_{Geoff Tate is of course best known as the vocalist for Queensryche for 30 years; up to 2012. I must admit that Queensryche were one of those bands that didn’t really do it for me! I didn’t dislike them, but neither did I rush out to buy their multi-million selling albums! When Frontiers Records announced that “The Key”; the first album from Tate’s Operation : Mindcrime project, would be released on 18th September, I wasn’t sure what to expect and it took me a while to get round to listening to it. The exception being the initial single “Re-inventing The Future” which I had played on the Friday NI Rocks Show. Having listened to the album a few times now over the last couple of days I have to say it is definitely worth checking out; though no doubt Geoff Tate fans will have been all over it since it became available!}

_{“The Key” has been promoted as the first part of a trilogy of releases from the Operation : Mindcrime project and Tate seems keen to emphasise that this is something a little different. Indeed he has stressed that Operation : Mindcrime is a “musical project of like-minded people” rather than a band. The name of the project comes from the Queensryche concept albums “Operation : Mindcrime” (1988) and “Operation : Mindcrime II” (2006) which apparently Tate was given exclusive performance rights to as part of the settlement in which his former band-mates retained the rights to the Queensryche name.}

_{Amongst those involved in the project are bass players Dave Ellefson (Megadeth) and John Moyer (Disturbed / Adrenaline Mob); drummers Simon Wright (AC/DC), Scott Mercado (Candlebox) and Brian Tichy (too many to list!); guitarists Kelly Gray (Queensryche) and Scott Moughton (Geoff Tate) etc.}

_{Favourite tracks would include “Burn”, “Re-inventing The Future”, “Life or Death” and “The Fall”.}

_{For more info check out http://www.operationmindcrime.com/}

_{About “NI Rocks Recommends”}

_{The simple idea behind “NI Rocks Recommends” is to acknowledge and promote some of the great music being submitted to Rock Radio NI. I'll not be giving marks or ratings or analyzing the tracks in great detail; just telling you something about the artist and the album. It’s a personal recommendation, not a traditional “review”!}

_{My musical tastes cover most things rock; from the not too melodic to the not too heavy. The albums that I’ll be recommending are merely those that I would buy myself and which you’ll be hearing played on my shows on Rock Radio NI.}

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