Re-inventing his future
Operation: Mindcrime - The Key
Operation: Mindcrime - The Key
Unless they have been living under a progressive, metal rich rock these last three years there can’t be many fans of that genre that don’t know the tale of Geoff Tate, a lawsuit and the two Queensrÿches.
Suffice to say when relationships reached breaking point in 2012 the singer found himself out the group and fronting his own version of Queensrÿche while the original band continued by bringing in vocalist Todd La Torre.
The results were a Queensrÿche album by both camps in 2013 before the name issue was finally put to bed in 2014 when a settlement was reached that gave Tate’s ex band-mates ownership of the name.
Meanwhile as fans circled the wagons around Queensrÿche, who came out as the innocents in the somewhat Machiavellianism state of affairs, Geoff Tate struggled to put a positive spin on proceedings and lost a fair chunk of his audience while gaining a lot of critics.
Tate’s 2012 solo album Kings & Thieves was received poorly and failed to chart while his Queensrÿche album, Frequency Unknown, suffered from very mixed reviews and dreadful mixing problems.
(Featuring the letters "F" and "U" as rings on fingers of a clenched fist on the album cover didn’t exactly
re-endear him to the Queensrÿche fan-base either).
All of which meant one of the best metal-based singers of all-time was already on two musical strikes when he came up to the plate to bat for The Key, the first album by Geoff Tate’s Operation: Mindcrime (named after Queensrÿche’s finest musical and conceptual hour).
This time however Tate swung not at ex band-mates or detractors but straight at the oncoming, critical pitch.
And knocked it out the park.
The Key is an outstanding, dark-themed piece of sometimes brooding, sometimes intense work and another conceptual success from the creative mind of Geoff Tate; the singer may have lost a lot of ground lately but he’s still willing to take musical risks to make a statement.
While the chunky and gritty guitars, pulsing or pumping bass lines and the bristling wall of sound that forms the backdrop to numbers such as 'Burn' and 'Re-inventing the Future' puts the album squarely in progressive metal territory there is also a modern era Bowie influence interwoven throughout the sonic fabric of The Key.
Similarly, while Geoff Tate has his own, distinct voice there are moments of Bowie-esque vocal deliveries (an example being the 'Choices' we all face as listed by Tate on the album’s opening number of that title).
Not that The Key unlocks only dark or brooding soundscapes.
Part of the album’s strength are the textures and colours not usually employed on such metal-based albums.
'Ready to Fly' has an ethereal quality while 'On Queue' is a spacey, almost blues-themed number that comes complete with a saxophone wailing over an atmospheric backdrop.
Album closer 'The Fall' also incorporates a little sax appeal to add to a building rock finale that features keyboard strings and melodic guitar lines.
As a musical concept Operation: Mindcrime represents a Geoff Tate project more than it represents a band line-up but The Key benefits from the contributions of guitarists Scott Moughton and Kelly Gray, Randy Gane’s keyboard textures, bass from John Moyer and David Ellefson and drummers Brian Tichy and Simon Wright.
As regards the lyrical concept, anyone looking to grasp the story will be disappointed but that’s because the listener is only getting part of that story – The Key is the first of a trilogy of albums which document an international incident involving global political intrigue, computer control at a level never conceived before, a code and, of course, a key.
Parts of the story are delivered through the song lyrics and a few short, spoken passages between some of the songs offer further clues but truth be told it’s the sheer vibrancy and intensity of the music that does the talking.
Three years on from an acrimonious split is an outcome that presents a win-win scenario – Geoff Tate and Queensrÿche are now better, and quite possibly stronger, apart.
Queensrÿche’s self-titled and first album with Todd La Torre was extremely well received.
It was heavy on melody and returned to the roots of what made Queensrÿche one of the most successful progressive melodic metal outfits in the first place, but it was also a band still finding their direction.
However it’s a direction that pointed to follow-up album Condition Hüman being the most fan heralded Queensrÿche album in a very long time.
Geoff Tate, having got an arguably ill-advised Queensrÿche release and a very hit and miss solo album out of his system, has regrouped – literally – to show that he can still take risks, be musically adventurous and now holds The Key to re-inventing his own musical future.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
Suffice to say when relationships reached breaking point in 2012 the singer found himself out the group and fronting his own version of Queensrÿche while the original band continued by bringing in vocalist Todd La Torre.
The results were a Queensrÿche album by both camps in 2013 before the name issue was finally put to bed in 2014 when a settlement was reached that gave Tate’s ex band-mates ownership of the name.
Meanwhile as fans circled the wagons around Queensrÿche, who came out as the innocents in the somewhat Machiavellianism state of affairs, Geoff Tate struggled to put a positive spin on proceedings and lost a fair chunk of his audience while gaining a lot of critics.
Tate’s 2012 solo album Kings & Thieves was received poorly and failed to chart while his Queensrÿche album, Frequency Unknown, suffered from very mixed reviews and dreadful mixing problems.
(Featuring the letters "F" and "U" as rings on fingers of a clenched fist on the album cover didn’t exactly
re-endear him to the Queensrÿche fan-base either).
All of which meant one of the best metal-based singers of all-time was already on two musical strikes when he came up to the plate to bat for The Key, the first album by Geoff Tate’s Operation: Mindcrime (named after Queensrÿche’s finest musical and conceptual hour).
This time however Tate swung not at ex band-mates or detractors but straight at the oncoming, critical pitch.
And knocked it out the park.
The Key is an outstanding, dark-themed piece of sometimes brooding, sometimes intense work and another conceptual success from the creative mind of Geoff Tate; the singer may have lost a lot of ground lately but he’s still willing to take musical risks to make a statement.
While the chunky and gritty guitars, pulsing or pumping bass lines and the bristling wall of sound that forms the backdrop to numbers such as 'Burn' and 'Re-inventing the Future' puts the album squarely in progressive metal territory there is also a modern era Bowie influence interwoven throughout the sonic fabric of The Key.
Similarly, while Geoff Tate has his own, distinct voice there are moments of Bowie-esque vocal deliveries (an example being the 'Choices' we all face as listed by Tate on the album’s opening number of that title).
Not that The Key unlocks only dark or brooding soundscapes.
Part of the album’s strength are the textures and colours not usually employed on such metal-based albums.
'Ready to Fly' has an ethereal quality while 'On Queue' is a spacey, almost blues-themed number that comes complete with a saxophone wailing over an atmospheric backdrop.
Album closer 'The Fall' also incorporates a little sax appeal to add to a building rock finale that features keyboard strings and melodic guitar lines.
As a musical concept Operation: Mindcrime represents a Geoff Tate project more than it represents a band line-up but The Key benefits from the contributions of guitarists Scott Moughton and Kelly Gray, Randy Gane’s keyboard textures, bass from John Moyer and David Ellefson and drummers Brian Tichy and Simon Wright.
As regards the lyrical concept, anyone looking to grasp the story will be disappointed but that’s because the listener is only getting part of that story – The Key is the first of a trilogy of albums which document an international incident involving global political intrigue, computer control at a level never conceived before, a code and, of course, a key.
Parts of the story are delivered through the song lyrics and a few short, spoken passages between some of the songs offer further clues but truth be told it’s the sheer vibrancy and intensity of the music that does the talking.
Three years on from an acrimonious split is an outcome that presents a win-win scenario – Geoff Tate and Queensrÿche are now better, and quite possibly stronger, apart.
Queensrÿche’s self-titled and first album with Todd La Torre was extremely well received.
It was heavy on melody and returned to the roots of what made Queensrÿche one of the most successful progressive melodic metal outfits in the first place, but it was also a band still finding their direction.
However it’s a direction that pointed to follow-up album Condition Hüman being the most fan heralded Queensrÿche album in a very long time.
Geoff Tate, having got an arguably ill-advised Queensrÿche release and a very hit and miss solo album out of his system, has regrouped – literally – to show that he can still take risks, be musically adventurous and now holds The Key to re-inventing his own musical future.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
