Operation Mindcrime II Reviews Coming In!

[richwithhatred]

Sounds like it's gonna be good!!

http://www.pitriff.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Reviews&file=index&req=showcontent&id=530

http://www.bravewords.com/hardwares/1000965

 

[Platinum Maze]

I heard "I'm American" on the radio last night. Definitely a little different from the version they played on tour last summer, but only for the better. Can't wait for this album....

 

[J-Dubya 777]

I'll have the new QR by morning......I'm scared to check it out. I've written them off LONG ago, but some of the reviews have said that this is the best they've done in years.....

J-Dubya

 

[SoundMaster]

I'll have the new QR by morning......I'm scared to check it out. I've written them off LONG ago, but some of the reviews have said that this is the best they've done in years.....

J-Dubya

Please share your thoughts/reviews as soon as you've digested it!
(being someone who's never 'written them off', I can hardly wait!)

 

[Wheezer]

Please share your thoughts/reviews as soon as you've digested it!
(being someone who's never 'written them off', I can hardly wait!)

I'm on my second listen, back to back, and it hasn't grabbed me yet. There are moments. Really, there are. If they hadn't tried to tie it back to O:M and just did a new disc, I'd be more forgiving. The duet with Dio is kinda cool and it does pick up in interest from there. It fades after a few tracks though. Overall it doesn't live up to its namesake. It is the best thing they've done since Promised Land. That will probably mean different things to different people.

 

[Bryant]

I'm on my second listen, back to back, and it hasn't grabbed me yet. There are moments. Really, there are. If they hadn't tried to tie it back to O:M and just did a new disc, I'd be more forgiving. The duet with Dio is kinda cool and it does pick up in interest from there. It fades after a few tracks though. Overall it doesn't live up to its namesake. It is the best thing they've done since Promised Land. That will probably mean different things to different people.

Hmmm.... I haven't bought it yet. I will wait on more reviews. I bought their last couple of silver frisbees, so I will have to be convinced.


Bryant

 

[SoundMaster]

Hmmm.... I haven't bought it yet. I will wait on more reviews. I bought their last couple of silver frisbees, so I will have to be convinced.


Bryant

I'm still perplexed by the reaction so many fans have had concerning recent QR. Obviously, it's subjective, but I wonder why so many really loathe the recent works.

I don't think they took the same turn that, say, Metallica did going from their great 80s records to what they are at present. The difference isn't that big.


Can you attempt to sum up what you dislike about the last two QR records (or anyone who'd like to offer an opinion)? I'm just curious...

 

[Sham_Mirror]

I have my doubts, but I hope this will be a good album. The last few things by Queensryche haven't exactly been groundbreaking.

 

[Trans-Siberian Outcast]

Can you attempt to sum up what you dislike about the last two QR records (or anyone who'd like to offer an opinion)? I'm just curious...

First a disclaimer: The last Queensryche album I bought and actually digested was Empire. Anything after that I never actually owned, so they probably never got a fair shake as a whole.

That said, I have downloaded several songs from their later releases and they left me feeling a little blah. Here is what immediately jumps to mind:

1) All the hair fell off their balls. The guitars are mixed too far back, they aren't even remotely metal anymore.

2) Geoff Tate got old like the rest of us. I don't mind his mid-range voice really, but the all high notes he hit early in his career set the bar too high for a man in his forties to reproduce.

3) Songwriting seem uninspired compared to their early works. Not bad, per se, but again they set the bar so high with the first few albums that there was noplace to go but down. To me, the songs were just "okay". Nothing spectacular.

NP: Riot - Rock City

 

[J-Dubya 777]

I've had one uniterrupted spin of the disc, and it's a lot better than I expected, but nowhere near up to par with the original. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it a 6 or 7, which isn't bad for someone who's despied QR for such a long time now.....

J-Dubya

 

[SoundMaster]

First a disclaimer: The last Queensryche album I bought and actually digested was Empire. Anything after that I never actually owned, so they probably never got a fair shake as a whole.

That said, I have downloaded several songs from their later releases and they left me feeling a little blah. Here is what immediately jumps to mind:

1) All the hair fell off their balls. The guitars are mixed too far back, they aren't even remotely metal anymore.

2) Geoff Tate got old like the rest of us. I don't mind his mid-range voice really, but the all high notes he hit early in his career set the bar too high for a man in his forties to reproduce.

3) Songwriting seem uninspired compared to their early works. Not bad, per se, but again they set the bar so high with the first few albums that there was noplace to go but down. To me, the songs were just "okay". Nothing spectacular.

NP: Riot - Rock City

These are very fair and well-reasoned points. Thanks for the insight. I dont recall seeing someone voice their displeasure with recent QR in such a 'non hostile' way!

 

[SoundMaster]

I've had one uniterrupted spin of the disc, and it's a lot better than I expected, but nowhere near up to par with the original. On a scale of 1 to 10, I'd give it a 6 or 7, which isn't bad for someone who's despied QR for such a long time now.....

J-Dubya

Wow - with that said, being a fan of recent QR, I'll probably LOVE this record! :Spin:

 

[Tri-6]

I'm on my second listen, back to back, and it hasn't grabbed me yet. There are moments. Really, there are. If they hadn't tried to tie it back to O:M and just did a new disc, I'd be more forgiving. The duet with Dio is kinda cool and it does pick up in interest from there. It fades after a few tracks though. Overall it doesn't live up to its namesake. It is the best thing they've done since Promised Land. That will probably mean different things to different people.

I agree, except I would say it is the best they have done since Empire.

Its a good album,but not great.

 

[SavaRon]

I listened to a couple track yesterday, I'm not sure what to think yet. I have to give the whole album a listen before I will judge it.

 

[Wheezer]

3) Songwriting seem uninspired compared to their early works. Not bad, per se, but again they set the bar so high with the first few albums that there was noplace to go but down. To me, the songs were just "okay". Nothing spectacular.

I pretty much agree with how you put it. I just got a look at the writing credits this morning and their co-producer gets more writing credit than anyone in the band. Stone and Tate get the most after that. So, really, Queensryche aren't the authors on this one. And even with that it still sounds like Ryche. Half of it sounds similar to the last two discs and the other half pretty much sounds new/different.

 

[Trans-Siberian Outcast]

These are very fair and well-reasoned points. Thanks for the insight. I dont recall seeing someone voice their displeasure with recent QR in such a 'non hostile' way!

That might be because I'm not really a Queensryche hater. I am firmly in the "Metallica SOLD OUT" camp, but I am not so sure with Queensryche. Seems to me their changes were more artistic, a sort of maturing process as the band aged and Tate's vocal range slowly began to narrow. Artistic changes in style and direction is fine with me, but don't expect me to follow along if it wanders outside my musical tastes.

It's not like they ever recorded an album that intentionally sounded like very other band on modern day Headbanger's Ball...like some other...*ahem*...band we know.

I wasn't aware the producer was now involved in the songwriting, Wheez. That might be the problem right there.

NP: Morgana Lefay - Grand Materia

 

[Wheezer]

That might be because I'm not really a Queensryche hater.

I'm not a QR hater either. They're prolly the first band that I followed from their beginning. I want them to do well because they're like old friends that I grew up with. They provided a significant portion of the soundtrack to my life for quite a few years. Because they are old friends I've given them more breaks than they deserve at this point. They are on a different path now and it's time for me to move on. I've gotta say, I think I've aged better than they have.

I wasn't aware the producer was now involved in the songwriting, Wheez. That might be the problem right there.

Yeah, it's kinda funny. They had DeGarmo write a few tracks on Tribe. And therein lies the beginning of the end for me. It's been feeling like a money grab by them for a while now. They played the DeGarmo writing a few tracks on the disc for all it was worth. I saw them on that tour. The release date for Tribe was the same day as the show in Denver (with Dream Theater and Fates Warning) so they did a signing at a local music store. Most of the people in line for the signing thought that DeGarmo was on the tour. QR meant for that to be the case. I don't remember the details now but the rumor that DeGarmo was on the tour got a lot more play than the "official" press release stating that he wasn't.

After that they did the "Operation:Mindcrime" in its entirety tour. Looking back I think they did it to set up the buzz for O:M II. They even played one or two tracks off it at the show. The press release showing Dio as a guest performer on the disc looks fairly calculated too. And the capper would be linking the whole thing back to one of the greatest metal albums ever written.

None of that would be terrible and I still don't really hold it against them. I certainly wouldn't hold it against them if they produced something worthy of the namesake that is Queensryche. But Geoff came out a few years ago and basically dissed metal in general and made some comments about their older material being juvenile. So here we are with them inviting the king of metal and originator of the devil horns, the very symbol of metal, for a guest appearance on their new effort that ties directly to their older, more juvenile material.

After writing all that, rest assured that I'm not a QR hater. They are still an old friend and I'll remember the good times that are now forever in the past. They might get a Christmas card and we might do lunch if they're in town and I don't need to mow the lawn that day. Other than that, I'm done. In a touchy-feely sort of way it stings. More than just a little bit.

(I really didn't mean to write that much )

 

[Trans-Siberian Outcast]

No doubt they have used "gimmicks" in the past to boost interest in their latest release. I am not so opposed to that technique, as long as they deliver the goods in the end. Which, of course, they failed to do.

I'm with you, Wheez, I don't hate them...I like to re-visit their early days far too often to toss them completely aside. But at best, they are a distant acquaintance, an old friend that I've grown apart from. This new album might bring us back together for more than a cup of coffee or a brief conversation on the street corner, but it's going to take a string of great albums before we start hanging out together on a regular basis.

Even then, I'd probably have a big problem with Tate. I think he meant it when he critcized metal and its fans. Take a look at his solo album. I heard a song from it and didn't even sound like rock and roll. More like lounge music. I think he'd rather be playing something of that ilk, but it doesn't sell records like the old Queensryche sound does. So he is forced to play music he doesn't really want to play, and that's never a good thing.

 

[Wyrd1]

I agree, except I would say it is the best they have done since Empire.

Its a good album,but not great.

I totally agree with the above.

 

[wdiv]

Can you attempt to sum up what you dislike about the last two QR records (or anyone who'd like to offer an opinion)? I'm just curious...

Easy. QR used to make great epic "progressive METAL" albums, with incredible vox and exciting gripping memorable music. Entering the 90's, they faded into making tepid, boring music that had none of the inspiration or energy or quality of their 80's efforts.

BTW, I'd say last THREE QR records, not two... since Hear in the Now was just as horrible as Q2K and Tribe.