Fates Warning's 4th album is most noted for two things: 1) The introduction of new (and current) vocalist Ray Alder and 2) The introduction of the sidelong track to prog metal. Hello... Yes! Concerning the former, I think universally everyone has accepted and admired Ray Alder. He's more than an accomplished singer, and he's proven to be the perfect front man for the band. For most of their existence by this point. Personally I prefer the rawer, more amateurish John Arch, but you can also put me in the pro-Alder camp. As for the latter, the hype sticker is hilarious: "Features the epic 'Ivory Gate of Dreams' a twenty-one minute metal musical journey that makes rock history". Isn't that... cute? I mean technically each new album makes rock history, but I feel confident that the sidelong track had been done prior. Even in metal (Venom anyone?). But yea, I was super stoked metal was going in this direction too. The aforementioned side-longer isn't really a full composition, but rather 8 separate songs / interludes under one umbrella. I remember bristling about it at the time, rather than embracing the whole idea of the future of metal. Typical overcritical youthful perspective. Fates Warning were really the pioneers of prog metal, and I've always preferred their rougher Iron Maiden-ish take versus the more professional and sleek Dream Theater, though there's plenty of room for both in my world. I also happened to see the band live during this era at a small venue (November 1989, Dallas City Limits), so objectivity yields to nostalgia. Rates excellent in my book.
Ownership: LP: 1988 Metal Blade. Single sleeve with lyric insert. Recent online acquisition. Something of an outlier here. I first bought this at a Sound Warehouse in Dallas upon release. Kept it forever, and was part of my "silted port" metal collection. No way would I ever sell their first 3 LPs, but I felt this one was expendable and sold it off a few years ago. Ehhh, maybe I should not have done that. The only way I buy it back is if the new copy is better than the old one. That's going to be tough, because it was in super condition. But yes! Found one still in shrink, with hype sticker, and played maybe once (or not). Perfect. Paid the same price as what I sold the old one for. OK, good save. Whew. Honestly that rarely happens anymore, as I'm pretty guarded about what LPs get sold from the personal collection, but this came with a satisfying ending.
1/6/22 (new entry)
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