There are certainly some things I like in that one. The very opening maybe sounds a bit gimmicky at first. When the singing voice comes in though it has a nice tone and feeling, the chorus first time around seems to lack something for me. However the middle section adds plenty more energy to the song (including a nice guitar solo) and this carries through the final section giving it much more energy and making the chorus more enjoyable to me second time around.

Certainly early Queensryche were very Iron Maiden influenced, its where they got their metal credentials from. Operation Mindcrime though was where they came into their own and as Jack said, an album Maiden themselves could've done, whether Maiden could've done it better is open to debate though, as Queensryche put out one of the best metal releases of the 1980s with this album.

This thread made me pull out the ol' Operation Mindcrime. Still sounds as fresh as when I first heard it some 7 or 8 years ago. Need to remember to keep this in rotation. It's bee too long.

Also might wanna check out the Styx album, there, Kilroy Was Here. I've only heard the Mr. Roboto single, but I'm not a n00b to Styx's work. I feel bad I haven't grabbed the whole album yet.

random factoid

Queensryche was one of the few hair metal-ish bands grunge didn't kill

Silent Lucidity (single) was released in the same year as Nirvana's, Pearl Jam's and Soundgarden's breakthroughs and managed to outsold all of them

I see Silent Lucidity as the declining point of Queensryche.

I have one Queensryche album, but to be honest they bored me as they were a average band in comparison to Iron Maiden who I adore.

I really like Queensryche. They have that certain rock sound that I like to hear.

You've said in the thread about Nightwish that you don't like symphonic metal. I found it strange that you like Queensrÿche.
And, yes, I've found much Iron Maiden sound in their music. Maiden are better musically - songwriting, riffs, solos, Queensrÿche's relied on Geoff Tate's voice to make almost all of the song, but for me Tate (in the 80s) was even better than Bruce Dickinson. Then he kinda lost the power of his voice.
I like a lot of their 90s songs, too, but then due to their main songwriter's (Chris DeGarmo) departure they went completely down.

b.t.w. Silent Lucidity sounds like it was written by Pink Floyd and performed by Queensrÿche (even on youtube a guy wrote a comment that he thought that it was a Pink Floyd song and had looked for it for years but couldn't find it).

Queen of the Reich is an amazing song. I love the Drums at the end.

For me, Queensryche will ALWAYS be one of the most important hard rock bands of Gen X. The two-year legal debacle that the fans have had to endure ( i.e. two "Queensryches" ) has been nothing short of DISGRACEFUL, to be kind. As a LONGTIME fan of the band since 1985, it was rather melancholy seeing what became of this amazing band during that time. Thankfully, it's been settled. But I digress ( :mad: ).

In my opinion, Queensryche single-handedly created the GREATEST hard rock record ever recorded with 1988's 'Operation:Mindcrime'. A true masterpiece in every sense of the word! Truth be told, between 1984-1994 the majority of their contemporaries couldn't touch 'em, on record or live. That, to me, speaks volumes on how important this band really is to the history of hard rock. Despite the very public falling out they had the music of Queensryche DESERVES to be heard and appreciated by future generations of hard rock fans WITHOUT the farce of the court case tarnishing the band's legacy. I look forward to seeing what the future holds for one of hard rock's finest. Long live Queensryche! :wave: