Composer Reacts to Fates Warning - Monument (REACTION & ANALYSIS)

Bryan reacts to and talks about his thoughts on Monument

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0:00 Intro
0:53 Reaction
8:06 Analysis - Initial Thoughts
9:00 Analysis - Digestible With Light Technicality
18:25 Analysis - Slightly Odd Production
27:00 Analysis - The Solo Section
31:08 Analysis - Lyrical Breakdown
40:40 Outro

[garysanders]

Mark Zonder is my favorite drummer of all time.

[TheDondoran]

Mark Zonder was the drummer on this album, and he's been one of my favorite drummers since I first heard the album after this one, A Pleasant Shade of Gray. But I love this entire band, and all of the musicians that have come and gone. Their current incarnation is also great, and Bobby Jarzombek is no slouch when it comes to drumming. Bobby and his brother Ron made some music together with the band Spastic Ink, and that is some pretty intense technical prog metal. It's just full-on tech prog. I can't listen to it very often. 😅😅

[garysanders]

I have loved Fates Warning every since I first heard them. This is my favorite song by them!

[johngriggsjr.]

This band was Tool before Tool was Tool

[garysanders]

I call the end piece, the Peanuts version.

[thepotatochipbag]

Zonder is up there with Peart in my book. I find it insane that he almost NEVER gets any recognition

[brianyates]

Hello from New England..I used to see F.W. in Connecticut a lot back in the day at a club called The Sting..they were around at the same time as Drem Theater but never achieved the same level of success..A nice blast from the past..Peace from the Northeast..

[kingIgor]

Traditional Prog Metal band trying to be more accessible
Theres a Fusion Influence/Solo Section (Proto-Avant Garde Metal)
This band influenced Dream Theater...
Its a Brilliant Progressive Metal Masterpiece Song (Album) with Amazing Solos...
All their music is Unique... from The Spectre Within (1985) to Long Day Good Night (2020)
I don't subscribe to simpler/accessible is better composition
Great Artist (like Fates Warning) can write great songs at any level of skill
(Still this isn't a pop song its Progressive Metal)
Odd Meters/Syncopation... etc...

Fates Warnings (Jim Matheos) Lyrics are Philosophical they don't underestimate the listeners intelligence they leave it open for the audience to think for themselfs

[Jay-vcqk]

Thank you for this. Great deep dive into arguably my favorite band of all time.

[ckokomo]

Really cool! Reminded of a “proto-prog metal” style. A bit heavier and crunchier than prog rock. Really interesting hearing the line from early 60’s/70’s prog rock to 90’s prog metal to current stuff. Cool stuff.

[jogaran_]

Modern Fates Warning has a really cool production, the album Theories of Flight is one of my favorites ever.
Btw it's a good time to introduce the band Redemption, which for most of their albums has the same singer than Fates Warning, the great Ray Alder. I would recommend any of their lengthy songs but if it's too much, "Black and white world" is a really cool option.

[stewjacks]

Big Fates Warning fan here. Give “Still Remains” a listen. Live from Athens.

[kevinmadden]

Fates Warning started out as a Maiden/Dio-Sabbath influenced metal act in the early-to-mid 80s. The first three records featured a different singer (and drummer), who sang about mostly fantasy-influenced themes. Starting in 1988, with a new singer, they edged closer to more complex thrashy compositions with "realistic" lyrical content. 1989 saw a new, much more technically-focused drummer (Mark Zonder) and proto-prog metal compositions. 1992 saw them going for the "big time", bringing in Rush producer Terry Brown, and a much more accessible (prog-lite?) direction. Big time MTV videos with flowing pirate shirt visuals, and an attempt to get the Queensryche/Dream Theater audience, but it didn't quite pan out. I sense the lyrics of this song refer to the doubts they were feeling about "making it." Post-1988 lyrical content for Fates Warning tends to border on the pessimistic...so perhaps that colored my impression. 1994's Inside Out (from which this track was taken) was a bit of a repeated attempt to corner that market, including a tour with DT, but unfortunately grunge was taking over and this type of metal was just about snuffed out. 40% of the band left (bassist and one of the guitarists) and instead of focusing on the commercial direction, the band's response was to issue an hour-long single-track concept record in 1997. Fates became pretty much a cult band at this point and periodically released records throughout the years, culminating in their 13th record, 2020's Long Day, Good Night, which apparently will be their final record. Tomorrow we will take a look at that and see how the band has progressed since '94 with a new drummer (2013), a new bassist (1997), and a new soloist (guitar), yet the same original songwriter/composer and same singer. Thanks for taking the time to do this!

[Selkirk]

I have love Zonder for 33 years great feel reminds me of G Harrison, , , timing, pocket, ghost notes.

[jonathanhenderson]

Fates Warning were on of the OG prog metal bands of the late 80s. They were eclipsed in popularity by Queensryche and, later, by Dream Theater, but I think they are very much in the same class with both bands. Here's what I wrote about them on my Top 100 Artists list (I ranked them #37--I ranked DT #21 and Queensryche #55 for comparison): "FW are what I imagine Queensryche would've been had they kept getting better in the 90s instead of going to hell. In truth, FW were always something of a Johnny-come-lately band who got by on imitating their predecessors--Iron Maiden, Metallica, Queensryche, etc.--but rather than that being a knock against them it's actually a testament to how well they adapted to each new style, continually evolving and staying fresh rather than resting on their laurels and becoming too dated. They're also the model of consistency in prog metal, rarely releasing a genuinely bad or mediocre album. Even if I'd admit they never released an album as great as Operation: Mindcrime, I could equally say Queensryche never released anything else as good as probably the next 3 or 4 best FW albums."

As you can probably tell from the above they're a band whose sound/style has changed significantly over the years. Their 80s stuff goes from and Iron Maiden clone, to being quasi-thrash/pog (ala Metallica), then to Queensryche; then in the mid-late 90s they start incorporating more alternative rock influences (while maintaining the proggy edge), and in the 2000s/2010s they start incorporating more modern prog metal bands like Dream Theater and others. Like I suggested, the big knock against them is they were always "iterative" rather than "innovative, " but they are hella great iterators with a consistent standard of excellence across all their various eras. I mean, I have 3 of their albums ranked 9/10, and 6 rated 8/10. Doesn't get much more consistently solid than that!

This track is from their '94 album Inside Out where I'd say they first started incorporating more alternative rock/metal influences. It's probably one of my least favorite albums from them (not helped by the fact its bookended by two of their best: Parallels from '91 and A Pleasant Shade of Grey from '97). I'd say this was an odd choice of a song to introduce you to them, but I have found that FW fans tend be quite diverse in their favorite songs/albums, so maybe it's not terribly surprising. I probably would've recommended a track from a more recent album if only because they're more accessible to people more familiar with modern prog metal. I also think their recent albums have been the best lineup they've ever had: Jim Matheos is one of the most underrated guitarists in metal; ditto for Ray Alder as a vocalist. Bobby Jarzombek is one of those absolute monster drummers both technically and creative, and ditto for Joey Vera on bass.

One thing I really appreciate about them is how they never abandoned clean singing and melodic guitar/vocal writing. Especially with their new material they're as rhythmically advanced as other modern prog metal bands, and their riffs are crushingly heavy, but they've always maintained the existence of melodic vocal/guitar writing over that. Not that I dislike all metal that focuses on other elements, but melodic metal ala Maiden and Priest (and Queensryche and Dream Theater) are what got met into metal to begin with.

[Gabobow]

If you're interested in this kind of "proto prog metal" you just HAVE to react to Watchtower, Control And Resistance and The Fall Of Reason would be perfect songs

[RIPMMD]

Mark zonder is a beast. Too bad he never really got enough recognition.

[rafanj]

I love this song so much! The riff, the guitar and acoustic solo, the remarkable Ray Alder's voice and melodies but what makes this song great is the drums, incredibly creative, carries you like a wave through the entire song!!!!

[scottdunn]

A virtual tour de force of suspended 2nd 🎸

[raghavk]

Brilliant as usual.

Do take a look at the new animals as leaders album, specifically Red Miso.