Liverpool Sound And Vision Rating * * *
It is a feeling of bewilderment, of pained intrigue to find an album that can leave you with mood of utter calm when what you know the prescription should have supplied was rage, anger at the system and the sense of incredulous outrage. It is the calm that comes after the storm and everything is hiding away, barely poking its nose out to sniff for any electrical residue that might be lurking in the mist.
Resurrection suggests rebirth, a renewal of the soul and perhaps the coming of understanding and whilst there is a lot to admire in the new album by Operation: Mindcrime’s second album, it doesn’t stack up firmly against the debut offering and leaves the distressing thought of times in which the valiant and storming music supplied by one of the most superb of bands would once more be played and be restored to its full body and soul.
There is no doubting the beauty in Resurrection but it can make the listener wonder where exactly is the passion; the Mona Lisa may be the most enjoyed painting hanging in The Louvre but it doesn’t have the same effect on the senses as Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Night or The Death of Nelson by Daniel Maclise; the most beautiful woman may be desirable but if she has no personality then it is just an empty vacuum, a vessel of pure elaboration.
It is rare to find yourself in the quandary placed before you, do you spend time and effort getting to Paris to see the Mona Lisa when you can quite happily see it in a book or online, the investment is the same in Resurrection, you know you want to hear it, you know it will fulfil a need, but will it revive the spirits after the initial introduction?
Geoff Tate has always come good, even taking Operation Mindcrime 2 into consideration, it is in his nature as one of the true standout frontmen of the Progressive Metal genre to both entertain and inform, his past albums with Queensryche and the debut by Operation: Mindcrime testify to this but occasionally there is the suggestion that arguably the picture is too big, too significant and vast, to warrant the time spent.
An album for the collectors and the interested, unfortunately it might get the same adulation of The Mona Lisa, something you know you are expected to see a masterpiece but there is a far more dynamic piece of art waiting in the conscious bursting at the seams waiting to paint upon a canvas.
Ian D. Hall