React To (C McGuire)/Lists WMJ Won't Make: Top 10 Fates Warning Songs

Hmm, I was thinking like I did with some other React-To and Top 10 Lists WatchMojo won't make, to link the actual songs, but meh, I'm too lazy right now to go that far.

So, Christian McGuire made this top 10 Fates Warning songs list

10. So
9. Part of the Machine
8. Monument
7. The Apparition
6, A Pleasant Shade of Gray VI
5. Epitaph
4. The Ivory Gate of Dreams
3. At Fates Hands
2. Exodus
1. Nothing Left to Say Good list, but it's Fates Warning, which in my mind, it's hard to pick bad songs.

Watchmojo.com of course will never make a Top 10 songs list for them (yet they make top 10 lists about flavor-of-the-month garbage like Loney Island, Sum 41 and BTS..in other words, WHO??)

But it is splitting hairs and there's many I'm not including even outside of the Top 10 or 20, but just for the sake of making this somewhat accurate list, here it is.

It does include of course the John Arch and Arch / Matheos stuff along with regarding A Pleasant Shade of Gray as 1 song, as I, many other fans and the band themselves consider it just 1 or Song-suite, etc.
Outside of the top 20, there are so many other good ones

Firefly (Darkness in a Different Light, 2013)
Guardian (Awaken the Guardian, 1986)
Monument (Inside Out 1994)
Pieces of Me (Disconnected, 2000)
Prelude to Ruin (Awaken the Guardian, 1986)
Seven Stars (Theories of Flight, 2016)
Through Different Eyes (Perfect Symmetry, 1989
Traveler In Time (The Spectre Within, 1985(
Silent Cries (No Exit, 1988)
Sorceress (Awaken the Guardian, 1986)


20. Left Here (FWX, 2004)

19. Damnation (Night on Brocken, 1984)

18. Point of View (Parallels, 1991)

17. So (Disconnected, 2000) 16. Another Perfect Day (FWX, 2004)

15. Ghosts of Home (Theories of Flight, 2016)

14. Fata Morgana (Awaken the Guardian, 1986)

13. Heal Me (FWX, 2004)

12. The Apparition (The Spectre Within, 1985)

11. The Eleventh Hour (Parallels, 1991)

10. Stained Glass Sky (Sympathetic Resonance, 2011)

9. Nothing Left to Say (Perfect Symmetry, 1989)

8, Something from Nothing (Disconnected, 2000)

7. Epitaph (The Spectre Within, 1985)

6. The Ivory Gate of Dreams (No Exit, 1988)

5. Relentless (A Twist of Fate, 2003)

4. The Light and Shade of Things (Theories of Flight, 2016)

3. Cheyenne (A Twist of Fate, 2003)

2. Still Remains (Disconnected, 2000)

1. A Pleasant Shade of Gray (A Pleasant Shade of Gray, 1997)

Significant Albums: Fates Warning - A Pleasant Shade of Gray (1997)

So where do we begin?
And what else can we say?
When the lines are all drawn
What should we do today?

Yeah, of course that is the opening line, and probably the line most associated with this record. And appropriate for this series or actually more or less anything involving thinking, nostalgia, etc.

This is my favorite Fates Warning record. It has been more or less since I heard it. And I am a dedicated and long-time, going on 18 or 19 years, fan/fanboy of one of the definitive progressive metal artists. So, I naturally hold more or less everything this band has done in high regard.

But this record is their most unique. Why? well, for one, it may be regarded as their only obvious concept album. Being that it is really is just 1 nearly 54 minute song, divided up into 12 "parts" per say. I consider it 1 song anyway.

I guess it was perfected in a lot ways. Mood-wise, it was and still is relate-able in sort of a reflective and therapeutic way. The emotion heard in the dynamics, from the vocals to the guitar. And use of sampling rain, for example, along with the piano, which especially at the time, knowing it was Kevin Moore playing on it meant a lot to me, given I was still rather down about his departure from Dream Theater. Although, of course Kevin Moore I don't believe wrote any of it, as Jim Matheos is credited for that. I wonder though, especially with any of the samples, if Kevin was involved, as that has been, and namely around that time in the 90's, something he was rather adept at finding and using.

Another part of this record that maybe gets overlooked is how Terry Brown was involved with the production/producing. Terry Brown worked with Rush and many other groups I enjoy, and I recall had worked previously with FW on Parallels, and then later on Disconnected as well. I recall reading some stuff about his writing or working well with Ray Alder on the vocal melodies. And this album has many of Ray's best vocal lines.

"Stayed up late last night...."
"But circumstance conspired, and here we are, here we are"
"But I often wonder, what could have been.."
"Let nothing bleed into nothing, and did nothing at all"

Just trying to remember some others..trying to jog my memory.

I think one of the biggest parts of this record being such a big deal to me, was it came out in 1997, not long after the band had long time members Frank Aresti and founding member/bassist Joe DiBiase leave the band. I recall tape trading with a guy and including some letters per Metal Edge's "Metal Head Directory" and talking about Fates Warning. The guy mentioned reading the news of those 2 guys leaving the band and how the band, meaning Jim Matheos, may just hang it up. I have a really distinct memory of getting my bass guitar and playing it one afternoon and then stopping and feeling incredibly depressed about Fates Warning, a band I had only recently become a fan of, but was loving everything I heard. The possibility of them breaking up. After seeing Kevin Moore leave Dream Theater, and then learning of the possibility of  Fates Warning being done.

And then this record comes out, and for my 20 year old, music-seeking self, it kind of gave me some hope for my love of music at the time. Especially in 1997, a year when a lot of music I was checking out was not up to par, like Queensryche's latest, or even the previous year's Rush album. And Dream Theater's new album seemed to be taking an eternity to come out. APSOG was an album that sort of saved my ability to listening to new-music at that time.

But on paper, it is just one of those classic concept albums, that everything was written and recorded (and perfected) for a reason. It is best heard all at once, as I mentioned, it is really just 1 54 minute song. And while it is sound-wise more modern sounding and less heavy or Metal sounding than FW's previous albums, save for maybe even the one that preceded it in Inside Out, a record I almost regard as having very little heavy moments. But I think it kind of found Fates Warning making a  more darker, progressive rock, than anything else.

It was really in a lot of ways, Jim Matheos saying fuck you to the music industry and their demand for shorter, "radio friendly" songs/music, including having to pick them off an album. Even with the tracks labeled "Parts 1, 2, 3..12" etc, it was like the exact opposite of what they seemed to try to do with Inside Out and even with Parallels. A non-commercial approach to song and album.

Many fans regard this as a turning point in sound, which it is in a lot of ways. Ray doesn't sing a ton of falsettos nor their "Metal" or "80's" sound seems to be gone. It has some industrial moments, which I am not normally into much in general, but with Fates and this kind of music, I totally go for.

The concept? I've always wondered and thought it was about a man reflecting on his life's decisions and wondering if there was anything he could do to change them. But also just his memories, sort of day dreams or dreams he had, which recall past experiences of his (or maybe others?..SciFi?).

Jim I recall never really explained what the actual concept is, or if there is an actual, defined concept with it. Probably why a lot of the lyrics, like most of his lyrics, are pretty ambiguous. So, it's up to the listener to interpret them and the music how they want, which often I appreciate as much as any more blatant kinds of lyrics or wording with music (album titles, song titles, artwork, or even artist names).

Is it an album I listen to a lot? not anymore, but for nostalgia and uniqueness, I still think it holds up and is somewhat unmatched. I often wanted to call it "A Perfect Shade of Gray" in just how perfect I find it. And I'm not sure if they will ever make anything as good as it is again, which I'd love to be wrong about that, but for a band who was 14 years into their career and now 30 or so now, I would hardly expect it.

I also recall reading an interview with Jim around the time he was writing this, online per an mIRC chatroom text, where he mentioned listening to a lot of Marillion at this time, including the double live album Made Again which had recently been released around that time.. Which maybe that was also when I started to think of these guys with Marillion.

Fates Warning - Inside Out (remaster/ 2 CD/DVD)

I normally may not find this to be incredibly noteworthy; not due to the fact it's a Fates Warning release. But it is another remaster, and it's for maybe my least favorite record of theirs (although it's hardly an album I hate). However, in checking out all the extras, this is worth picking up. Not that the other remasters didn't include a lot as well, but this one has as much if not more than the previous ones.

This also may be the final one they do. Perhaps A Pleasant Shade of Gray or Sill Life, their lone live record. If APSOG were to get a Deluxe release, like with Making-of and maybe some other live footage and interviews, I'd be on it like white on rice. Or for that matter, if it were issued on VINYL.

Another bit of news with Fates, they have released Night on Brocken and The Spectre Within on 12" gatefold Vinyl (See this link). Which I would be up for picking up, save for the fact it is in Germany, and the Country's/Places listed to ship to, only include Germany, Austria, and Luxembourg. Hopefully those will be available to ship to the States at some point as well.


Fates Warning: a classic name not only on the Metal Blade roster but within the metal scene in general. In the course of our ongoing re-release series, the band's classic Inside Out is another must have item. Fates Warning always been one of the most influential bands within the metal scene. Being one of the founders of the progressive metal movement they have influenced the likes of Queensryche or Dream Theater among many others.

This re-release comes as a double CD plus bonus-DVD. It contains the classic original album as well as live tracks from a German show Fates Warning played in Dusseldorf in 1995 and unreleased demo takes. The bonus-DVD contains an assortment of live clips, from 1993-1995. The full track listing is below. A sample clip from the DVD, Monument, as well as one of the re-mastered tracks, Pale Fire, can be viewed now over at this location - http://www.metalblade.com/fateswarning/

CD1 - "Inside Out" (re-mastered original album)
Outside Looking In
Pale Fire
The Strand
Shelter Me
Island in the Stream
Down to the Wire
Face the Fear
Inward Bound
Monument
Afterglow

CD2 – LIVE in DÜSSELDORF, GERMANY February 11th 1995
Outside Looking In
Down to the Wire
The Eleventh Hour
Point Of View
Face The Fear

Demos/Unreleased
Outside Looking In (demo)
Pale Fire (demo)
Shelter Me (demo)
Island In the Stream (demo)
Face The Fear (demo)
Monument (rough mix)
Circles (unreleased)

DVD – INSIDE OUT LIVE
Outside Looking In 1994/95
Pale Fire 1993/94
The Strand 1994
Shelter Me 1993
Island In The Stream 2010
Down To The Wire 1994/95
Face The Fear 1994/95
Monument 1994/95
Afterglow Slide Show
Extras
Live In Still Water 1994
Through Different Eyes 1995
Guardian (Mike Portnoy drums) 1994
Shades of Heavenly Death 1995
MTV Europe Interview 1995
Eye to Eye 1994/95
Face The Face Of Fear 1994
Don't Follow Me 1994
Shortest Fates Warning Show Ever. 1994
Guardian (Arch/ Alder duet) 1994

"Inside Out" will be released June 1st/4th via Metal Blade Records in Europe on and June 5th in North America.