The Genius of Operation: Mindcrime (Power Metal Point 06)

In the sixth episode of PowerMetalPoint we look at Queensryche's Operation: Mindcrime, and what about it makes it such a revered album that it remains to this day. If you haven't heard the album, spoiler warning! http://www.facebook.com/powermetalpoint - http://pinterest.com/powermetalpoint/... - http://powermetalpoint.tumblr.com/

Note: After interviewing Jimbo Barton (you can find it on my channel), he said that Mindcrime was never asked to be remixed. It was, however, in need of remastering in 1988.

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Closed Caption:

yeah
yeah
for this episode of power metal . i
figured we could take a look into one of
metals brightest moments as a genre thus
far and also for younger metal fans and
album that is often overlooked for the
latest dream theater attack attack
avenged sevenfold and whatever else it
still amazes me how many metal fans no
master of puppets raining blood British
steel peace of mind and even the works
of blind guardian yet don't know about
operation mindcrime perhaps Queens
Reich's legacy has a bad PR department
there's been a lot written about
operation mindcrime from speculative
theories about what happened to Mary to
trying to fill in the lyrical gaps in
the story to people just telling others
about how much they love this album and
how it changed their lives to understand
mine crime first we need to get into
queens Rex heads at the time they
recorded this album as a side note you
have no idea how much effort this took
to pare down this intro and not make it
a comprehensive history of Queen strikes
early years especially given my near
encyclopedic knowledge on the matter
queens right first came to prominence in
the summer of nineteen eighty-two with
the release of a demo that would become
almost as revered as Metallica's no life
til leather album which came out the
same summer
this was known as the Queen's reiki p
with that strange black cover with the
purple and gold logo they haven't used
since when a review of the EP hit the
pages of Quran magazine queens right
were quickly slated as the future of
metal and the EP quickly sold out and
soon queens right Heather choice of
which record label to sign with opting
to join emi with labelmates Iron Maiden
soon after they recorded the warning in
1984 with pink floyd producer James
Guthrie the album showed immense promise
for the prog metal outfit many of the
riffs and melodic sensibilities brought
to mind Judas Priest late seventies
output but with just enough of a pink
floyd influence to keep it from being a
killing machine clone this initial
promise came to fruition in 1986 when
queens right released an album years
ahead of its time forging elements of
pink floyd classic Priest and even a bit
of New Wave Queens Rex rage for order
was incredibly fresh a thinking man's
metal album if there ever was one
the songs such as i dreamin infrared and
screaming and digital are good showcases
of the progressive nature of this album
the band at this point it toward with
twisted sister
Ozzy kiss and others and they were
impressive opening act
sadly both the warning and rage had sold
only about 300,000 copies or so
respectable numbers for the time but
still underwhelming for EMI EMI wanted
singles and radio songs the pressure
from the label was mounting for a huge
hit and more radio-friendly material
queens right however we get a hit album
their own way
following the rage for order tour in
1986 geoff tate undertook an extended
stay in Montreal spending weeks soaking
up the culture and nightlife on one
particularly snowy evening he entered a
Catholic Church and sat in the back in
one of the pews as he SAT there taking
in the atmosphere the ideas for mine
crime came to him in a flurry and he
rushed home to write down as many of
them as he could
drawing from further inspiration he also
included a character he based on a man
he met at a bar who was very cold and
had a calculating stare he would form
the basis for the character of dr. axe
when Jeff Tate presented the idea of
operation mindcrime to the band that
they should undertake an entire concept
album the response was initially anemic
it was only after several tries and
great product that fellow guitarist
krista karma was finally won over the
band quickly said about writing the
music and lyrics for Tate's initial
ideas when it came time to record the
album the band enlisted the services of
Peter Collins to produce the album whose
name you might notice the producer of
Russia's power windows and hold your
fire as well as Bon Jovi's these days
and a number of other albums Peters role
in producing mindcrime was really to
serve as the one who would make quintrex
ideas into reality allowing them to see
their vision to its conclusion rather
than having it tampered with outside
sources the album was mixed and
engineered by jimbo barton who opted for
a very different production style
Barton's later production
credits would include Empire and
promised land fates warnings parallels
the Russian Rio DVD as well as the Afro
mention power windows and hold your fire
the snare drum on mine crime for example
had a lot of attack and sounded like a
whips crack or shot from a gun the
guitars had a lot of bite as well in
undertaking one of the earliest digital
mixes of an album Barton had forged a
very unique sound when the label heard
the mixes they were in shock and wanted
to remix it was only after Barton spoke
to the label in person that they yielded
to his vision a classic michael wagner
type mix simply wouldn't suit the music
what sets mindcrime apart aside from its
great production and stunning
performances is its story it fuses the
elements of a political conspiracy and
star-crossed lovers to bring about a
story which weaves itself brilliantly
with the music to put the pieces of the
story of mine crime together I've done a
lot of research ranging from reading
interviews with the band about the story
album reviews and biographic pieces as
well as the lyrics themselves
this is my own interpretation of the
story and may not be perfectly accurate
to what the band had in mind as some of
the lyrics are rather vague on a number
of the details mine crime start so with
a junkie and a political assassin named
Nikki who awakens in a drugged up and
delusional state in a mental hospital
when he finally comes around he swept up
in a flurry of the memories of his past
deeds and with this the album takes off
in Turkey x begins as sort of the
album's Hellion which leads into the
next track in Turkey X features a
marching snare rhythm or a soundscape of
political chance and rallies about
government corruption and corporate
greed so comfortably behind the music
do we have freedom do we have a quality
this country's changing its no longer
for all of the people its first some of
the people the instrumental finally
climb axes in a duel harmony guitar solo
and slows down as it leads into
revolution calling in this song our
protagonist nikky meets a political and
religious demagogue named dr. X the man
with the cure and begins to tell nikki
of the power-mad town in DC with
government pay
coughs shady preachers and a media which
can't be bothered to tell the truth
dr. X convinces Nicki than a new kind of
vision for America's do this provides
just the spark the down-and-out junkie
like Nikki needs as Jeff Tate sings for
a price i do anything except pull the
trigger for that I need a pretty good
cause with Nikki firmly on board with
dr. X is revolutionary ideas
dr. X agrees to meet Nikki's drug fix to
accomplish this X brainwashes Nicki to
be a docile puppet whenever he hears the
word mindcrime nikki is given a gun told
to wait by the phone for his assignments
which will make the city bleed there
have been altering explanations about
how dr. X controls nikki i recall
several years ago reading an interview
from a band member probably Jeff Tate
who described axis having created a mind
control drug that he gives to Nikki
although the official explanation on the
website is at X simply brainwashes Nicki
and have some carryout assassinations in
exchange for feeding Nikki's drug
addiction so i think i'll take that as
the official explanation by track five
called speak
Nicki begins to go out on his
assignments to eradicate the fascists
and let Texas Revolution grow Nicki
begins to carry out the assassinations
of politicians and religious leaders one
can't help but notice dr. exes methods
of eradicated fascism is not that far
removed from the methods of Hitler and
eradicated political opponents who
himself was a fascist by the next song
spreading the disease we meet Nikki's
love interest a nun and former
prostitute named system Mary recruited
by X to be Nikki's helper the song
begins detailing Mary's rough life on
the streets as a prostitute before she
was saved by a priest named father
williams who took her in only two user
sexually for himself
it is here in the middle of the song for
Nikki's political and social beliefs are
spelled out the strongest spoken to the
beat of a tribal rhythm Tate as Nikki
rants the religion and sex are power
plays manipulate the people the money
they make selling skin selling God and
that the rich stay rich the poor stay
poor as the one percent
and continue to rule America with all
the Occupy and pro-democratic protest
which have been sweeping the globe for
the last year one can't help but notice
that the politics of this album still
ring true 25 years after it was written
by song seven the mission the album
against to take a turn from the
political into the psychological Nikki
sits in a candlelit room caught up in
the thoughts of what he has done and
what he has become will the law find him
can he ever escaped from dr. X or will
be one of dead himself no matter he
thinks they'll say my mission change the
world and all stand proud will continue
to wait until Mary comes to watch his
sins away later while wandering the
streets
dr. X rose up in a car telling nikki is
to assassinate father Williams and Mary
and she is a risk to the movement Nicki
and Mary's relationship has grown too
close for dr. X is liking in this truly
stunning piece of music called sweet
sister Mary we are taken through a
number of time signature changes a
hunting gothic choir and a soundscape of
the weather outside as it captures
Nikki's fragile state of mind after
killing the priest Nicki makes his way
to confront Mary Jeff Tate as Nikki and
Pamela more as Mary give a fantastic
give-and-take vocal performance as they
realize they cannot escape dr. axis
grasp Mary recognizes that she is doomed
and she begs Nicki to kill her but he
refuses saying they have to trust each
other to pull through the night through
an outpouring of intense emotions such
as anger and guilt Nicki realizes that
he must do something about dr. X and it
is here the two lovers embrace later on
Nicki comes into contact with dr. X and
needing another fix
nikki is reminded that he can never get
away
don't ever trust the needle when it
cries your name Jeff Tate reminds us in
the next song electric requiem a
psychological piece of electronic music
Nikki returns to the church to find Mary
dead hanging by her rosary is one reason
for being his raison Det his only way
out is now gone
the lyrics are written
in such a way so that the listener never
truly knows how mary died did xq layer
did Nicki kill her when he was drugged
up and simply forgotten how about
another of X's assassins did she commit
suicide as a way out for nearly 20 years
fans have speculated as to her true fate
the 2003 remaster cds booklet for
operation mindcrime states that she hung
herself by her own rosary it would not
be until queens right toward for
operation mindcrime one and two
culminating in the mindcrime at the more
DVD that we finally come to find out how
she really died
ultimately it's not a terribly important
plot point to find out how mary died the
story itself is about Nikki state of
mine and what the losses of his only
support and how this impacts him in the
next song one of my favorite tracks from
the album breaking the silence Nicki
realizes he is alone and on the run from
dr. axe here aces through the streets
the visions of Mary still hunting him
ridden with guilt and anger he convinces
himself that Mary was no good for him to
begin with and starts to scream
tormented in the streets and then the
police arrived
Nicki and dr. X are taken away
handcuffed and blind and i don't believe
in love Nicki realizes there's no happy
ending to the story is one way out is
truly gone some more time passes in the
somber instrumental waiting for 22 and
we meet up with Nikki in my empty room
where he is locked up in a room in a
mental institution tormented in the
thoughts of his crimes and a loss of
Mary he asked who will come to wash the
sins away clean his room and be his
friend and with this comes the finale of
the record and one of the true
highlights of the entire undertaking
eyes of a stranger
Nicki struggles to cope with the loss of
Mary and the guilt of his crimes
who's really at fault dr. X for himself
he realizes that life in this room is
now all that's left in store for him
no happy ending like they've always
promised you can no longer face himself
in the mirror all he sees is the eyes of
a stranger looking back at him and then
he has overcome with a sudden flash of
them
montage of memories he remembers now
aside from having a pretty decent story
overall mindcrime works on a number of
levels the story the music and the
atmosphere of the album all work very
well together on the whole the story is
just complex enough without an
overcomplicated plot or message it's not
overburdened with countless characters
or grandiose ideas with countless
references to other literary epics that
you need to understand have the story
makes sense as can be the case with a
number of current concept albums even
Bruce Dickinson commented after the
seventh son album was released by iron
maiden that he preferred Queens rights
concept album saying that mine crime is
the proper way to execute such an album
and that unlike seventh son which kind
of Peters out halfway through mine crime
sticks with the story the entire way
through mine crime story will set in the
modernity of the nineteen eighties is a
timeless one and I think that's what
made it such a joy to listen to even
after all these years because lyrics are
written bagley enough we can project the
story on to the present and it still
works
there's a certain fascination with
killers and what makes them tick
who do we blame their actions on are
they really to blame or is it the ideas
that we get from others that make us
killers mine crime would make a brother
interesting psychological and criminal
study if someone wanted to tackle that
subject and I'm sure someone in graduate
school has probably written a paper on
it or very least reference operation
mindcrime in it the music ultimately
never gets bogged down by the story the
album isn't bogged down by countless
minutes of exposition and dialogue or
mood pieces were given just enough
information to make the story and the
music flow without being cumbersome and
breaking up the overall mood of the
album with operation mindcrime you can
just sit casually and enjoy the music or
taking the entire concept on a deeper
level and soak in the lyrics when the
songs are this well written and
performed though it's really a thing of
beauty that they also work on several
deeper levels as one grand conceptual
piece when operation mindcrime
eventually hit store shelves
it took several months of touring and
pushing the label to finally convince
some to put a video out on mtv when I
this stranger and i don't believe in
love hit mtv the album went platinum
almost overnight the sudden surge in
popularity would help queens right to
submit their place a top progressive
metal and as a touring act this new
audience they had attracted also embrace
their next album empire which would
propel the band to triple platinum
status and allow them to finally become
a headlining act on the Empire tour
Queen strike did a double set the first
set containing their newfound hits from
empire and some classic tracks and the
second set featuring operation mindcrime
in its entirety the album's performance
was complete with gigantic movie screens
which supplemented the music helping to
show visuals from the story these series
of concerts would be released and what I
would consider to be among the finest
DVD concerts available operation
livecrime in 2005 2007 when the band
toured in support of mine crime and its
new sequel operation mindcrime to the
dual mindcrime set again featured
screens but also had an elaborate set
and actors playing the parts of Nikki
dr. X a judge injury and other
characters from the album it was a
rather unique blend of theater and a
rock concert and one of the finest
concerts i've seen to date operation
mindcrime has ultimately been Queens Rex
biggest blessing and their biggest curse
it helped to establish them as a
thinking man's metal band and made them
a commercial success but its success has
disappointed many fans who wanted queens
right to return to the sound in recent
years they've ventured into a more hard
rock type direction and fans clamoring
for the prog metal sounds of mine crime
had been sorely disappointed they did
revisit the story and songwriting style
on the sequel operation mindcrime to my
that was a valiant attempt of
recapturing the magic of the first album
and a compelling character piece in its
own right
it never quite captured all of the
elements that made the original so
stunning queens right has always been a
band about taking risks and trying new
things
fans freaked out when the band went
slightly new wave on rage for order from
the Judas Priest feel of the
morning then again they were mad and
when the band went all pink floyd and
acoustic on promised land and again when
they went grunge well they are from
Seattle after all on here in the now
frontier change and re-evaluating their
musical and personal identities is what
queens right has always been about some
of the later work has worked out very
well some of it and has kind of been hit
and miss
just remember though mine crime itself
was a risk and an experiment which was
not guaranteed to pay off in this case
however the risk was totally worth it
the experiment was a success although
sometimes lightning of his brilliance
only strikes once