I used non-Euclidean geometry to banish them to the 8th dimension.
Jim: I don't regret picking up OM2. It's got some good songs on it (the Dio duet is cool) and, despite it's shortcomings, is still better than so much other crap out there. It's just that it doesn't live up to OM1, which was probably the pinnacle of Queensryche's career.
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