The predecessor, known as "The Key", was the first part of a three part concept trilogy that Geoff and co. have cooked up for us. The first album was about four characters, who teamed up to develop new technology, who would allow humans to see alternate universes, but conflict arises, ending the collaboration and leading to one of the guys (only known as H), to almost loose his life. Enter the new album "Resurrection", where H has recovered the key to launch the massive project, and we will follow his way to make it all happen. I must give the band credit, it is an intriguing concept, just such a shame that it is told so subtly, simply going over the head of the listener.
As for the music... well... what can I say? Did you expect anything new from Geoff and co? Did not think so, but for those who do not know, this is basically just another Queensrÿche album, fairly slow progressive rock that is easy to enjoy, but hard to truly love. You sit there, nodding your head from time to time, liking what you hear, but as soon as the album is over, you are like "meh, it was okay". It just is not that interesting of an album, and it does not help that it has a length of just over an hour, making it really hard to get through it all in one sitting.
What also kills the album is the variety, because there is none. It is the same exact tempo throughout the entire album, and it is slow as hell, almost killing me with boredom. I get that the band wants to create a epic scenery, bring out what the main character feels when going through these adversities, but it just does not work out, it all ends in a muddy mess that just makes me mad. Just the fact that they opened up the album with 4(!) intro songs to get the listener into the concept just makes me wanna punch something. Sure, they are not long, but it is still hugely unnecessary.
Fortunately, the overall song quality is actually decent, and would have been even better with some variety thrown into it. Naturally, it is the little things that makes some songs stand out, like the heavy attitude in "Taking On The World", the saxophone on "A Smear Campaign" and "Healing My Wounds", or the beautiful instrumental bits in "The Fight". That is really the only thing that keeps my interest on life support, finding all these itty, bitty, tiny details that makes the album (and the concept) what it is. It takes some concentration, for sure, but the challenge was kind of fun some times.
Still, "Resurrection" is a very dull album. It is consistent, but about as exciting as watching paint dry. I really hoped that Operation: Mindcrime could pull off a Halford here, simply releasing a kick ass album that is named "Resurrection". But nope, even with some interesting details and a fairly cool (but muddy) concept, it just falls flat. Is it a bad album? not really, it is just a big, slow shoulder shrug that will not leave any impression on you what so ever. There is still hope though, because trilogies have a tendency to release its worst outing in the second part (Lord of The Rings, The Matrix, etc.), so let us all hope that Operation: Mindcrime delivers a real knockout punch for its final part. The main character seems ready to deliver the blow, but can the band do the same?
Songs worthy of recognition: Taking On The World, Left For Dead, The Fight
Rating: 5/10 Smear Campaigns
operationmindcrime.com/
More reviews of Operation: Mindcrime
The Key
Frequency Unknown
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