Queensryche | OPERATION: MINDCRIME II | CD

Personnel: Miranda Tate, Geoff Tate , Pamela Moore, Ronnie James Dio (vocals).
Audio Mixer: Jason Slater.
Recording information: Synergy Studios, Redmond; The Annex, Menlo Park; The Compound, Seattle, WA.
Jet City pomp-metallers Queensryche left their denim-jacketed fanbase hanging for close to two decades following the release of 1988's OPERATION: MINDCRIME, a sociopolitical concept album, and the subsequent chart success of its 1990 follow-up, EMPIRE. Frontman Geoff Tate (credited here as "Leader") returns to finish the tale as if the 1990s never happened, offering up a brace of unadulterated '80s metal that, miraculously, sounds in step with where the band left off and at the same time, given early-2000s nostalgia trends, seems ahead of the curve.
Caught between the epic arena-prog of Rush and the grungy grit of Alice in Chains, Tate infuses OPERATION: MINDCRIME II with a passion and craftsmanship that virtually all his former peers have abandoned, leading the charge to bring his own music back to public adoration. To wit, "An Intentional Confrontation" borrows heavily from Roy Thomas Baker's work with Queen, "Murderer?" storms with the fire of a hair-metal Nine Inch Nails, and "I'm American" reaffirms Queensryche's blustery roots. All in all, OPERATION: MINDCRIME II is an excellent, if unexpected, return to form.

• Format: CD
• Genre: Pop
• Released: 4/4/2006
• Released: 04/04/2006