Greetings all! This month, I wanted to review one of my all time favorite bands, Queensryche. Although they have a new album about to hit the shelves, (it's called "Tribe") I wanted to introduce you all to one of their older and very excellent albums, Operation: Mindcrime. For those who don't know, Queensryche tend to make their albums almost like a musical version of a chilling movie..Can we say "T A L E N T"? Geoff "the voice" Tate gives his best vocal performance on this album, in my opinion, telling the tale of a smack addict called Nikki, who was recruited by the mob, to do a couple of "jobs"..Each tune takes you bit by bit through the story..For those who don't have this album, you can go to the Queensryche site and listen to the songs, and even watch some of the videos, while going through this review..

6:00 P.M. Our friend Nikki, charged with several counts of murder involving members of this city's political and religious leaders, has been committed to State Hospital under heavy security. London-born nurse, Debbie, seems determined to administer the tranquilizer, and gives us her personal feelings regarding her patient. Injection completed, Nikki listens to his favorite tape, and retraces his past..

The first "song" on the album, is really a narration by Nikki, after the nurse leaves Nikki's room..

page: "Dr. Davis, telephone please, Dr. Davis, telephone please.. Dr. Blair, Dr. Blair, Dr. J. Hamilton, Dr. J. Hamilton"..

News Broadcast: "...the Soviets... In other news the bizarre murders of political and religious leaders that have shocked this city over the last month seemed to have ended as suddenly as they began. No terrorist groups ... responsibility for the slayings, but police have a suspect in custody under observation in a state hospital. His identity is being withheld pending further investigation. Sports and weather next..."

Nurse: "It's ten minutes past curfew, why are you still up? Hello? Hello? Perhaps you need another shot. Ah, that should do it. Sweet Dreams, you bastard"..

Nikki: "I remember now, I remember how it started. I can't remember yesterday, I just remember doing what they told me..told me..told me..told me"..

And then it immediately launches into "Anarchy-X"

Weeks ago in Occidental Park, hundreds of people gathered for a political rally. There was a man shouting above all the others: "Do we have freedom? Do we have equality? This country's changing! It is no longer for all of the people! It is for some of the people!" The man's name? "Dr. X."

And then carries straight into "Revolution Calling"..

The phone hasn't stopped ringing since the hypnotic meeting with Dr. X. His plan is brilliant in its simplicity: assassination and replacement. He calls it, "Operation: Mindcrime," and Nikki is the key player. Nikki has a weakness. He likes the needle. Dr. X makes sure Nikki feels good so he can do a good job. The chosen "Death Angel" is then easily manipulated through subliminal suggestion over the telephone. The password into Nikki's brain is "mindcrime"..Nikki explains the following..

"For a price I'd do about anything
Except pull the trigger
For that I'd need a pretty good cause
Then I heard of Dr. X
The man with the cure
Just watch the television
Yeah, you'll see there's something going on

Got no love for politicians
Or that crazy scene in D.C.
It's just a power mad town
But the time is ripe for changes
There's a growing feeling
That taking a chance on a new kind of vision is due

I used to trust the media To tell me the truth, tell us the truth But now I've seen the payoffs Everywhere I look Who do you trust when everyone's a crook?

Revolution calling Revolution calling Revolution calling you (There's a) Revolution calling Revolution calling Gotta make a change Gotta push, gotta push it on through"..

From here, the next song begins with the phone ringing, and Nikki answers, only to find it's Dr. X on the line..Dr. X begins to seduce Nikki by giving him a fix and then telling him what was required of him, and he knows Nikki won't refuse..Nikki was a loser. A street kid, left to fend for himself at a young age. He was independent, and unpredictable, but harmless. Except now he had a philosophy, and that made him dangerous. "Revolution" was the word on his lips, as he stood in the streets and screamed, "Hey, listen to me"!

"It just takes a minute
And you'll feel no pain
Gotta make something of your life boy
Give me one more vein
You've come to see the doctor
Cause I'll show you the cure
I'm gonna take away the questions
Yeah I'm gonna make you sure

A hit man for the order
When you couldn't go to school
Had a skin job for a hair-do
Yeah you looked pretty cool
Had a habit doing mainline
Watch the dragon burn
No regrets, you've got no goals
Nothing more to learn

Now I know you won't refuse
Because we've got so much to do
And you've got nothing more to lose
So take this number and welcome to

Operation: Mindcrime
We're an underground revolution
Working overtime
Operation: Mindcrime
There's a job for you in
The system boy, with nothing to sign"..

Now Nikki begins to speak..His mind is turned to "revolution", and he is against the government, and how they have their hooks in everyone..So he is all for overthrowing..

"Seven years of power
The corporation claw
The rich control the government, the media the law
To make some kind of difference
Then everyone must know
Eradicate the fascists, revolution will grow

The system we learn says we're equal under law
But the streets are reality, the weak and poor will fall
Let's tip the power balance and tear down their crown
Educate the masses, We'll burn the White House down

Speak to me the pain you feel
Speak to me the pain you feel
Speak the word (Revolution)
The word is all of us
Speak the word (Revolution)
The word is all of us
Speak the word
The word is all of us
Speak the Word
The word is all of us

SPEAK"!!

Mary worked the S&M shows in Times Square. At 17, she met Father William, who arranged her cloister with "Our Lady of Immaculate Pain." A new life. A different way of living. Except for her debt with him, which was expected to be paid in full, weekly, "...on the altar. Like a sacrifice." When she was eighteen, Father William introduced her to a man named Dr. X. Now she works for him..Nikki sets out in pursuit of both Father William, and Mary..They know too much..Mary was whore turned nun, and Father William was a corrupted priest..

"Father William saved her from the streets
She drank the lifeblood from the saviour's feet
She's Sister Mary now, eyes as cold as ice
He takes her once a week
On the alter like a sacrifice

Spreading the disease
Everybody needs
But no one wants to see

Religion and sex are powerplays
Manipulate the people for the money they pay
Selling skin, selling God
The numbers look the same on their credit cards
Politicians say "no to drugs"
While we pay for wars in South America

Fighting fire with empty words
While the banks get fat
And the poor stay poor
And the rich get rich
And the cops get paid
To look away
As the one percent rules America

Spreading the disease
Everybody needs
But no one wants to see
The way society
Keeps spreading the disease"..

Nikki spends quite a lot of time these days in his room; drawing gruesome, detailed depictions of his victims' deaths upon the dingy white walls. Drowning in guilt, he sees Sister Mary as his only means to salvation. He lights another candle and flips through the TV channels one by one. The familiar face of Father William appears. Is it wrong? Is it right? Decision made..

News Broadcast: "...informing Washington, a technical violation of the 1972 ABM Treaty..."

Father William: "...I'm asking for hands to be uplifted in just a moment. God the Holy Ghost is calling out to embrace you. I want you to reach deep into your hearts and your pocketbooks and take His hand"..

Nikki: "Bless me father for I have sinned"...Nikki shoots the tv with his gun..Then he narrates the following..

"In the wooden chair
Beside my window
I wear a face born in the falling rain
I talk to shadows from a lonely candle
Recite the phrases from the wall
I can't explain this Holy pain

Six days ago my life had taken a tumble
The orders came from high above they say
A need to use me once again they've got my number
Further the cause boy yes you know the game

I'll wait here for days longer
Till the sister comes to wash my sins away
She is the lady that can ease my sorrow
She brings the only friend
That helps me find my way"..

A long, satin black sedan slides to a stop in front of Nikki. The rain, beading on the dark, tinted windows, distorts his reflection. Bemused by his melting facial features, he's startled as the electric window descends revealing the smiling face of Dr. X. "Kill her," he said. "That's all you have to do.. "Kill Mary?," asks Nikki.. "She's a risk..and get the priest as well"..

Father William lay crumpled on the stairs leading to the sanctuary. Mary watches in disgust as her lover Nikki's troubled face dissolves into the leering, drooling face of the priest huffing and puffing above her. "...Altar...sacrifice..." something snaps inside her head. Nikki feels the coldness overtake her. He pulls away, vowing to kill Dr. X and set them both free of their master's manipulations. Pulling closed the huge door behind him, he stumbles into the rainy night to keep his appointment with his "maker." The next part is Mary and Nikki..Nikki has killed Father William, and now she is next..Nikki doesn't want to do it, but he has no real choice in the matter..Though the crime is heinous, it's clear there is a great deal of feeling in both parties..

"Mary, Mary just a whore for the underground
(They made you pay in guilt for your salvation)
Thought you had them fooled? Now they've sent me for you
You know too much for your own good
Don't offer me faith, I've got all I need here
(My faith is growing, growing tight against the seam)
What we need is trust, to keep us both alive
Help us make it through the night

[Mary] I've no more want of any faith
Binds my arm and feed my mind
The only peace I've ever known
I'll close my eyes and you shoot

No Mary, listen, you've got to pull your strength
(from my lips I pray I feed you well)
Your precious cross is gone, it made me wait so long
For what you gave to everyone
The priest is cold and dead on his knees he fed
(From my barrel of death, he turned)
The Holy water red
As he died he said thank you
I just watched him bleed

[Mary] I feel the flow, the bless?stain
Sweating hands like fire, and flames
Burn my thighs, spread in sacrificial rite
The hallowed altar burns my flesh once more tonight

Mary, my lady of pain
Always alone
Blind you search for the truth
I see myself in you, parallel lives
Winding at light-speed through time

Domina Dea"...

After Nikki leaves, Mary is plagued by the vision of Nikki turning into Father William. As they made love on the altar, the memories came flooding back. Years filled with men who have used her, degraded and beaten her, and driven their hatred and coldness into her heart. Once, she thought Nikki was her hope. But now he seemed like all the rest. She hated him. She hated men. She hated life.

[Nikki:] "I've had enough and I WANT OUT!"
[Dr. X:] "You can't walk away now." (maniacal laughter)

I looked back once
And all I saw was his face
Smiling, the needle crying
Walking out of his room
With mirrors, afraid I heard him scream
You'll never get away

Cold and shaking
I crawled down alleys to try
And scrape away the tracks that marked me
Slammed my face into walls of concrete
I stared, amazed at the words written on the wall

Don't ever trust
Don't ever trust the needle, it lies
Don't ever trust
Don't ever trust the needle when it cries...
Cries your name

Wet and raving
The needle keeps calling me back
To bloody my hands forever
Carved my cure with the blade
That left me in scars
Now every time I'm weak
Words scream from my arm

Don't ever trust
Don't ever trust the needle, it lies
Don't ever trust
Don't ever trust the needle when it cries...
Cries your name
Don't ever trust
Don't ever trust the needle, it lies
Don't ever trust
Don't ever trust the needle when it cries...
Cries your name"...

"Anybody home?" Unable to shake his addiction, and feeling beaten in his confrontation with Dr. X, Nikki returns. "Mary?" He finds her dead in her room...

"Even in death
You still look sad..
Don't leave me!
Don't leave me...here..
I want what you feel, believe me
Turn the current on"..

Unable to accept Mary's death, Nikki runs like a raving madman through the streets calling her name. Everywhere he looks he sees her face.

"They told me to run, but just how far?
Can I go wearing the black mask of fear?
The hate in my eyes always gives me away
The tension building slowly
Now I lost everything I had in you
Nothing we shared means a thing
Without you close to me
I can't live without you

Breaking the silence of the night
Can't you hear me screaming?
I look for your face in the neon light
You never answer me

There's no direction to my stare
No more flame burning in my heart anymore
Quiet, I keep it to myself
Until the sun sets slowly
I hear your voice in the evening rain calling
Nothing will keep us apart
No more lies and fear
There's no end to our story

Breaking the silence of the night
Can't you hear me screaming?
I look for your face in the neon light
You never answer
I could make all the wrong seem right
If you were by my side
I'd gather all the tears you cried
And hide them deep underground

Can't look back, it's just a waste of time
Can't erase this hate from my eyes

Breaking the silence of the night
Through the streets I'm screaming
Looking for you in the neon light
Why don't you answer me?
Breaking the silence with my cries
Can't you hear me screaming?
We could make all this wrong seem right
But you never answer me"..

The police arrest Nikki. The charges are: disorderly conduct, carrying a concealed weapon without a license, and resisting arrest. They know he's a junkie because of the tracks on his arms. His weapon also matches the one used in a string of recent killings. Nikki isn't making much sense now, babbling on about perverted priests, some kind of covert operation, and not believing in love..

"I awoke on impact
Under surveillance from the camera eye
Searching high and low
The criminal mind found at the scene of the crime
Handcuffed and blind, I didn't do it
She said she loved me
I guess I never knew
But do we ever, ever really know?
She said she'd meet me on the other side
But I knew right then, I'd never find her

I don't believe in love
I never have, I never will
I don't believe in love
It's never worth the pain that you feel

No more nightmares, I've seen them all
From the day I was born, they've haunted my every move
Every open hand's there to push and shove
No time for love it doesn't matter
She made a difference
I guess she had a way
Of making every night seem bright as day
Now I walk in shadows, never see the light
She must have lied 'cause she never said goodbye

I don't believe in love
I never have, I never will
I don't believe in love
I'll just pretend she never was real
I don't believe in love
I need to forget her face,
I see it still
I don't believe in love
It's never worth the pain that you feel"..

Left alone, Nikki thinks of Mary; of the night she died, and why. He contemplates his future. Who will be there to care for him and be his friend? Charged with several murders, Nikki is committed to State Hospital to overcome his addiction. Awaiting trial, he suffers insomnia and is delirious. Searching through his past, he tries to find reasons for his actions and his weaknesses. Staring into the mirror, he sees a stranger.

"Empty room today
And here I sit
Chalk outline upon the wall
I remember tracing it
A thousand times, the night she died.
Why? (Why?)
There's no sleep today, I can't pretend
When all my dreams are crimes
I can't stand facing them
Now who will come
To wash away my sins
Clean my room, fix my meals
Be my friend"?

page: "Dr. Davis, telephone please. Dr. Davis.. Dr. Blair, Dr. Blair, Dr. J. Hamilton, Dr. J. Hamilton"..

"All alone now
Except for the memories
Of what we had and what we knew
Everytime I try to leave it behind me
I see something that reminds me of you

Every night the dreams return to haunt me
Your rosary wrapped around your throat
I lie awake and sweat, afraid to fall asleep
I see your face looking back at me
Looking back at me..

And I raise my head and stare
Into the eyes of a stranger
I've always known that the mirror never lies
People always turn away
From the eyes of a stranger Afraid to know what Lies behind the stare"..

6:01 P.M.
"I remember now"..

Well, here's hoping you all have enjoyed what you read (and perhaps listened to) here, and will splash out and add this excellent album to your collection..This is not the first, and definitely not the last Ryche album, but it is one of the better ones they made..To listen to the songs, you can either make use of the site I listed at the start of this review, which is the main Queensryche site, or, you can, of course, check them out on Amazon.com but there are only 5 songs plugged, there, so the former site is the better idea..you need the usual players in order to listen/watch..Thanks to the makers of Queensryche.com and Geoff Tate.com for the usage of pictures and words..Brilliant sites, both of them..Again, I hope you enjoyed the review, and the album.. :o) Until next month..

Dark Blessings~

Silver

Edited By: Silver

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