Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10
Many people have an opinion on Geoff Tate, the siren with a voice of silk former lead vocalist of Queensryche, some wandering through the lands of the idyllic and the muse, some disdainful of his achievements, especially away from the band that he was such a big part of for virtually all his adult life and certainly in the album Frequency Unknown for which there appeared two Queensryche’s upon the glistening sands of Progressive Metal.
No matter what you say about Geoff Tate though, two things will always come to mind easily when laying the foundations for the defence, one he writes a damned interesting concept album, as witnessed time and time again throughout his career and secondly, the voice which made the hairs on the back of the neck stand to attention, which made them quiver with the flow of Seattle electricity and the meekness of a child witnessing its first dawn, is enough to praise when praise is due.
Operation: Mindcrime may sound more than a little familiar as a title for the collaborative band to which Geoff Tate adds considerable artistic weight too and whilst the split in another life was far from perfect, coming out of the other side to deliver what is described as the first of three concept albums, The Key, is a very healthy start to the way forward from here on in.
The Key features Kelly Gray, Scott Moughton, Randy Gane, Mark Daly, Simon Wright, Scott Mercado, Brian Tichy, John Moyer and Dave Ellefson joining Geoff Tate and in amongst the sounds of a story played out involving greed, money, betrayal and idealism, Operation: Mindcrime fashions the songs into a force that so very nearly reaches the strength and generosity of spirit that was seen in the album Empire and bodes well that Geoff Tate has reached a point where the past no longer should be seen as being a hindrance and that as with all things there is both room for him and Queensryche to live, if not exactly side by side, then at least in the same state and with access to the mutual history that made them arguably one of the greats of American Rock and Metal.
With tracks such as Burn, Life or Death, the deftness of touch that resides in Hearing Voices and An Ambush in Of Sadness, what comes across is the willingness of all concerned to bring the songs to the attention of the listener and wait patiently for that person to grasp the enormity of what could be, of what lays in store now that the dust has settled.
Geoff Tate and the musicians, especially Simon Wright on drums and Kelly Gray, deserve to breathe easy, to rest after taking on what could be the biggest mountain yet and with hope, the achievement of stepping out of the shadow of former glories is one that cannot and should not be tamed.
Ian D. Hall