Operation Mindcrime II

Like pretty much ALL Queensryche fans, I had dreamt about a part 2 to Mindcrime, but honestly after a decade of watching this band drift farther and farther away from the style and the sound that made part 1 so special, when I heard they were doing this, my only thought was "My God, they're going to screw it up!" There was no joy, only fear. Now, I've read a lot of reviews from people proclaiming this to be the glorious return of the Ryche ... so let me tell you up front, it's not. But you know what? They didn't screw it up either. Ironically, the things I heard hyped most about this cd (Dr. X being sung by Dio and the single, I'm American) were two of the worst songs on the disc. The bottom line is Part 1 was a great group of songs that happened to tell a story. Part 2 is a story that they tried to tell with songs. And the songs aren't as good. So, it's not part one. It can't touch part one. They miss DeGarmo, and frankly I question if their hearts are really in this or if they are just trying to revive their career by revisiting Dr. X. Either way though, they got it about half right. For any other release that wouldn't be good enough, but when you catch a little glimpse of that old spark, in songs like The Hands or An Intentional Confrontation, it's worth the price. --Scott