Queensryche: We will rock opera you

Screenplays, sequels--Queensryche's concept album is alive and well

By David Surratt

Not content with the four-minute flexing of its power-balladeer contemporaries, Queensryche went for the throat in 1988--the rock opera. Operation: Mindcrime was conceived and soon born into a Reagan-era world where it found heavy doting from metal fans and critics alike. It's an hour-long, 15-track opus that traces the tragedy of one Nikki, duped and drugged by mad evangelist Dr. X into assassinating nameless, corrupt politicians. Rounding out the rockin' dramatis personae is short-lived Mary, the ex-hooker with a heart of gold.

Seventeen years and countless corruption scandals later, the entire show is back on the road, being performed in its entirety for the first time in nearly that long. Geoff Tate, Queensryche frontman and creative force behind the original album, explains why.

"It's a fan favorite and we get asked to play it all the time. We spent about three and a half weeks in musical rehearsals for this--changed some of the song arrangements around to better explain the story...we actually added 20 minutes extra to the show."

And he's not stopping there. The decision to revisit Operation: Mindcrime now has him dreaming up a sequel.

"I talked to the band, and they were all very interested in exploring the possibilities," he says. "We're planning on releasing [Operation: Mindcrime II] sometime this year. It's interesting to kind of rekindle the spirit of the record."

According to Tate, the sequel will be set 15 years later--the modern day--where we'll find Nikki still incarcerated for his involuntary crimes. Tate has been coming up with ideas through a process of soul-searching on behalf of his fictional protagonist.

"I was thinking, 'What would I be doing if that happened to me?' I guess I'd analyze every aspect of my life 15 times over, you know? Recount every move, rethink every decision I made. Figure out a game plan for how to do it better if and when I ever get out of here."

Much like the protagonist, Tate and his bandmates also have a broadened perspective conferred by time. That perspective informs much of the creative process as Queensryche hunkers down to tackle the second installment to its late-'80s release.

"We're older now, more musically experienced. We're interested in making this record that's very grand, very multi-dimensional--something that explores musically all the different emotions that a character would feel in a situation that Nikki is in."

Well, they say to write what you know. Speaking of that, Hollywood is calling.

"Last year, I got asked to write a screenplay of the album," says Tate. "So I sat down and kind of tore the story apart. There are a lot of vague areas that I didn't explain, which is fine for a musical composition, but with a screenplay you have to go into much more detail with character development, motivations, that kind of thing."

But sequel and screenplay are both down the road. For now, there's only the original, which seems to be keeping Tate more than occupied as Queensryche tours its way westward--and as he metamorphosizes into his alter ego every night.

"There's a lot of me in Nikki," says Tate. "I draw upon that and just find myself really moved by the music and the story. I don't talk once to the audience--I sort of transform into this character and that's how I communicate. It's really exhausting. The first week we did the show, I was a basket case. I had a hard time getting up in the morning. It's a physical show too...there are parts where I roll off these ramps and hit the ground and get back up. I gotta trot up to the gym every day to keep this up."