These guys were pioneers in the "progressive metal" sound, yet they never hit it big like their fellow prog-rock colleagues Dream Theater and Queensryche. In fact, their more recent lineups have been dominated by castoffs from other bands, including DT's Kevin Moore, Armored Saint's Joey Vera, and Warlord's Mark Zonder.

Fates Warning has appeared on tribute albums for Dio and Judas Priest.

"Night on Bröcken" (remaster w/original artwork)

1. "Buried Alive" (4:39)
2. "The Calling" (5:04)
3. "Kiss of Death" (4:38)
4. "Night on Brocken" (5:29)
5. "S.E.K."--instrumental (1:19)
6. "Misfit" (5:05)
7. "Shadowfax"--instrumental (3:17)
8. "Damnation" (6:26)
9. "Soldier Boy" (6:26)
10. "Last Call"--original Misfit demo 1984 (5:39)
11. "The Calling"--rehearsal 1983 (4:36)
12. "Kiss of Death"--live at L'Amour 1985 (4:35)
13. "Flight of Icarus"--rehearsal 1983 (5:18)

"Soldier Boy" first appeared on Metal Massacre V, which was the song that first peaked my interest in the band -- indeed, it remains one of my favorites to this day. A lot of current FW fans are put off by the incessant Iron Maiden worship, but I love the hell out of this album -- thrashy and slick, with just a hint of progressiveness shown in the time signature changes and complex chord progressions. Hell, NO ONE was doing prog metal yet, when this came out in '84! The lead singer is John Arch, who only appeared on their first three albums; dunno what he's up to these days, although he did audition for Dream Theater before Labrie got the job.

In 2002, Metal Blade remastered the first two Fates Warning albums, which is good because my original CD copy had an annoying mastering flaw in "Kiss of Death"! Even better, they added bonus tracks and restored the original artwork -- except, instead of using the way cool "burning witch" art, they went all the way back to the super-rare, laughably BAD art from the original crappy vinyl pressing! Except they had to fuck it up in the process, by blackening the edges and stamping a horribly anachronistic 21st century logo on the stupid thing. (They did the same thing with Spectre Within, and I refuse to upgrade that one as a result.) The bonus tracks are kind of a waste, especially the '83 rehearsal tracks which sound like utter shit. Oh well, at least it's got a Maiden cover, for what that's worth.

"The Spectre Within"

1. "Traveler in Time" (7:11)
2. "Orphan Gypsy" (6:00)
3. "Without a Trace" (4:50)
4. "Pirates of the Underground" (7:07)
5. "The Apparition" (5:50)
6. "Kyrie Eleison" (5:27)
7. "Epitaph" (12:00)

The band's first attempt at progressive metal--not so fond of this one.

"Awaken the Guardian"

1. "The Sorceress" (5:42)
2. "Valley of the Dolls" (5:22)
3. "Fata Morgana" (5:21)
4. "Guardian" (7:31)
5. "Prelude to Ruin" (7:21)
6. "Giants Lore (Heart of Winter)" (6:00)
7. "Time Long Past"--instrumental (1:40)
8. "Exodus" (8:35)

This was the first Fates Warning album I ever bought, when I spent over $250 one time and threw this one as a lark. One of their best! Mostly mid-tempo but all unique sounding.

"No Exit"

1. "No Exit" (0:41)
2. "Anarchy Devine" (3:46)
3. "Silent Cries" (3:17)
4. "In a Word" (4:25)
5. "Shades of Heavenly Death" (5:56)
6. "The Ivory Gate of Dreams": (21:25)
   • i. Innocence
   • ii. Cold Daze
   • iii. Daylight Dreamers
   • iv. Quietus
   • v. Ivory Tower
   • vi. Whispers on the Wind
   • vii. Acquiescence
   • viii. Retrospect

A new lead singer on this one, plus a tighter, slightly heavier sound. This was their Headbanger's Ball debut, which I saw shortly after getting into Awaken the Guardian. Some excellent songs here--"Shades of Heavenly Death" is their fastest song ever!

"Perfect Symmetry"

1. "Part of the Machine" (6:15)
2. "Through Different Eyes" (4:21)
3. "Static Acts" (4:27)
4. "A World Apart" (5:03)
5. "At Fates Hands" (6:58)
6. "The Arena" (3:17)
7. "Chasing Time" (3:38)
8. "Nothing Left to Say" (7:57)

This album was titled as such because they planned to make both sides of the LP or cassette the exact same length. They were off by about 30 seconds. The simpler songs (esp. "The Arena") sound better than the technically diverse ones--a good CD all around though.

"Parallels"

1. "Leave the Past Behind" (6:14)
2. "Life in Still Water" (5:44)
3. "Eye to Eye" (4:06)
4. "The Eleventh Hour" (8:12)
5. "Point of View" (5:07)
6. "We Only Say Goodbye" (4:56)
7. "Don't Follow Me" (4:42)
8. "The Road Goes On Forever" (6:32)

Starting to soften up here...sounds a lot like their previous CD but not as intense. The music is okay-sounding but doesn't thrill me.

"Inside Out"

1. "Outside Looking In" (4:50)
2. "Pale Fire" (4:17)
3. "The Strand" (5:29)
4. "Shelter Me" (4:45)
5. "Island in the Stream" (6:30)
6. "Down to the Wire" (4:30)
7. "Face the Fear" (5:37)
8. "Inward Bound" (2:34)
9. "Monument" (6:34)
10. "Afterglow" (3:26)

My friend warned me not to buy this album, but I found a used copy for $1.99 and hell what could go wrong. It's not as bad as I feared, but not at all memorable...well at least I got my money's worth. :)

"A Pleasant Shade of Gray"

1. "A Pleasant Shade of Gray Part I" (1:53)
2. "A Pleasant Shade of Gray Part II" (3:25)
3. "A Pleasant Shade of Gray Part III" (3:53)
4. "A Pleasant Shade of Gray Part IV" (4:26)
5. "A Pleasant Shade of Gray Part V" (5:24)
6. "A Pleasant Shade of Gray Part VI" (7:28)
7. "A Pleasant Shade of Gray Part VII" (4:51)
8. "A Pleasant Shade of Gray Part VIII" (3:31)
9. "A Pleasant Shade of Gray Part IX" (4:45)
10. "A Pleasant Shade of Gray Part X" (1:19)
11. "A Pleasant Shade of Gray Part XI" (3:34)
12. "A Pleasant Shade of Gray Part XII" (7:45)

A nice return to the progressive era, ditching the pop trash for ONE BIG LONG SONG, broken up into 12 tracks on the CD. A bit overblown and pretentious, but hey, isn't that the definition of progressive anyway?? MOST ANNOYING FEATURE: 30 seconds after the last song ends, there's one HELL of a loud alarm clock noise that keeps ringing for over a minute!!

"Still Life" (live 2CD)

disc one:
1. "A Pleasant Shade of Gray I-XII" (51:51)

disc two:
1. "The Ivory Gate of Dreams" (20:54)
2. "The Eleventh Hour" (8:14)
3. "Point of View" (4:33)
4. "Monument" (6:46)
5. "At Fates Hands" (6:47)
6. "Prelude to Ruin" (3:38)
7. "We Only Say Goodbye" (4:41)

The good news is, this live double-CD set contains their two LONGEST (and therefore best) songs, "A Pleasant Shade of Grey" and "The Ivory Gate of Dreams". The bad news is, there's not much room left for anything else. In fact, the only two pre-Parallels songs here are "Prelude to Ruin" (only half the song!) and "At Fates Hands". Still, it's worth owning, especially for the $9.99 I spent...

"Disconnected"

1. "Disconnected Part 1"--instrumental (1:13)
2. "One" (4:27)
3. "So" (8:07)
4. "Pieces of Me" (4:24)
5. "Something from Nothing" (10:58)
6. "Still Remains" (16:08)
7. "Disconnected Part 2"--instrumental (6:11)

When this became the most controversial 2000 release on Perpetual Motion, with the board evenly split between those who loved it and those who called it a worthless piece of crap, I just knew it was going to be great. I was not disappointed.

Granted, I can see why so many prog fans dislike it. The band takes on a much dirtier, grungier sound, using much simpler riffs than FW fans are used to hearing. It ain't APSOG Part II by any stretch of the imagination, and if that's what you're looking for, don't waste your time. However, if you're one of those rare prog fans who remembers when progressive music actually meant PROGRESSIVE, that is, trying out new ideas and new sounds, this is an absolute must-have!

The songs start out excellent, and get better as the CD progresses. Mark Zonder really comes into his own as a drummer, filling the drum track with jazz-like, technical beats that mesh perfectly with the otherwise minimalist guitar & vocal lines. "Something for Nothing" is a brilliant song (no, it's not the Rush song!), but that one pales in comparison to the song it flows directly into..."Still Remains", a 16-minute masterpiece, is simply the best song of Fates Warning's career. Moody, melodic, and quite a bit more complex than the rest of the album, with Dream Theater-like keyboard bits (no surprise, since that's Kevin Moore on keys after all.) The only negative thing I can find to say is that the Pink Floyd-ish guitar notes of the two "Disconnected" instrumentals get extremely irritating after awhile. But hey, I'll live.

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