7.13.2012

Fates Warning- Inside out (1994)

Fates Warning happens to be one of my favorite bands. Luckily enough they were one of the first metal bands I got to know, so I spent hundreds of hours listening to some of their albums, especially anything from ''No Exit'' (1988) 'til ''Inside out'' (1994). Back in 1994 I bought those 4 albums in a period of a few months and I stuck with Fates Warning. I love them all and they have traded places as ''favorite Fates Warning album'' countless times. There's so much to connect with; the voice of Ray Alder, the guy could tear the sky in two with his screams and at the same time breath out his heart along the words he sung; the lyrics of Matheos that pierce through your inner thoughts and deepest feelings; the drum legend Mark Zonder who had a unique style of playing that always left me speechless...and so much more. Among metal fans Fates Warning always had a lot of respect despite the lack of major commercial success. ''Inside out'' though always lived in the shadow of ''Parallels''. Matheos himself has expressed some dissatisfaction for the album saying it was a repetition of the ''Parallels'' style with similar song structures. Many fans on the other hand tend to appreciate the more ambitious nature of the next album ''A pleasant shade of grey'' while others who adore the Arch era think of ''Inside out'' as the beginning of the end for Fates Warning; it sounds too commercial and besides, who needs Alder when he doesn't even scream anymore? So this is just a gesture of appretiation for this great album that stands neglected among the bands discography. A thank you for the countless hours I spent spining the vinyl in my parents house at the tender age of 15. When you are 15 albums like this one get carved in you. ''Inside out'' is a very personal album if you open up and pay attention. We all knew what Matheos is capable of writing. This time though his lyrics are a little bit simpler and more personal, less metaphoric or ambiguous, but always thought provoking and revealing. Alder makes a turn in his style too. In ''No exit'' he was hitting high notes like a machine gun. O the next two albums he had a passionate but strangely clinic style; that's vocal perfection. On ''Inside out'' he lets most of the high notes aside and concentrates on feeling. His mid-range voice is a revelation. His delivery is much more varied and colourful. It's the voice of a man trying to express his inner self. Listen to the Strand; You can perfectly sense the frustration and dissapointment Alder is portraying with his voice. His earthly tone also adds a lot of sentiment to songs like Shelter me or Island in the stream. You can blame them for being too simple and commercial for Fates Warning but truth is these are beautiful songs that would touch a lot of people if they had been written by better known bands. Unfortunately Fates Warning never made their breakthrough so they remained with their own devoted but also demanding fans who prefer (and who can blame them for that) their more ambitious works. Island in the stream was a getaway for my teenage years. It calmed and soothed a lot of the anger I had in me as a typical teenager. Face the fear was another song that had things to say. Not a macho ''I fear nothing'' type of song, but a realisation of how everyday fears affect our relations to other people and and how we need to face them. I think evreyone will find a part of himself in this album if he takes a closer look. It's very song/lyrics oriented and the music follows the emotions of the lyrics perfectly. It's not complicated as ''Perfect symmetry'', it's not perfect in the way ''Parallels'' is, it's not ambitious like ''A pleasant shade of grey'', but it's a great album full of great songs that speak to your heart. And that's not easy to achieve.

7.04.2012

GINGERPIG

Two live tracks in one video, March of the gingerpig (instrumental) and Joe Cool (the fool) by the band Gingerpig. Check them out and enjoy some great retro rock! The band released it's first album in 2011 titled ''Ways of the Gingerpig''