Fates Warning

This may be a better place to post this on HOM.

I feel like Fates Warning is a generally overpraised band. I understand a few of you here agree with that. I've already made it known that I just can't get into No Exit, and now Awaken the Guardian, which are both snoozefests even for this lover of all things USPM. Most of it is in the terribly out-of-control vocal patterns which exercise little-to-no melody, and the instruments just ramble all over the place without much theme, trying to impress us with the ever-changing (and downright incomprehensible) time sigs. I could go on. I also understand "you had to be there," which I wasn't, but it's interesting how other artists of the same vein and period have impressed and stuck with me so much more. Finally, the mix is crap, as the guitars are pushed so far in the back and down that it almost doesn't feel like a metal album.

Then Joe (chewie) got me turned onto the later, more proggy years. The snippets I heard were pretty good (save for the latest album which is one of the WORST mixes of 2013) so I bought Inside Out. I couldn't believe how beautiful it was. The chord structures carried dense layering with extra fifths and thirds, which really added to the even-keel mix celebrating each instrument. The album is somewhat heavy but more just "full," not really a metal album, which is fine because it's not trying to be. Vocalist Ray Alder takes a much better approach here sticking to his mid-range, and proves that he actually has a nice tone as opposed to his "yell yell yell holler" approach in No Exit. The guitar solos are also wild and melodic.

I also gave Parallels a spin and was just as engaged. So this band isn't a total grating experience after all. BTW I still haven't given up on No Exit. I really want to find the thing that makes it so glorious to others.

That was long-winded, but I'm just in a writing-about-music-mode tonight. Tell me what you think.

I didn't really start to like them until I heard the song island in the stream and then the album PSOG. When I reach for an FW alIbum it is usually an Alder sung and later one.

I can't stand them.  The Arch records have some cool musical moments ruined by his incredibly annoying vocals, I mean this is one of the few singers that makes me run to the stereo to make it stop.  Then they replaced him with an equally annoying vocalist...

I think they've been ridiculously overrated their entire career.  Inside Out is probably closest to something I'd like from their catalog...but even then I just find their later supposedly proggy stuff to be kind of dull.  Good players, but I just don't feel anything.

Been a fan since Parallels - picked it up as a new release. I much prefer the Alder-era albums. I rarely listen to the Arch albums - they are good, but not something I want to listen to all the time - plus, I'm not an Arch fan boy. I do love the latest album, but I agree the mix/production could have been better.

S.D. wrote:

I can't stand them.  The Arch records have some cool musical moments ruined by his incredibly annoying vocals, I mean this is one of the few singers that makes me run to the stereo to make it stop.  Then they replaced him with an equally annoying vocalist...

I think they've been ridiculously overrated their entire career.  Inside Out is probably closest to something I'd like from their catalog...but even then I just find their later supposedly proggy stuff to be kind of dull.  Good players, but I just don't feel anything.

Pretty much sums up how I feel. There'll be some decent moments, but something always ruins the song.

Again, glad to know I'm not alone. Especially in the vox dept. I still need to check out Spectre Within, everyone says it's their best album, but I highly doubt it...

corplhicks wrote:

Again, glad to know I'm not alone. Especially in the vox dept. I still need to check out Spectre Within, everyone says it's their best album, but I highly doubt it...

The track Kyrie Eleison from The Spectre Within is a great metal track, I had a friend who also hated the vocals and he chopped together an instrumental edit of that song and it's the only Fates Warning track I have in my iTunes library. LOL.

S.D. wrote:

corplhicks wrote:

Again, glad to know I'm not alone. Especially in the vox dept. I still need to check out Spectre Within, everyone says it's their best album, but I highly doubt it...

The track Kyrie Eleison from The Spectre Within is a great metal track, I had a friend who also hated the vocals and he chopped together an instrumental edit of that song and it's the only Fates Warning track I have in my iTunes library.  LOL.  

Just heard it. That's MILES better than what I've heard of their classic years. Arch is pretty awful though. Being OTT like Jon Oliva is one thing, but the problem here is the dude can't plain hit the right notes and stays up in the clouds with his high register. Sheesh, chill out Arch. Great riffing though. Still prefer Mister Mister tho.   

I bought The Spectre Within as a blind purchase when it first came out. Aside from that one song I absolutely hated the album...so did all my friends so I was unable to unload it on anybody I knew for quite awhile. Eventually I found some sucker to trade it to and I've never regretted it for a second.

Arch's vocals make absolutely no sense from a musical perspective...he better be glad power metal took off because that's the only audience I could see that could stomach vocals that bad and arrangements that poorly constructed.   

S.D. wrote:

I bought The Spectre Within as a blind purchase when it first came out.  Aside from that one song I absolutely hated the album...so did all my friends so I was unable to unload it on anybody I knew for quite awhile.  Eventually I found some sucker to trade it to and I've never regretted it for a second.

Arch's vocals make absolutely no sense from a musical perspective...he better be glad power metal took off because that's the only audience I could see that could stomach vocals that bad and arrangements that poorly constructed.    

Yeah apparently that album was lauded by its target audience when it came out. Funny thing is, I'm part of that target audience lol.

It's strange to see people shit on things I love, lol. They're top 5 favorite artist material for me.

Although, I would say I prefer Ray Alder to John Arch and my favorite album of theirs is Inside Out, so I'm not too offended at reading all of your dissenting opinions, haha.

Alder calmed down a little later, I tried to listen to No Exit a few years ago and couldn't make it through 5 minutes because of the vocals. By the time of Inside Out it was more controlled.

Sorry M-O-M, didn't mean to calm down too harshly on Fates Warning, I just guess any band that picks two vocalists I can't stand back to back makes me resent them a little.

  

Never understood all the whoop de doo over FW. Back in the day I heard their so called "key" releases and reacted with a "Ehh (shrug)."
Years later when I started bumming around music forums a friend was amazed that I didn't absolutely worship FW like most other metal heads of my era and he burned me CD-Rs of nearly their whole catalog, saying that I "needed" to give them another chance...and again I was underwhelmed. I dunno, I guess I just never "got" them.

Everytime they release something new it seems like Metaldom At Large welcomes it with a torrent of fanboy jizz and I'm like "whaaaaatever." I've given up trying