Ok, let's wrap this up. I can't split these two albums, so I'm not going to.
1=Queensryche - Operation Mindcrime (1988)
I've bought this album so many times- that's how good it is. I have it on vinyl, cassette, cd, video twice- the remaster, the remaster with bonus dvd and live album, a 10 inch sampler ep, not to mention replacing lost and gifted copies. That's how good this album is. RFO was great but this follow up beats it on the songs. I love the mix of clean and dirty guitars and how they interact, which Tateryche have forgotten. Geoff ruled in these days - what a voice. There are so many moments of genius here- the choirs in SSM, in fact the whole of SSM, the heavy breathing in the middle of TNL, the collage in the intro to EOAS, but the songs are winners. Anarchy X/Revolution Calling cannot be separated like Priest's Hellion/Electric Eye. And the sequel? Never happened. Not in my world. Geoff and Susan Tate be damned. And Mary? X did it.
Best tracks- Anarchy X/Revolution Calling, Suite Sister Mary, The Needle Lies, Breaking The Silence, I Don't Believe In Love, Eyes Of A Stranger
1=Images & Words (1992)
Another needing no introduction or explanation. I bought WDADU on import after reading a review saying it was Rush meets Metallica (despite not being a Metallica fan), with a drummer as good as Peart and a guitarist better than Yngwie. I loved the album and played it to death. Then nothing. Years later I was in a pub and the dj played two songs that stunned me. I saw him in the toilet a few minutes later (purely by coincidence!) and asked who those two tracks were by, not even realising they were one band, and the rest is history. The songs were PMU and Another Day. What a difference those few years had made, and not just with the new singer (who was all kinds of awesome). WDADU had pisspoor production but this album sparkled.
Best tracks- Another Day, Surrounded, Take The Time, Metropolis, Learning To Live