Queensrÿche: Operation: Mindcrime (2LP) [UME]

Why you'll love it

This 2LP set, pressed in the Czech Republic, gives the rock opera four full sides. It was the band's breakthrough, going platinum, and its last two singles became their first US chart hits.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Pressed in the Czech Republic

About the album

Heavy metal had always liked a good story; Queensrÿche decided to write a whole novel's worth. Operation: Mindcrime follows Nikki, a disillusioned young man drawn into a shadowy revolutionary group and its mysterious leader, Dr. X, with Sister Mary as the conscience caught in between. The Seattle band spent almost two years on it, working with producer Peter Collins and recording entirely on digital tape.

Geoff Tate's soaring voice carries the drama, while Chris DeGarmo and Michael Wilton trade sharp, melodic guitar parts. "Revolution Calling" and the title track set things racing, "Speak" and "Spreading the Disease" keep the pressure on, and the ten-minute "Suite Sister Mary" brings in Pamela Moore as Mary. "I Don't Believe in Love" and "Eyes of a Stranger" close the story with the band's biggest hooks.

Kerrang! placed it at No. 34 on its list of the 100 greatest heavy metal albums in 1989, and the band later played it in full on the Empire tour. It's a two-record plot with a beginning, a middle and an end, which is more than can be said for most of our staff meetings.

Also at Kops: more Queensrÿche on vinyl · browse Metal

Tracklist

Listen

On Capitol / UMe (cat# 7714039), a reissue of the 1988 album.