Audio CD review:
Fates Warning - Still Life

Fates Warning - Still Life

Band: Fates Warning Title: Still Life Rating: Release Date: Media: Audio CD Tracks: 1: A Pleasant Shade of Gray: Pt. 1 2: A Pleasant Shade of Gray: Pt. 2 3: A Pleasant Shade of Gray: Pt. 3 4: A Pleasant Shade of Gray: Pt. 4 5: A Pleasant Shade of Gray: Pt. 5 6: A Pleasant Shade of Gray: Pt. 6 7: A Pleasant Shade of Gray: Pt. 7 8: A Pleasant Shade of Gray: Pt. 8 9: A Pleasant Shade of Gray VIIII 10: A Pleasant Shade of Gray: Pt. 10 11: A Pleasant Shade of Gray: Pt. 11 12: A Pleasant Shade of Gray: Pt. 12 13: The Ivory Gate of Dreams 14: The Eleventh Hour 15: Point of View 16: Monument 17: At Fate's Hands 18: Prelude to Rain 19: We Only Say Goodbye

Fates Warning - Very Good Live Album I remember picking up one of the John Arch led albums "Awaken The Guardian" years ago and really did not care for it. Fates Warning are one of those bands that I have really learned to enjoy later in their career, but it took me a while to get into them. I tried again with the "No Exit" album with Ray Alder at the helm and again, it just did not do much for me. In both cases I kept thinking that this was a band that I should like, but they just did not click with me. But, as the band moved further into the 90's their sound changed and moved somewhat away from straight metal and more into more melodic progressive metal territory. It was at this point that I really started to pick up on them, and I have been a big fan ever since. I picked up this live album as an overview of the band's career up to that point, and was very happy with what I found. The first disc is the entire "Pleasant Shade Of Gray" concept album done in its entirety. I don't own the studio album, so it is not a repeat for me. The whole thing is great with the band proving they can pull off this complex album live. Disc two is a best of compilation of songs from over the band's career. "Ivory Gates Of Dreams", "11th Hour", "Point Of View", "Monument", "At Fates Hands", "Prelude To Ruin" "We Only Say Goodbye" all great stuff. The core trio of Mark Zonder, Ray Alder and Jim Matheos are augmented by guitarist Bernie Versailles, Bassist Joey Vera and Keys man Jason Keazer. The extra musicians help to bring out a full sound that rivals the band's studio output. It has always been a quandary for me why Fates have never got bigger than they have. Along with Queensryche and Dream Theater they were one of the pioneers of prog metal, but while other bands have gone on to platinum success Fates has always just reached a niche audience. They are as good, if not better, than most of the other prog-metal out there and really should be a lot bigger than they are. . Where is Fates Warning management? :-( Yes, I am a huge fan of Fates Warning (FW), but I do have several serious complains about this album. "Still Life", although well-produced, well-engineered and well-played in general, is a total failure from a marketing's point of view. I would like to ask the following questions to the band's management: 1- Why repeating the entire "A Pleasant Shade of Gray" album in CD1? Is this supposed to be somehow interesting? To whom? I understand that it demonstrates what the band can do live but? is it marketable -- even for fans? IMHO, that's aiming to the wrong target once more -- if you can say that there's "a target". 2- Why so many cries from the crowd on the record? To fake a popularity they don't actually have? It's ridiculous! 3- Why did you include precisely *that* "Monument" track in which Ray Alder sang so badly in CD2? How come the producers let that version of the song (so poorly sung) go into the final release? I saw Ray Alder singing "Monument" in Montreal millions times better than in "Still Life". I could see that he can do it so, it had to exist a better live version for the album. What happened, guys? 4- Why a so colorless cover? Why is it so lacking of attractiveness? Does management has anything against FW? Who approved that cover? I own all FW albums in spite of their (in general) boring covers, but. . . is someone expecting that people will be hooked by their ugly covers, if they don't know them? I see FW so poorly managed and marketed that I can feel no less than rage and pain. FW, being a brilliant progressive metal band (one of the best, one of the roots, indeed!), is reduced to nothing: always pale, in a second plane, low-profile-alike, opaque, almost underground in spite of their greatness. . . I understand that their music is not for everybody, but someone have to make them more visible to their potential consumers (for example, to the same crowd that consumes Queensryche and Dream Theater, which finally are far more successful bands than FW -- and don't tell me that their 2003 tour with those two monsters made Fates Warning justice! I would just call to that "palliative therapy"!). In few words, "Still Life" is just worth for fans (so, for us maybe it'd be four or five stars, but for the rest of the world, just two -- sorry). Sincerely, I think that FW missed this time a good opportunity to come with the best pieces of their entire career in a live album. IMHO, just another pitfall from their faulty management, that's sadly always missing good opportunities for FW. You, guys in FW, you rock! You, FW's managers, you stink!. Excellent I always say that you can't truly "get" a band until you take in their live show. This might be the best-sounding live album I've ever heard. All kinds of tricks and cleanups can be done in the studio, but the bands who take everything to the stage and pull it off flawlessly, making it sound effortless, are the ones who stand above the rest. These two discs have me constantly in awe of the sheer technical skill and musical taste that they put on display. It might be better than the average studio release. More people should own this. You should own this. Great Live Album! Both cd's have great sound quality and sound better than the studio versions amazingly enough. This double cd contains the whole Plesant Shade of Grey song live in addition to eight other songs. You can see a complete list of all Fates Warning discography, or go back to the Fates Warning tabs