Operation: Mindcrime: The New Reality

Here we have the third & final chapter in the musical trilogy from ex-Queensryche vocalist Geoff Tate and his band Operation: Mindcrime, titled The New Reality, which follows The Key and Resurrection. Now, if you've read my reviews of those first two parts of this trilogy, you'll remember that I haven't found these albums to be too successful, and I don't think I'm alone in that opinion, so will third time finally be the charm here for Operation: Mindcrime?

Well, partly, the answer is yes. Without a doubt, The New Reality is a bit more of an upbeat affair overall, with the musical cast of Kelly Gray, John Moyer, Simon Wright, Scott Mercado, Scott Moughton, Brian Tichy, and Mike Ferguson given a little more to do on songs that rock out much more than anything we heard on the first two installments. Opening tracks "A Head Long Jump" and "Wake Me Up" are vibrant rockers with crunchy riffs and a more forceful Tate vocals. "It Was Always You" has a quirky, proggy edge to it, not unlike what Queensryche cranked out on the underrated Rage for Order album back in 1986, though not nearly as catchy, while the lengthy "The Fear" kind of plods along with extended synth soundscapes and percussion, Tate trying hard to sound charming but it comes across like he's trying too hard. Nice guitar solo on this one however. The doom laden "Under Control" works quite well, the riffs heavy and the drumming potent, with the leader delivering a strong vocal, but it's back to meandering prog on the extended title track, a tune that has its moments but could have been 3-minutes shorter. "My Eyes" has an industrial feel, but overall just isn't very memorable, and "A Guitar in Church" ironically has basically no guitar in it...go figure. More futuristic prog rears its head on "All For What", a song with an exciting middle section but it's bookended by too much pointless synth soundscapes and Tate talking his way through the arrangement. "The Wave" tries to be a groovy rocker, but when you expect some guitar thunder it's once again dominated by way too many synths. The album ends with "The Same Old Story", which, for me, kind of indicates that we've gotten exactly the same old same old here as we got on the first two parts to this trilogy. A few strong cuts woven in between a ton of filler, meandering arrangements, and very little of it engaging or memorable.

Whether Geoff Tate decides to keep this project going remains to be seen. As a concept trilogy, I have to give these three albums a fail overall, though this third part is easily the most successful of the trio, but that's not really saying much. As a longtime fan of the vocalist, it is very hard to see him churn out material this lackluster, as his talent deserves so much better. The painful truth is his former bands material is leaving his in the dust these days. Back to the drawing board perhaps? We shall see.

Track Listing
01 A Head Long Jump 4:52
02 Wake Me Up 4:49
03 It Was Always You 6:31
04 The Fear 6:53
05 Under Control 3:55
06 The New Reality 7:31
07 My Eyes 4:19
08 A Guitar In Church 3:41
09 All For What 6:23
10 The Wave 4:42
11 Tidal Change 1:15
12 The Same Old Story 3:39

Added: December 9th 2017
Reviewer: Pete Pardo
Score:
Related Link: Band Facebook Page
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Language: english

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