Operation Mindcrime at 20

My buddy Dave reminded me via his post that I wanted to acknowledge the 20th anniversary of Operation Mindcrime. 20 years ago May 3rd, Queensryche released arguably the best metal concept album ever, and one of the best metal albums period. At a time when Poison ruled the charts with lightweight pop metal, Queensryche produced a dark and disturbing story set around drug kingpins, crooked priests, corrupt government, and a man so disillusioned by it all that he sets out to assassinate the corrupt leaders.. And it sold well. 20 years later it's still quite relevant, which is both a testament to the songwriting, and a sad statement on the state of affairs in our country.

I owned the Queensryche EP that was released in 1983 or 84, plus their first two albums, so I was already a committed fan when Mindcrime was released. 20 years later, it's still a staple of my music collection. The live presentation is well worth seeing too. Queeensryche plays every song on the record on order, weaving in light and video content to enhance the story of Nicky and Dr. X.

No metal collection should be without Operation Mindcrime.