...I finally decided to buy it without thinking twice: Queensr˙che's "Operation: Mindcrime".
First time was in early 1992, when my real "practice fever", after playing bass for almost six years, had just started after seeing and hearing for the first time what Stu Hamm and Jaco could do with their instruments. That was in mid '91.
I was having a tough time trying to find a bass magazine in my town. One day, I saw part of a magazine (It was covered by others) in a kiosk. I could see a guy with a guitar and also could see the words "Tribute to..." "Steve..." and I thought "Steve Bailey, maybe?". When I got to see the full cover, it was the latest issue of the Guitar School mag (March '92) which had a B&W pic of the then unknown-to-me Stevie Ray Vaughan, and that issue was dedicated to him. But it had a notice on the cover: "Basslines included!". So I decided to buy it. It was the first time I bought that kind of mag, and I kept doing it during most of the 90s (Never could find a bass magazine, BTW).
When I checked it at home, I found lots of interesting information and several full transcriptions for guitar and bass. One of them was "Revolution Calling" from "Operation: Mindcrime" and Michael DuClos, Guitar School's resident bassist, said in the bass notes: "Bassist Eddie Jackson is truly one of the shining lights of contemporary rock 'n' roll. He has all the attributes of a great bassist -great feel, sound, time- all of it. (...) It's a shame that not all bassists play with Jackson's quality and conviction".
That made me feel curious, but no Internet back then and nobody at record stores knew anything about the band. Anyway, and fast-forwarding, I kept intermittently hearing about the album's outstanding bass tone and overall great musicianship and sound. Never read a contrary opinion.
This was the last time and, after ordering and receiving it, I must say that Valerus was right. What an awesome bass tone! What a band! Yesterday I received my deluxe edition CD (With the "Video: Mindcrime" DVD and another CD with the full album performed live as a bonus) and I'm still fascinated. Still can't talk about favorite tracks. The whole album is awesome! Where have these guys been all of my life? EJ's tone is simply superb.
Still haven't seen the DVD, but right now I think this is one of the best purchases I've made. I barely know anything about the band so I'm in the process of documenting myself, specially because after hearing this fine work, I feel they are severely underrated.
