Customer Reviews

Still Life

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Unlike some of the other reviews, I really enjoy hearing "A Pleasant Shade of Gray" preformed in its entirety on Disk 1. I think it demonstrates the band's technical skill to pull this off and the material comes off well.

My biggest single complaint with this release is how the producer mixed in crowd noise. I guess he didn't want us to "forget" it's a live album because the crowd noise is way to prevelant. During the soft intro of APSOG a handful of fans continue to whistle and holler for almost two full minutes. Rather than adding excitement, it just becomes grating because these few fans whistling is almost louder than the music.

Other than this issue, this is a great live release with excellent performances and production. You can hear each instrument (including the bass!) very clearly. I definitely recommend picking it up.

Disc 1 of this double-disc live set is devoted to a live representation of Fates Warning's magnum opus, A Pleasant Shade of Gray. And although this piece is played well, it ends up not being as good as the studio album. It's missing some things that the album had: the build-up at the first, the alarm clock at the end, etc., and the playing is inferior to the record in the more chops-heavy sections. Also, it is played straight-up as the album plays, with no improvisitation, and is actually shorter (!) than the album. A fine piece of work, no doubt, but if I wanna hear APSOG I'll just pop in the studio version.

Disc 2, on the other hand, is a must for any Fates Warning fan. Stunning versions of The Ivory Gate of Dreams (the whole thing), Monument, At Fates Hands, and Prelude To Ruin among other Fates favorites are abound on this disc. The band is in good form, especially Ray, and there are a few good improv sections with Jim, Mark, and Joey Vera really tearing it up. Bernie Versailles does a good job on second guitar as well. Any Fates fan will love this disc.

In hindsight, this is a good live album that could've been great. It would've been better to have had just a handful of tracks from APSOG represented (especially since there is already a live APSOG video), and there could've been more songs tacked on to disc 2. I would've liked to have had versions of Nothing Left To Say, Part of the Machine, or stuff from any of the earlier albums. Still, this album is worth looking into if you are a FW fan.

Out of the thousands of bands that have released live cds in late 1998, this one is the best. Great, crystal-clear sound and no phony audience over-dubs. My only problem with this set is that the only difference between disc 1 of this release and their previous release is the audience. In my opinion, they should have picked 5 or 6 selections from A Pleasant Shade Of Gray to play live so there would be room for more older greats like Life In Still Water, Fata Morgana, Orphan Gipsy, and perhaps an entire Prelude To Ruin. Even with the entire Gray cd being performed, this live set is a must for any Fates Warning fans.

This might be the best-sounding live album I've ever heard. I always say that you can't truly "get" a band until you take in their live show. 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.

This two disc set is a gem. However, I would have liked more songs from older albums. More songs instead of devoting one disc to "A Pleasant Shade of Grey" would have been nice. Other than that, this is a great package. Excellent quality.

"Still Life" is absolutely the best live album that I have ever heard. Being a longtime Queensryche fan, I have discovered that there is actually life after "Mindcrime". This album is a must.

If you love Rock and Roll with a metal edge, Still Life is a must buy. With a sound similar to Queensryche and Dreamtheater, Fates Warning gives a live performance with the thundering power of bands such as Rush, and Metallica. Altogether Still live is the best live recording in years from any band.

"Still Life", although well-produced, well-engineered and well-played in general, is a total failure from a marketing's point of view. Yes, I am a huge fan of Fates Warning (FW), but I do have several serious complains about this album. 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!

"Still Life", although well-produced, well-engineered and well-played in general, is a total failure from a marketing's point of view. Yes, I am a huge fan of Fates Warning (FW), but I do have several serious complains about this album. 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!

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 remember picking up one of the John Arch led albums "Awaken The Guardian" years ago and really did not care for it. 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.