The Classic Metal Album Reviews:
Title: Operation: Mindcrime
Artist: Queensryche
Label: EMI/Capitol
Release Date: 1988

Rating: 5 Skulls
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    • Reviewed by garthg:
    The best metal album ever made. One of the best albums of any genre ever made. Obviously, therefore, the high water mark of Queensryche's career, Operation: Mindcrime is a progressive masterpiece of riffs, lyrics and story. An ambitious tale of disillusionment and anti-establishment rebellion, Mindcrime tells the story of Nikki, a youth who becomes a hitman for an underground movement led by Dr. X, out to rid the world of corrupt politicians and religious leaders. Throw in a tragic love story with Sister Mary and the hypocritical corruption within the Operation:Mindcrime revolution, and you've got something few bands could ever pull off. The fact that Queensryche pull it off so magnificently is an ode to their talent and ambition. The music ranges from the melodic to the heavy to the orchestral, with orchestration thrown in by the seemingly omnipresent Michael Kamen. The music soars, but the true beauty is in the lyrics; not many bands can convincingly use lines like, "There's no raison d'etre" but Queensryche can. This is the album that truly gave Queensryche the right to the phrase "The thinking man's metal" and gave them their place in the metal elite.
    5 out of 5

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