This has to be one of the most anticipated releases of 2006 among progrock enthusiasts. Namely Queensrÿche's Operation: mindcrime (released back in 1988) is regarded as a classic in the progressive music field, and understandably everyone hopes the sequel to be of the same caliber as well. I actually had my fingers crossed regarding this release - I assumed it would most certainly suck, though I wished otherwise. So impatiently I inserted the disc into my player rightaway after receiving it...

The album starts with a two-track-intro, after which the real album opener "I'm American" unfolds - and strikes the listener with disenchantment. "I'm American" is plainly a real letdown. It's a song rÿche should have never released (after all, the nu-metal influences don't suit them... if this song would be performed by Disturbed it might rock ten times more, who knows?!?). Fortunately enough the second "proper" song, "One Foot in Hell" already manages to show slight improvement, and with "Hostage" Queensrÿche gets back on track again. Actually it's rather evident that the album improves towards the end - though there are no "hits". Thus, it feels as if something is missing... there are some good ideas here and there, but still the songs don't manage to make a strong, long-lasting impression. Songs are mainly average run-of-the-mill material that haven't been honed all the way. This applies to all the material on this album, which is quite a saddening fact. I guess I could point out one highlight, which is "Re-arrange You" - that is perhaps the only song that one will look back to after listening the album... at least it was in my case.

Perhaps one of the "kick in the teeth" factors of this album is also the production, since most of the sounds on this record are passé - seemingly Queensrÿche has strived for nostalgia of their youth years, and have underproduced their album (though in a way it's really overproduced too, depends on the viewpoint). The mastering has been taken to limits by squeezing those extra decibels in. In any event, Queensrÿche's Operation: mindcrime II is only a moderate progrock theme album. It's one of those albums that's nice to have in one's record collection, but doesn't get a lot of playing time. Well, I reckon I can give the guys plaudits for doing something different for a while, but unfortunately this record doesn't have the feel of a classic.

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- MAGE (April 23rd, 2006)

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LINE-UP:
Tate, Geoff: Vocals Jackson, Ed: Bass Rockenfield, Scott: Drums Wilton, Michael: Guitar Stone, Mike: Guitar Hakik, Ashif: Orchestral Arrangements with Following Guest Vocalists Moor, Pamela as Sister Mary Tate, Miranda as Nikki Dio, Ronnie James as Dr. X
Producer:	Slater, Jason
Mixing by:	Slater, Jason
Mastering by:	Greenham, John

	TRACKLIST:
	01. Freiheit Ouvertüre 02. Convict 03. I'm American 04. One Foot in Hell 05. Hostage 06. The Hands 07. Speed of Light 08. Signs Say Go 09. Re-arrange You 10. The Chase 11. Murderer? 12. Circles 13. If I could Change It All 14. An Intentional Confrontation 15. A Junkie's Blues 16. Fear City Slide 17. All the Promises Length: 59:08