Retroactive

On its current tour, Queensrÿche brings disparate worlds together, mixing heavy metal with live opera and enhanced AV technology. But this band’s never been easy to stereotype. It spent two years rehearsing rather than playing the club scene, and was signed after selling 20,000 copies of its self-everything EP. Thematic compositions marked by Geoff Tate’s distinct vibrato quickly set Queensrÿche apart from its mid-’80s hard-rock contemporaries, and that narrative style peaked with 1988’s Mindcrime, a compelling story told with enough bombastic overtures and complex melodies to earn a Grammy nomination. With its next release, Empire, and a spectacular number-one track, “Single Lucidity,” Queensrÿche got regular airplay on MTV and extensive tour dates. Now, after putting out a greatest-hits set (with teasers from an impending sequel album), the band’s rewarding its staunchly loyal following with an updated performance of Operation: Mindcrime, complete with an interactive cast, symphonic string sections and even a former Vatican composer. Given the irresistible potency of Queensrÿche’s music, it would be a crime to miss the concert Tuesday, October 12, at the Fillmore.