For a band whose lead vocalist lectured me five years ago in a backstage interview, stating "I wouldn't say it would be tough to top Operation: Mindcrime," Queensr˙che sure seems to be getting plenty of mileage from presenting one of metal's ultimate concept records in alternate ways. The latest attempt to repackage the seminal concept album is Mindcrime at The Moore, a sensible two-CD set featuring the ambitious 1988 classic and its equally ambitious but less effective 2006 sequel, performed in their entirety in October 2006 for a home-town crowd at Seattle's Moore Theatre. That's 32 songs — plus a two-song encore featuring "Walk in the Shadows" and "Jet City Woman" — spanning 147 minutes.
Maybe it's because the review copy I received was labeled "unmastered advance," but this version of Operation: Mindcrime doesn't sound as slick as 1991's Operation: LIVEcrime — a powerful recording documenting the first tour on which the band ever performed the album from front to back. Part of that has to do with the absence of original guitarist Chris DeGarmo this time around. His fluid style and background vocals perfectly complemented lead singer Geoff Tate. Current guitarist Mike Stone's primal playing gives Mindcrime a leaner sound that takes a little getting used to initially. But as Queensr˙che's performance progresses, the updated sound infuses the music with a raw appeal that's as unexpected as it is dynamic.
Operation: Mindcrime II will never — ahem, Mr. Tate — "top" the original. That realization becomes painfully clear as the band works its way through Mindcrime II on this set's second disc. Granted, Mindcrime II's release last year helped steer the band back toward its signature sound after drifting for the past several years, but the arrangements are neither as fluid nor as dramatic as the original.
Tate's voice has held up remarkably well, only faltering a few times on some of the more challenging notes. Unfortunately, Ronnie James Dio doesn't make a cameo as the infamous Dr. X (as he did on the Operation: Mindcrime II CD), but vocalist Pamela Moore reprises her original role as Sister Mary. Lapses in the music occur while the story is performed on stage by actors portraying the Mindcrime characters, which is why the DVD version of this release should be more effective than the CD.
Taken as a whole, this recording reveals both the similarities and differences between the two Mindcrime records. It's a timeless tale as relevant today as when it began nearly two decades ago, it presents the entire saga in a way like never before, and it proves why Queensr˙che — regardless of where the band goes from here — deserves the same accolades usually reserved for only the finest metal artists.
Track Listing
Disc 1:
1) I Remember Now
2) Anarchy-X
3) Revolution Calling
4) Operation: Mindcrime
5) Speak
6) Spreading the Disease
7) The Mission
8) Suite Sister Mary
9) The Needle Lies
10) Electric Requiem
11) Breaking the Silence
12) I Don't Believe in Love
13) Waiting for 22
14) My Empty Room
15) Eyes of a Stranger
Disc 2:
1) Freiheit Ouverture
2) Convict
3) I'm American
4) One Foot In Hell
5) Hostage
6) The Hands
7) Speed of Light
8) Signs Say Go
9) Re-Arrange You
10) The Chase
11) Murderer?
12) Circles
13) If I Could Change It All
14) An Intentional Confrontation
15) A Junkie's Blues
16) Fear City Slide
17) All the Promises
18) Walk in the Shadows (Encore)
19) Jet City Woman (Encore)
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