If you haven’t figured it out yet, Geoff Tate has evolved into a
progressive rock practitioner with a yen for odd time signatures and heady
concepts on the scale of Roger Waters and Ian Anderson. Not everyone, least
of all his former bandmates in Queensrÿche, is pleased with the direction
Tate has taken. No one, however, can argue with his adventurous spirit and
willingness to experiment and push the envelope, instead of resting on his
laurels. Although Operation Mindcrime is more a state of mind than an actual
band, it seems to work for Tate as the name behind his 2015 release, The
Key. As he has in his requisite manner, the story at hand is a
bit ambiguous, cushioned with sound bytes, and the songs may, in fact, be
completely unrelated to one another in one sense even as Tate says “each
song is a scene or chapter – every scene is different.” Somehow that’s
The Key.
Putting the theme aside, the music is what really drives this record. Tate
enlisted a full crew of top players including bassists Dave Ellefson (Megadeth,
Metal Allegiance) and John Moyer (Disturbed, Adrenaline Mob): drummers Simon
Wright (AC/DC, Dio), Scott Mercado (Candlebox), and Brian Tichy (Billy Idol,
Whitesnake); guitarists Kelly Gray (Queensryche) and Scott Moughton; keyboardist
Randy Gane (Myth) and vocalist Mark Daly (The Voodoos). One spin through
something like “Burn” or “The Fall” is enough to
show how well-thought-out the songs and overall project, as Tate calls it,
were. How it plays out live remains to be seen as Tate and many of the album’s
players continuing touring throughout 2016.
~ Shawn Perry
