Label: Rhino Records
Release date: 04.04.2006
Production: Queensryche & Jason Slater
Album length: 59.02 min
Genre: Art Metal
Queensryche are putting out a sequel to the first part. The concept story is supposed to finally get untangled. Nikki gets out of prison and sits holed up in a room, drowning in guilt over the murder of nun Sister Mary. How will Nikki atone for all his sins? Will Dr.X destroy him, will the astral vision of Sister Mary save him, or is the whole thing just another bad dream? Well, hey, let’s not give everything away.
Truth is, the story isn’t really what interests us most. What we care about is what Queensryche have to offer musically. The “intro” itself is an instant recap of the opening of the first part, Operation: Mindcrime, which is welcome, since the listener can immediately start making sense of the two parts as one whole. What happens next is pretty much what you’d expect. Queensryche dusted off their vinyl records and dragged out the three-part harmonies from the not-so-distant history of their “empire’s” glory days. They worked those into their modern-leaning, grimy, groovy (seriously heavy!) riff sound, where the drums long ago lost that familiar “splashy” depth that graced the old Queensryche sound, and on the new record they’re wearing “garage-band” clothes too.
Queensryche haven’t been a metal band in the classic sense of the word for a long time, and you just have to make peace with that. Their bad luck is that they’re listened to by a metal crowd that has been very critical of every post-“Promised Land” album. Still, “Operation: Mindcrime II” has beaten expectations. It could have been a proper musical horror show again, but instead we got a decent “crossover” album. Queensryche swapped the angry defiance and arrogance of the first part for the despair and resignation to fate that the second part carries. You can come away from this feeling at peace; it’s not total satisfaction, but at least you can be at peace. “Part II” is light-years away from “Part I,” but it’s also light-years away from the sadly underwhelming “Q2K” (1999) and “Tribe” (2003). All that’s left is a friendly piece of advice: the album deserves a chance because it’s extremely solid and has a genuine rock charge, just don’t compare it to any other Queensryche album while you listen!
author: Aleš Podbrežnik
rating: 7.0 / 10
Track list:
1. Freiheit Ouverture
2. Convict
3. I’m American
4. One Foot In Hell
5. Hostage
6. Hands
7. Speed Of Light
8. Signs Say Go
9. Rearrange You
10. The Chase
11. Murderer
12. Circles
13. If I Could Change It All
14. An Intentional Confrontation
15. Junkie’s Blues
16. Fear City Slide
17. All The Promises
Lineup:
Geoff Tate – vocals
Michael Wilton – guitar
Mike Stone – guitar
Eddie Jackson – bass guitar
Scott Rockenfield – drums
GUEST MUSICIANS:
Ronnie James Dio “Dr. X” – vocals
Pamela Moore “Sister Mary” – vocals
