Stooge
It’s become a tradition with rock and metal bands that release a concept album to perform it live from beginning to end, and that’s what the video Operation: Livecrime showcases, with Queensryche performing their landmark 1988 release.
As anyone who’s heard the Operation: Mindcrime album, the band can often have as many (or more) pop elements as metal. Seeing their stage show on DVD, this aspect is there to witness, from headset microphones to Chris DeGarmo’s chaps. I can tolerate most of the pop aspects of the band especially considering the time of the video’s initial release (1991), but some of the stage moves I find to be quite humorous and actually take away from the power of some of the songs. Thankfully, much of the prancing about stage dies down past the halfway point of the show. It must be some combination of fatigue and the realization that most of the crowd consists of males.
But seriously, this DVD is actually a pretty good release. The stage show includes effective visual aids that help piece their Mindrcime concept together, and the footage is shot with high quality. There’s a decent amount of bonus footage here as well, which includes a brief interview with singer Geoff Tate regarding the band and various aspects of the Mindcrime album. Two bonus songs are also hidden as easter eggs on the DVD, "The Lady Wore Black" and "Roads To Madness”.
Based on the rating system, this DVD is fitting of a 3 star rating. While certainly an entertaining release, I wouldn’t consider it to be essential. I’m not as drawn to watch this performance as I am to simply listen to the Mindcrime studio album.