The album, I mean CD (I’m old), starts off very strong with a great instrumental called "Freiheit Ouvertüre", which is very reminiscent of the first album. It continues strong with "I'm American”,” One Foot in Hell”, and "Hostage”, but then the problems arise. The songs become redundant in both music and story. Nikki spends seven songs debating whether or not to kill Dr. X. Also, while Pamela Moore does return in the role of Sister Mary, there is also another female singer, Miranda Tate, and that causes confusion in “The Hands” as to which one is Mary. The guest singer playing Dr. X was a nice surprise to me when I listened, so I am going to assume you do not know and not tell you here who it is, but it is really cool and the duet between the "mystery singer" and Geoff Tate is amazing.
The alb…CD ends with a cliché big chorus number that is overdone and just plain annoying. It is really a shame. Queensrÿche took a great story, one that every Mindcrime fan has been waiting for almost 20 years, and they release what sounds like a quickly pumped out story for some cash. The saga of Nikki, Mary, and Dr. X was so epic that it deserved something better than Operation: Mindcrime II. This CD is to the first one what Phantom Menace is to A New Hope.
Grade: B-
The good songs are great and the weak songs are not totally bad, just redundant. Anyone who is a fan of the first album must buy this if you haven't already. If you have never heard the first one, do not buy this one. It is not a strong enough album to stand on its own.
Article comments
1 - Douglas Mays
Good mention of Pamela Moore. She has a solo album out now. It is nice to see the depth of talent behind the QR posse.
2 - Visitor
I wonder if I'm the only one to think that the main point of these two albums is about the traps a socially conscions person willing for a change must avoid. OMC 1 shows the political and moral dead end of terrorism a mean to change society once advocated by Blanqui, Che Guevara or Mao. OMC 2 does the same with the strategy of "mingeling" with the system, something advocated for by Bernstein, Mandel (and Mao too). They seem different but both happen when opportunism prevails over principles.
what do you think ?