7-6-08 Queensrÿche – Operation: Mindcrime

Well, since I’m in Seattle, it’d probably be appropriate for me to post something from a Seattle band.

But not that one Seattle band. That’s a bit too… obvious, don’t you think? Instead, let’s focus on another group, one that hasn’t had as much press as that one Seattle band… and that just happens to be one of the favorite bands of my friend RJ, the guy who’s nice enough to put me up while I’m here. That, of course, would be Queensrÿche (MySpace and album downloads here).

Your neat thing today is the first three songs from 1988’s Operation: Mindcrime: I Remember Now, Anarchy-X and Revolution Calling. This was recorded live during Queensrÿche’s Operation: LIVEcrime tour on May 1991.

You’ll probably like the plot of Operation: Mindcrime, Shanoah. It’s a concept album – that is, an album with songs telling a common story. The story in this case is that of Nikki who, according to the Queensrÿche site, was: “…a loser. A street kid, left to fend for himself at a young age. He was independent, and unpredictable, but harmless. Except now he had a philosophy, and that made him dangerous.” His philosophy was that of Dr. X, leader of the “revolutionary” organization Revolution-X, who brainwashes Nikki into a Manchurian candidate-like killer. Nikki is activated, Telefon-like, with the word “mindcrime”.

His only salvation is Sister Mary, who “worked the S&M shows in Times Square.” Someone kills her near the end of Operation: Mindcrime, and her murderer was one of the album’s biggest mysteries. Fans had to wait until 2004 and the tour An Evening with Queensrÿche to learn who killed her.

Courtesy of ilovesouthernrock, which an odd name for a guy with a Pacific Northwest band on his/her/its/their channel.

Smash Mouth

To be honest, I rather assumed you were going to do something totally unrelated to July 4th if you had a chance to post, Sean. That’s one reason why I decided to dedicate my last post to it.

Nothing wrong with that, of course.

Today was one of these days where I really wasn’t sure what to post. I thought about posting a song called “She Thinks She’s Edith Head”, but while it may be a cool song, it isn’t anywhere on Youtube.

So, I’m going with Smash Mouth. Now you may be thinking, All right, he’s going to post ‘Why Can’t We Be Friends’, ‘Walking On The Sun’, ‘All Star’, ‘I’m A Believer’, or something along that line.

Not quite. Actually, all the songs I’m posting today are from the album Fush Yu Mang. Admittedly, “Why Can’t We Be Friends”, and “Walking On the Sun” were on that album, but I thought I’d focus in a bit on some of the songs that didn’t get as much play.

When I got this album, it was totally different from what I had been listening to. So it took me a bit to adjust to their style. Then I started paying attention to the lyrics, and started enjoying them.

Nervous In the Alley

You know, there are an awful lot of songs about drug abuse out there. Nevertheless, I like this one. It’s realistic, for one. The lyrics were well done, too. Or maybe I just like songs with the word ‘Gonzo‘ in them. I’m not discounting that possibility.

Heave-Ho

This song feels like they took the writers adage “Write What You Know” to heart. With this song, they’ve written a rather fun song about their collective whiny neighbor. And you could probably get the same results described if you blast this song loud enough, too.

Flo

Again, I like songs with a story behind them. And this is about someone who’s concerned enough about their girlfriend to try to get them back together with their ex. Which I think is cool.

7-5-08 The Rasmus – In The Shadows

Well, any band that joyously partkes of a hot dog is a FILTHY HERETIC, which means they’re all right in my book.

Anyway, the Fourth of July is about independence, the Bill of Rights, saying whatever you want without consequences, right? So I’m going to joyously partake of my right to free speech by posting something that has absolutely nothing to do with the Fourth of July.

Or maybe it does. You never can tell.

I’ve gone up to the Seattle area for a couple of days to visit a friend. The temperature was a high of 72 with partial cloud cover and green as far as the eye could see. In comparison, it was over a hundred in Las Vegas and without a single tree older than the oldest subdivision, which ain’t that old. I’m strongly considering moving up here.

Anyway, your neat thing today is something that my “niece” played on YouTube earlier (not my real niece, of course, but apparently my friend’s family has adopted me and I can’t go back. Oh well…). This is Finland’s The Rasmus (MySpace and album download here) with In The Shadows, off 2003’s Dead Letters. It’s a bit gothier than I’m used to, in the sense that it looks like the script was written by Anne Rice during a deep depression. But the song makes up for that, and then some.

Courtesy of rhealeo.