Posted on 10/20/2004 3:44:54 PM PDT by My Favorite Headache
Metal men give dystopia a suitable soundtrack;Stick It To Bush
You can’t keep a good concept album down — especially when elements of its ominous story can be found lurking in current events. In 1988, Seattle quintet Queensrÿche released “Operation: Mindcrime,” a dark record that depicts a dystopian future society driven by charismatic — and sinister — demagogues. The central character is a street kid named Nikki who comes under the thrall of Dr. X and turns into his loyal assassin, eliminating anyone who poses a threat. It’s sort of “1984” meets “The Manchurian Candidate” with a dramatic metal soundtrack welded on. “It’s a story about a terrorist,” singer Geoff Tate explains. “It sort of fits in with what’s going on in the world right now.” The band began life in the early ’80s with a sound that owed quite a bit to Iron Maiden, with Tate’s operatic pipes wailing out front. Gradually, more progressive, arty influences found their way into the mix, earning Queensrÿche the tag “thinking man’s metal.” “Operation: Mindcrime” represents the band’s creative pinnacle, selling well over a million copies, though its follow-up record, “Empire” (1990) actually sold a bit better thanks to the top 10 single “Silent Lucidity.” Queensrÿche is revisiting “Mindcrime” on its current tour, with elaborate staging, surround-sound technology, orchestral backing and even actors portraying characters from the album. Careful, guys, remember what happened to Styx on the “Mr. Roboto” tour.
There’s a story to tell
“I’ve always been interested in dramatic productions,” says Tate, 45. “I’ve always thought of Queensrÿche as a very dramatic musical organization, and our music lends itself to that sort of treatment. Especially ‘Mindcrime,’ because it’s a story. “We started on this route because I was writing a screenplay based on the album,” Tate says. “And I noticed there are a lot of holes on the album that you can’t cover musically. … So in true Queensrÿche fashion we started brainstorming and came up with some angles that would make it interesting for us to play it and interesting for an audience to see it.” Tate says that going back to the old album inspired the band members to work on a sequel, titled (what else?) “Operation: Mindcrime II.” And, he says, there’s definite interest in a “Mindcrime” movie from the Hollywood community. “Over the years we’ve been approached by various companies about making a movie, but we never felt quite right about it,” Tate says. “Whether it was the people they wanted to use, the screenwriter or the director, it just didn’t feel right.” Directors Luc Besson, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino are on Tate’s wish list to take the project’s helm.
Sticking it to Bush
“Mindcrime” is an album about devious individuals gaining control over the hearts and minds of impressionable people, and it’s a theme that never strays too far from Tate’s observational eye. “The situation in our country is perfect fodder for an album,” Tate says. “I’m fascinated by marketing, by the commercials the government makes and the ideology they sell us and that we buy so readily. We’re really just a nation of consumers; that seems to be our culture. “They can tell us we need to go to war with Iraq, and we buy it. We don’t question it. We don’t say, ‘Wait a minute, Iraq didn’t have anything to do with the terrorist attacks. Why are we going to war with this country?’ “I’ve come into contact with a lot of people who say they want to vote for George Bush. And I ask them, ‘Why are you voting for someone who has failed on every level as a leader?’ I don’t understand why people who don’t have two nickels to rub together support an administration that has no concern for them.” Queensrÿche’s political stance apparently has ruffled the feathers of some fans who were under the impression that their favorite band was a horse of a different color. “We’ve gotten some flak from fans who say they’re going to burn our records,” Tate says. “We recently played a benefit show … which gathers funds for the Democrats. “People have said to us, ‘How can you do this? How can you get behind this?’ And I say to them, ‘Listen to the records. We’ve always been on this platform.’ ”
Anyway, I've always found it uncanny how when the President has an (R) after his name, hard rock, punk, and metal bands suddenly discover politics. When there's a (D) they'll sing about cars and girls and when there's an (R) it's all "SANDINISTAS!" type crap. Never fails.
1988 and 2004...hmm. The (so brilliant it's cracking me up) idea of reviving "Mindcrime" for a sequel apparently never occurred to the Queensryche geniuses between 1992-2000. Gee I wonder why?
Wake me when Meat Loaf makes "Bat Out Of Hell 3".
I saw Queensryche live in concert a few times in the late 80s/early 90s. The funny thing, one time I saw them in Boston Garden and a band named Warrior Soul opened. They were big leftists (perhaps even anarchists if I recall correctly) and were booed by the crowd.
Bong-addled poodle boys in spandex... is there anything they don't know?....
Who the hell is Queensryche. I imagine they are following in the pioneering footsteps of Uriah Heep and Motley Crue. Sounds like a Queensryche endorsement for Kerry can only benefit bush. They probably just pick the candidate with the best hair.
Where do they play now? At high school gymnasiums?
I'm still reeling over Bruce Springsteen's 'enormous sustenance' remark regarding columnists Paul Krugman and Maureen Dowd, and now this!
Really a moronic comment? I thought it was a sarchastic comment about a bunch of punk bands. If you mistook my comment to mean that I thought Bruce Springsteen sold less than Traffic then that's one thing, otherwise I am sorry that humor and sarchasm are lost on you.
Will John Mellenhead & Bruce Sreamstain be the opening act or the headliner?
I thought they sucked too. AC/DC all the way.
My bad then, I actually love humor and frankly feel very at home in sarcasm as you would see in many of my posts... I really thought you felt Traffic sold more albums than Bruce and Sting etc. Moron was a bit strong, I apologize... :)
Good, maybe Mindcrime II will be good. They've gotten steadily less listenable and interesting since Mindcrime. Q2K was complete crap.
Queensryche is a Pink Floyd wanna be cover band...they are soooooooo 1990.
Unfortunately I bought 2 tix for their Pompano Beach show this friday. I never knew their political bent until now. It does throw a wrench into the whole "fan" thing now. I guess I will see them for the first and the last time on friday. Maybe i,ll wear my W04' hat and t-shirt.
Did he ask these same questions when Clinton was bombing Yugoslavia?
Queensryche was good upto Empire, then they out thought themselves and got too artsy. If they were to revisit their own lyrics, they`d see that the repubs are NOT the enemy of the state they allude to.
"The rich control the government, the media, the law..."
The Kerrys? George Soros? The Clintons? liberals in general? The prime directive of Marxism is to infiltrate the government, media,law, and education. I think they`ve succeeded. Revisit the thread from last night about the billionaires meeting in Colorado.
I seem to recall that they were part of some megatour with other bands and Dennis DeYoung wanted to do the actual show which had little skits in between the songs. They were booed off the stage. On the Behind the Music, the other band members basically said they understood why they were booed (they openly expressed their hatred for DeYoung, since the album was basically his idea in the first place).
Queensryche is a GREAT band. (Sorry, all of you who insist they "suck" - I'll just be blunt and tell you that you don't know what you're talking about. I've been in the music business for over twenty years. It's not even up for debate.) Unfortunately, when it comes to politics, they're idiots.
Wouldn't be the first time we've seen stupid musicians shooting off their mouths on the topic, won't be the last.
Go for it...I am wearing my Bush/Cheney shirt that night and throwing another one up on stage.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.