Queensryche set to release OPERATION MINDCRIME II
I just found out about this yesterday and I'm excited about it.
Operation MindCrime goes down in my personal history as being the best CD ever made. It helped get me through the first Bush administration. I found release for all the anger and frustration I felt during that time by listening to it. Now with Bush II in office, things have become worse than anyone could have imagined possible in America. So, right now I could use a healthy dose of Operation MindCrime II.
I don't have the expectation that it will be better than OMC because I think that album was so perfect that it would be impossible to top it. I'm also disappointed that Chris DeGarmo won't be playing guitar on it. I don't know, it just doesn't seem right doing this record without him.
Long-time Queensryche fans have mixed feelings about it too. Some think that OMC is a classic that should be left alone, others say it's long overdue.
The one thing I loved about Queensryche is that (so far) the band never sold out. Even during the 80's when hair bands were singing about women, women with big breasts, or the women they banged the night before; Queensryche went into a progressive direction and did their own thing. They sang about war, anarchy, and politics. They had an intellectual approach to their music, rather than regurgitating the same tired frat boy spew.
Here are some lyrics from "Speak" & "Spreading the Disease" on Operation MindCrime:
Speak
Seven years of power
The corporation claw
The rich control the government, the media the law
To make some kind of difference
Then everyone must know
Eradicate the fascists, revolution will grow
The system we learn says we're equal under law
But the streets are reality, the weak and poor will fall
Let's tip the power balance and tear down their crown
Educate the masses, We'll burn the White House down
Speak to me the pain you feel
Speak to me the pain you feel
Speak the word (Revolution)
The word is all of us
Spreading The Disease
Religion and sex are powerplays
Manipulate the people for the money they pay
Selling skin, selling God
The numbers look the same on their credit cards
Politicians say no to drugs
While we pay for wars in South America
Fighting fire with empty words
While the banks get fat
And the poor stay poor
And the rich get rich
And the cops get paid
To look away
As the one percent rules America
These songs were written in the 80's. I guess some things really don't change. Operation MindCrime II is set to be released in the U.S. on April 4, 2006
-----------------------Update (September 23, 2007): Here's my review of OM II. It's a suckfest. Man, they really sold-out on this one. Thank goodness there's still the first Operation Mindcrime though. I also read an interview where Tate bitched about people downloading music for free. I think Tate needs to be reminded of what happened when Metallica pulled that shit and just keep his mouth shut. Jeez, culd he be any more of a sell-out?
