Operation: Livecrime [Live, Import]

The making of the Operation Mindcrime album back in the early 90s stands alone as monument to strong, talented, original, and bold creativity in the music industry. The best "concept" album since "Tommy" by the Who, and the best still.

Live Crime captures this "Live", as if you hadn't guessed already. Having actually attended the concert I can tell you first hand it's an incredible show, and the clear translation to the CD is beautiful. The Duet on "Sweet Sister Mary" captures the range of Geof Tate's incredible vocals, "The Needle Lies" the unmistakeable talent of Eddie Jackson's Bass skill, Anarchy-X the almost Neil Peart caliber of Scott Rockenfeld's drumming, and the powerful duo of Michael Wilton & Chris Degarmo resonates throughout the entire album. Not many bands can lay claim to serious & unequivicable talent. Queensryche does. And you can capture that talent for yourself from "Live Crime".

Queensryche is a Heavy Metal band, yes. In a day where Metal has fallen to Punk. But their influence upon the music world will be long standing due greatly to the effect of this album.

Give it a try. Dissappointment will be the farthest thing from your mind.

A Pal of mine and I were lucky enough to see 'Ryche on this headlining tour in Muskegon, Michigan, and I remember being totally blown away by the spectacle of it all. Operation: Mindcrime is one of the greatest albums ever recorded (and performed) and this re-release (Operation: LIVECrime) captures every blistering note and catchy melody.

Speaking of lucky, I was of sound mind enough to buy the CD/Video of Operation: LIVECrime when it was first released way back when. I remember I wasn't too thrilled with the video portion of it (they chose to use a slower-than-normal frame speed so the whole thing seemed to be in slow motion), but the overall effect was stunning. I wonder if the soon-to-be-released DVD will look the same? Will it be a CD/DVD package?

Anyway, these Mindcrime songs are absolutely brilliant. "Revolution Calling," "Operation: Mindcrime," "I Don't Believe in Love" and "Eyes of a Stranger" are dynamic, powerful songs, which sound their best when performed by the original line-up that created them. (See my comments on their recently released Live Evolution CD.)

This re-release contains two songs that weren't on the original release: "The Lady Wore Black" and "Roads to Madness," both of which are very exciting and fun to listen to.

I highly recommend this vintage Queensryche live CD!

Thirteen years later, the band releases "Operation Livecrime" which is the way it should have been released to begin with since it was tailor made to be played live. Having been burned so many times on live albums, I was a little leary of buying a live album I'd never heard, but I decided to take the gamble and do it anyway. It was worth it. If anything at all, they sound even better live than in the studio. Geoff Tate never sounded better and the band is just phenomenal. Hearing it done live makes the whole thing even more emotional and dramatic.

Hearing the whole thing played, track for track, gives an old favorite a more real feel and also gives the experience an extra boost. Again, I'm just mesmerized by how good they sound live. It's truly unbelievable. Any Queensryche fan should own this, even if you aren't a big fan of live albums. I'll be waiting for the Dvd.