Hi everyone! This is a post that I started in 2018, but never finished, so you might notice some differences in writing style in the first few paragraphs (although I edited them quite a bit). I have a large amount of draft posts that I started, but for whatever reason, never got around to finishing. This is one that had a lot done, so I figured I should finish it.
Operation: Mindcrime is an awesome concept album by the progressive metal band, Queensrÿche. It tells the story of a heroin addict named Nikki in a future dystopian society. The story is told by Nikki after the fact, as he is remembering it while laying in a bed at a mental institution. He is recruited by a revolutionary group run by a mysterious man named Dr. X, and brainwashed into becoming a hitman for the cause. What becomes of him? You'll have to keep reading (or listen to the album) to find out!
The cover of this album is very unusual, and it looks suspiciously like the cover of Napalm Death's cornerstone album, From Enslavement to Obliteration. The two albums even came out the same year, 1988. However, Napalm death's album came out four months after Queensrÿche's, so now the question is did Napalm Death copy Queensrÿche's art style, or is it just a coincidence? (Click here to see From Enslavement to Obliteration's album cover). Behind the yellow band logo, you can see a huge crowd of people and a giant screaming head. The crowd of people is the revolution, and the giant head is Nikki. Dr. X can also be seen on the back album cover.
In terms of sound, Queensrÿche is a fairly unique band. They combine the energetic stadium anthems and screamed vocals of glam metal with the musical complexity and storytelling of progressive metal to create compelling and relentlessly catchy songs. There is not a single boring song on Operation: Mindcrime, every single one is a banger meant to be played in front of a cheering crowd, and every one has a compelling story waiting to be analyzed.
The first two songs on the album are just intro tracks, establishing that the story is being recalled by Nikki in a mental hospital, but the first real song, "Revolution Calling", has some timeless political commentary that still holds up today. Notably, the lyrics "I used to trust the media to tell me the truth, tell us the truth/ But now I've seen the payoffs everywhere I look/ Who you trust when everyone's a crook?" and "I used to think that only America's way, way was right/ But now the holy dollar rules everybody's lives/ Gotta make a million, doesn't matter who dies" are scarily relevant in modern day America, possibly even more so than when the album was created.
The next song is the title track, "Operation: Mindcrime". This song acts almost like an advertisement for the revolutionary group, with someone trying to convince Nikki to join, get "the cure" from Dr. X (my theory is that "the cure" is heroin), and become a hitman. This song stands out for its unbelievably catchy chorus: "Now I know you wont refuuuuuse!/ Because we've go so much to dooooooo/ And you've got nothing more to loooooose!/ SO TAKE THIS NUMBAAAAAA! (and welcome) to Operation: Mindcriiiiiime!/ We're an underground revolution working overtime/ Operation: Mindcriiiiiime!/ There's a job for you in the system boy with/ Nothing to siiiiiiiiiiiiign!" The lyrics of this song also do a good job of showing just how manipulative and dishonest the revolutionary group is when convincing Nikki to join. Just how "Revolution Calling" was criticizing the American institution and media, "Operation: Mindcrime" is criticizing extremists who mislead people about their goals in order to get them to join the cause.
I'm going to skim over "Speak", but in this song, Nikki starts seeing the cause as a religion, and himself as an angle of death. There's also more political commentary, criticizing both capitalism and violent revolutionaries.
My favorite song on this album is "Spreading the Disease". In this song we are introduced to a new character, Sister Marry, and given her backstory. Marry was a prostitute who was reformed into a nun by the church. However, at the church Marry is frequently raped by Father William, the Priest who took her off the streets. The lyrics of this song cleverly compare religion and prostitution. The whole metaphor is summed up in these lines: "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" (man, they are taking shots at EVERYONE in this album).
At this point, the album suddenly becomes a lot less about politics, and a lot more about emotions and love. This reflects Nikki's sudden change in mentality after meeting Mary.
In the next few songs, Nikki hides out in a church where he meets Marry and falls in love with her. Marry tries to convince Nikki to stop killing, giving him doubts. When Dr. X realizes what is happening, he tells Nikki to kill both her and the Priest. Nikki kills the priest, but refuses to kill Marry.
In "The Needle Lies", we are treated to an intense, fast paced melody, which conveys to us the panic Nikki feels when Dr. X refuses to give him any more heroin after Nikki disobeys him. The song starts with Nikki screaming, "I've had enough and I want OUT!" Dr. X just laughs and says, "You can't walk away now". After this, the pain Nikki feels due to withdrawals is described to us in detail, "Cold and shaking I/ crawled down alleys to try/ and scrape away the tracks that marked me/ Slammed my face into the walls of concrete/ I stared, amazed at the words written on the wall/ [...] Don't ever trust the needle, it lies". I get goosebumps picturing this scene in my head.
Predictably, Dr. X sends a different hitman to do Nikki's job for him, and kill Marry. When Nikki finds Marry's dead body, he snaps and runs screaming through the city streets ("Breaking the Silence"): "Breaking the silence of the night/ Can't you hear me screaming?/ I look for your face in the neon lights/ You never answer".
In the song "I Don't Believe in Love", Nikki is arrested for the murder of Mary, despite not doing it. In his pain he renounces love entirely. This was the first song off this album I ever heard. I think, I must of heard it on the radio or something, because when I first listened to the album, I instantly recognized the chorus: "I don't believe in love!/ I never have, I never will/ [...] It's never worth the pain that you feel".
In the final songs of the album, we return to the present. Nikki is brought to a mental hospital, where he looks in a mirror, but doesn't recognize himself.
Woof, sorry for such a long review (or maybe you like these long reviews?), but Operation: Mindcrime is an album with a very well written story that deserves analysis. In fact, I'd consider this one of the best written stories of any concept album, and one of the best concept albums of all time. I highly recommend giving this one a listen, no matter who you are.
Rating: 9.5/10
Favorite Tracks: "Revolution Calling", "Operation: Mindcrime", "Speak", "Spreading the Disease", "The Mission", "Suite Sister Mary", "The Needle Lies", "Breaking the Silence", "I don't Believe in Love"
MAYBE the Napalm Death album art is a rip-off of Mindcrime's, but isn't the Mindcrime art a rip-off of Barbara Kruger's art?
ReplyDelete