Label: Frontiers Music
Genre: Hardrock
Release Date EU: December 1st, 2017
Line Up:
Geoff Tate
Kelly Gray
John Moyer
Simon Wright
Scott Mercado
Scott Moughton
Brian Tichy
Mike Ferguson
Tracklist:
- A Head Long Jump
- Wake Me Up
- It Was Always You
- The Fear
- Under Control
- The New Reality
- My Eyes
- A Guitar in Church
- All For What
- The Wave
- Tidal Change
- The Same Old Story
OK, if you read my reviews for the first two Operation Mindcrime albums you know that I wasn’t the biggest fan of those. That’s why my expectation for the final chapter of this trilogy hasn’t been sky-high. However, a review needs to be written, so let’s press the ‘Start’-button.
The first song that gets out of the speakers is “A Head Long Jump”. I can’t really say that I was thrilled by what I got to hear. Samples and sphereful sounds open the album, sounding more like a cinematic intro that builds up before the main character appears for the first time. Now, Geoff Tate has already some vocal parts in the opener but it’s the second track, “Wake Me Up”, that doesn’t sound too bad. Tate’s voice sounds better than what I expected and also the number itself creates an appetite for more.
With “My Eyes” the album also contains a song that’s more to the point. It sounds pretty good, comes with a dark vibe and you wonder why Tate & Co. don’t unleash the heaviness more often.
Next, to the positively surprising moments, there’s also the complex “The Fear” which doesn’t work for me. It’s very rhythm-based but also feels scattered. Even after a few loops, I didn’t get into this tune. Next to “The Fear” there’s “Guitar in a Church” which actually should carry the name of ‘Drums and keyboards in the Church’. Or it’s meant that the guitars are in church because they are definitely not in this song. The track carries a lot of bombast and frills without really getting out of the boxes. Too many frills, too little thrills. It’s more a keyboard-based sound collage than a hard rocking tune, not even getting close to metal.
The final album of this trilogy stands for a, generally spoken, positive ending. Operation Mindcrime isn’t Queensryche and Operation Mindcrime has very little to nothing in common with the milestone album from 1988. However, it’s good cinematic rock music with a Geoff Tate doing a good job. Not more, but also not less.
Written by: Markus Wiedenmann
Ratings: 7/10
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KhyRP83xR-Y
About Author
