Today David and I continue our post on our top five favorite albums…
DAVID:
Queensryche – “Operation Mind Crime”
I was the first kid in Bangor to get the EP that introduced this band to the world, Queensryche. My friends and I wore it out as well as the next two full length CDs, “Warning” and “Rage for Order.” All great and all leading up to their concept album, the masterpiece, “Operation Mindcrime.” This CD has it all, great guitar work, from Chris DeGarmo and Michael Wilton. Tasty bass licks by Eddie Jackson. Scott Rockenfield’s amazing drum tracks and complex fills and have you heard Geoff Tate sing!? Such amazing musicians coming together for songs you can listen to over and over again. Tackling themes of religion, corruption, abuse of power, an anti-government revolution and a radical group led by a dubious leader, Dr. X. Queensryche was talking about the 3 percent of wealthiest men controlling the economy and the Nation, long before many knew what the 3% was.
“Revolution Calling,” the first song sets the stage for whats to come. “I used to trust the media to tell me the truth / tell us the truth / but now I see the payoffs everywhere I look / who do you trust when everyones a crook!” Indeed, the Revolution is Calling.
“Operation Mind Crime,” introduces us to the main character, Niki. “Operation Mind Crime / were an underground revolution working overtime.” “There’s a job for you in the system boy with nothing to sign.” Young idealism finds a purpose and moves in the shadows serving a higher movement, driving him to kill for a cause.
“Speak” This song sets the scene combining religion with revolution and telling the tale of how religion and power have served each other from before the time man recorded history on papaya, or clay tablets in the summer. “Speak the word / Revolution / the word is all of us.”
“Spreading the Disease,” begins with a wonderfully fun drum track by Rockenfield. The story of Sister Mary, a sex worker turned Nun who is connected with our main character, Niki. The subject of corrupt religion, with a helpful facade, while being dark and cancer ridden on the inside besets this track.
The theme of God for money, power and changing the world for the better are continued on the next few tracks. “The Mission,” “Suite Sister Mary,” “The Needle Lies,” “Electric Requiem,” Breaking the Silence,” all tell of an incredibly complicated story of human emotion and doing the wrong thing for what you think is the right reason.
“I Don’t Believe in Love,” was certainly one of the hits on this record. The one that got the most airplay but I kind of think if I were a DJ back then I would have been fired for playing this CD from the beginning to the end. Visions of locking the door and playing the whole thing while the station manager kicks it in, like that scene in “Shawshank Redemption.”
The record is concluded with, “Waiting for 22,” “My Empty Room,” and “Eyes of a Stranger,” the other big hit off this record. “And I raise my head and stare / into the eyes of a stranger / I’ve always know that the mirror never lies.” Great song, great CD, great band, so worthy of being heard again and again!
MICHAEL:
Prince and The Revolution – “Purple Rain”
Prince in my opinion, is the greatest singer, songwriter, musician, performer and artist of all time. Everything he’s ever done is amazing. “Purple Rain” is a work of genius. And I say that as a stand-alone record, not as a soundtrack to a movie. Take the movie out of it and it’s still brilliant. Prince plays virtually every instrument on his albums and then he has musicians play the parts live. The Revolution was the perfect backing band for Prince and their performances on the live parts of this album are extraordinary.
Many people do not know that songs like “Purple Rain” were recorded live and then edited in the studio. The songs on this album fit together perfectly and the album flows from beginning to end. The song order is essential. I first heard this album after my sister got it as a present. At the time I didn’t think it was cool to be a Prince fan, but as time went on I slowly began to realize that Prince was a virtuoso. As I got older I started to follow Prince more closely and I bought his CDs.
“Purple Rain” stuck with me as a stunning work of art. I had the pleasure of interviewing Bobby Z (Read Here) and his drumming contributions to this album are superb. The insights I gained from that interview further proved my intuition that this album was perhaps Prince’s finest work. His untimely death has cast a shadow over the music community and left a void in the music that he could have continued to produce. Here are my favorites:
“Let’s Go Crazy,” An obvious choice out of the hit songs that came from that record. Prince’s up-tempo guitar and vocals make this song cook. The opening organ and “eulogy” for “this thing called life” contrast once the song kicks off. The song climaxes with a heavy guitar outro leads, electronic drums, bass and whirring synthesizers and a climatic drum outro. In between Prince sounds as if he is jumping between the lyrics. Throughout the album Prince gets this amazing sound out of his guitars. His solo in this song is amazing and depicts his skills as a player and producer.
“The Beautiful Ones,” Not an obvious choice. Unlike most of the album, this song is softer. Starting out with a great concert tom fill the piano and organ-sounding synthesizers in this song gradually build in volume and intensity. By the end of the song, Prince is screaming out “Do you want him, or do you want me? ‘Cause I want you.” Prince’s keyboards and drum solo serving as the closing instrumentation. As a drummer much of the Purple Rain album is a great example of what can be accomplished when combining electronic and acoustic drums. Prince and Bobby Z create an exceptional backdrop of percussion on every song that seems to fit perfectly.
“Computer Blue,” is another non-obvious choice. The song begins with spoken lyrics by Wendy and Lisa which suggest a dominatrix-type relationship. Of course Wendy and Lisa had a longtime romantic relationship and still work together as collaborators. The song is a very guitar-oriented number and the song represents Prince’s torment at the relationship between the characters played by Morris Day and Apollonia. The song was composed by Prince, with credit to his father, John L. Nelson for the guitar solo based on a piano instrumental written by Nelson and Prince. According to the song’s Wikipage it was originally conceived as a 14-minute opus but the song was edited from a fully mastered 7:30 down to its current length. On the box-set “Purple Rain Deluxe” (2017) a different and longer recording is included.
“Purple Rain,” An instant classic and my favorite song hands down. If you ask me what’s my favorite song, that’s my answer every time. Every facet of this song is brilliant. From the opening rhythm guitar riff – to the lead solo – to the drums – to the keys – to the lyrics it all fits. “Purple Rain” opens with a lone guitar quickly followed by live drumming and a prominent grand piano, evoking images of gospel music. Many people don’t realize that there are only three verses and each are followed by a chorus, with a building emotional delivery. Prince recorded this song live and then added additional elements in the studio as part of the movie’s soundtrack. It’s also perfect for slow dancing.
Many of the songs off this album have been redone on various Greatest Hits compilation albums showing how Prince’s creativity in the studio (on any song) had no bounds.
Off Beat with Michael Aubrecht 