Friday, February 11, 2005 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Ahead of Its Time

With its themes of false prophets and political artifice, Queensryche's opus is more relevant than ever

"If you're in the industry, a sold-out show is mega," says Queensryche frontman Geoff Tate. From left, bassist Eddie Jackson, guitarist Michael Wilton, Tate, guitarist Mike Stone and drummer Scott Rockenfield.

In 1988, the metal band Queensryche released a rock opera called "Operation: Mindcrime." It was ambitious. The plot followed a heroin addict who was brainwashed to be an assassin. His girlfriend was an ex-whore turned nun.

Now, the Seattle band is back on tour and performing all of "Mindcrime" again to sold-out crowds around America. The show goes to the House of Blues on Wednesday.

Frontman Geoff Tate says part of the musical's power is that two of its themes -- false prophets and political artifice -- are even more corrosive now than they were originally.

"I can't really think of things that are changing for the better," Tate, 46, says.

Everything his generation has held sacred stands threatened, he says, from abortion rights to Social Security and "the whole concept of fighting foreign wars."

"It seems like America has gotten dumber, or more gullible," he says. "Or maybe it's just that nobody gives a (damn). Maybe they're so busy trying to make ends meet with their own lives, capture their version of what the American Dream is."

People ought to think for themselves more, and realize politicians are not working for the best interests, he says.

"Any kind of a leader using the word, `evil' -- trouble. Get them out of office," Tate says. "Why is it that a religious group is able to sway votes? Why does a religious group have clout? What happened to the division between church and state?"

Tate's take on the world is a bedrock under "Operation: Mindcrime." The rock opera supposes only the powerless must face consequences.

"Rules only apply to the meek," he says. "The powerful people who call the shots -- they make the rules, they write the rules."

And, "Mindcrime" suggests, those rules change when different powerful people take change. Tate's field gives the impression that rock rebels against such a world.

"But that doesn't truly apply anymore, because it's a product we sell. We sell unrest. We sell lifestyles," Tate says. "Capitalism ... is the only sacred thing there is in this country. Even if it's bad for you, even if it's poisonous, even if it's chemically damaging and causes you cancer -- they have a right to sell that."

Tate, a father of four, says he's meeting more people who are fed up than ever before.

"So many people I've talked to are making arrangements to leave this country," he says.

What keeps him fighting, at times, is the memory of a lecture he attended by author Gore Vidal at the University of Washington.

"Somebody asked him, `What do we do? Do we just leave? Do we just go away and start a new country someplace?' And he paused and said, `No, we stay and fight.' Here's this (seemingly) 90-year-old guy who can barely stand up -- I think of that all the time, when I get fed up and can't take it anymore. It really inspires me."

Tate says Queensryche plans to put out a sequel to "Operation: Mindcrime" in the fall, then tour both albums together in 2006.

For now, the band is presenting "Mindcrime" in a playlike way, with sets, actors, new music and Surround Sound. It's a complicated production that follows an actual concert and an intermission. That concert tickets have sold well is a feat, he says.

"If you're in the industry, a sold-out show is mega, because our industry is in the dumper, and our country's economy is in the dumper. People are broke. They don't have money to go out and spend on entertainment. So when you can sell out every show you got, that makes news in the industry. And we're so excited to be part of it."