Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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33 of 33 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Sadly Disappointing, April 5, 2000
Fate's Warning, in my opinion, are the most underrated band in the world. I will continue to buy anything they put out, just for a sheer love of the band. But, Metal Blade, I'm begging you, please put out a DVD worthy of this awesome band, they deserve much better! From what I hear, a video is in the works of the creation of the new CD, "Disconnected", including a reunion with Joe Dibiase and Frank Aresti, in the studio. Hopefully they will put it on DVD, and work a little harder on the production.I've given this release 2 stars, only because it's Fate's Warning on DVD, something I thought I would never see. I really wanted to give it a raving review but I can't. Sadly, it's lacking on many levels. I was very excited when I heard about it, and I never thought that Jim Matheos would sign off on a poorly produced product with the Fate's Warning name on it, but it appears that that's exactly what he did this time. So what's wrong with it? First off, the sound quality is poor. From a band like Fate's Warning I was expecting stellar surround sound, but what I got is poor stereo, with uneven separation. Second, the video is VHS quality, at best. At many points throughout the show, the colors bleed and it just looks bad. But worst of all, at many points throughout the show, the video and audio are not lined up properly. It's just not cool to hear a cymbal crash before the stick hits it, or hearing words come out of Ray Alder's mouth before he opens it! These things are unacceptable for VHS, not to mention DVD. As for the show itself, I believe it was recorded before "A Pleasant Shade of Gray" came out, or the band had a time limit, because a few of the songs are incomplete. The whole video is less than an hour long. Matheos never even pulls out his acoustic, which he did a few times throughout the show when I saw them on that tour. If you are a Fate's Warning fan, you may want this DVD to complete your collection, but be prepared. It's not up to the usual standards you have come to expect from the band. The lack of extras (none), and poor quality do not warrant this release on DVD.
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Not great, but definitely worth having, May 19, 2001
First things first: This is a video of Fates Warning performing at an outdoor music festival. They perform A Pleasant Shade of Gray Parts 2, 3, 5, 6 and 7, as well as The Eleventh Hour, Point of View, Monument and We Only Say Goodbye. It's about 45 minutes of music total. The playlist is particularly important considering that there's another video out there called A Pleasant Shade Of Gray Live. I don't know what's on that one, but clearly the two videos feature some of the same songs.As for whether or not I'd recommend this video, the answer is yes, but then again, I'm a huge fan--have been for about 15 years, and I've never seen them in concert. I suspect a lot of Fates fans haven't seen them live, since they tour so infrequently and at such scattered venues. For those fans, I'd definitely recommend this video. It gives you a chance to see how the band interacts with each other and the crowd, and all the other little things that come with a live performance. It was a big thrill for me seeing the band being real people, whereas before they were just faces from the inside of the album cover. You know what I mean. That said, the video itself isn't great. At times I really got annoyed by the way it was directed ("Why are you showing me that?!"). But the audio isn't all that bad, for a live performance. You can't hear the crowd singing the vocals in those places where Ray leaves it up to them, but if you have the album Still Life, you know what you aren't hearing. And even then, you get to hear the band playing accompaniment more clearly than you can on the album. I found it to be sort of a new insight into a couple of familiar songs. Put it this way: If the direction had been better, I'd have given the video five stars. If Fates Warning wasn't my favorite band, I probably would have given it three. But all in all, it was a great thrill being able to see the band while they perform. Oh, yeah--they played well, too. No obvious mistakes or half-hearted performances here. They really get into it on this video.
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8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
What were they thinking?, March 29, 2001
This video does a severe misjustice to one of the all time great progressive bands. Saying the sound quality is poor is a complement to this video. Video looks like it was filmed by a crew member with a camcorder. Love the band, hate the video. Forced myself to watch the whole thing once before I listed my copy on EBay.
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