Queensryche: Operation: mindcrime

Well, this is from 1988.  I was 13.  Even at the time I thought the music was a little cheesy & over-the-top.  But the storyline of a drug addict becoming a revolutionary that could save America from it’s government with the help of the Catholic Church seemed like if I played my cards just right it could be about me.  Even though I loved this record, I only had a dub of it on cassette & I had re-arranged the order of the tracks to make it fit on the cassette (despite the fact the songs tell a story in chronological order).  I probably haven’t even heard a song off of this record since 1990 as I started to get into speed metal & death metal at that time.  Still I have jokingly sang a parody of “I Don’t Believe in Love” on a regular basis for years, though pretty much no one ever gets the reference.
So the first thing I notice about this record is the keyboard sounds are awful.  They sound like a 1980s Yamaha & not in the ironic embracing way that some pop bands get away with.  They are just awful.  The vocal style reminds me of Iron Maiden & I don’t mean that in a good way. (Even in the 1980s I thought Iron Maiden’s artwork was way better than their music & I still think that.  Though I haven’t listened to them in 20 years now so maybe Killers is a good record?)  But I think some of the guitar arpeggio stuff on here may have sunk into my unconscious because every once in a while I hear a part of a riff that I have lifted into my own songs.  I don’t know if I’ve ever heard a narrative album that wasn’t over the top & ridiculous, so I’m not sure I can fault this for that.  I just find myself wishing this was an actual rock opera with video.  I feel like I’m missing something with just the audio (I feel the same way about The Wall), but I don’t think they even made videos for most of the songs (at least I can’t find them on YouTube).
This record really does serve as a time machine for me & makes me want to go & smoke Marlboro Reds & drink beers in the woods at the park down the street & plan a revolution, but somehow I don’t think my best friend from junior high would know to show up.  Still I can’t really whole-heartedly endorse it or push it away.  I would say it’s an album worth hearing, just because the narrative element is so bizarre.  Musically it really is way over the top glam metal which is fun & funny.  I think it would be a fun album to take on tour & make the whole van listen to.  You can probably find it used for about the same price as to rent a movie & I think it is worth an hour of your life hanging around a group of folks to talk about it.