I had always heard that this was the best and most definitive of Fates Warning's sound. I was so excited when I ordered it from Amazon; I put it in and was disappointed. Many of the tracks were very poor and Ray Adler's voice was just a scream for the majority of the time. "Through Different Eyes" is good though, and except for the instrumental beginning, "Nothing Left to Say" is one of the best songs that Fates Warning had ever done. The rest of the songs aren't that good to begin with, but the production does not help. It is very weak and dated, and the guitars don't hit as hard as they should. Also, although Mark Zonder would become a metal drumming legend, it is hard to pick up on this album, maybe because he does nothing spectacular, but maybe because it is nearly impossible to hear him. Fortunately I gave the band another chance with "FWX" and have discovered that Fates Warning is really good. I guess that hardcore fans of the band will enjoy this, but to someone looking to get into Fates Warning, I would instead recommend "Parallels."
I had always heard that this was the best and most definitive of Fates Warning's sound. I was so excited when I ordered it from Amazon; I put it in and was disappointed. Many of the tracks were very poor and Ray Adler's voice was just a scream for the majority of the time. "Through Different Eyes" is good though, and except for the instrumental beginning, "Nothing Left to Say" is one of the best songs that Fates Warning had ever done. The rest of the songs aren't that good to begin with, but the production does not help. It is very weak and dated, and the guitars don't hit as hard as they should. Also, although Mark Zonder would become a metal drumming legend, it is hard to pick up on this album, maybe because he does nothing spectacular, but maybe because it is nearly impossible to hear him. Fortunately I gave the band another chance with "FWX" and have discovered that Fates Warning is really good. I guess that hardcore fans of the band will enjoy this, but to someone looking to get into Fates Warning, I would instead recommend "Parallels. "