Awaken the Guardian

Awaken the Guardian

Track Listings

1. Sorceress

2. Valley of the Dolls

3. Fata Morgana

4. Guardian

5. Prelude to Ruin

6. Giant's Lore (Heart of Winter)

7. Time Long Past [Instrumental]

8. Exodus

Tracks:

The Sorceress
Valley Of The Dolls
Fata Morgana
Guardian
Prelude To Ruin
Giant's Lore (Heart Of Winter)
Time Long Past
Exodus

Tracks:

The Sorceress (Demo)
Valley Of The Dolls (Demo)
Prelude To Ruin (Demo)
Fata Morgana (Live)
Damnation (Live)
The Apparition (Live)
The Sorceress (Live)
Guardian (Live)
Die Young (Live)

Customer Reviews:

Prog Metal Masterpiece from the Historical Perspective.......2005-02-09

Most prog metal fans overlook this masterpiece for some reason. To them, it all starts with Fates Warning's Perfect Symmetry, which is agreeable, since Perfect Symmetry is the band's first actual foray into prog metal. However, Awaken the Guardian, given its release date, was one of the driving forces of prog metal when a term as "prog metal" didn't even exist. Released almost 20 years ago, Awaken the Guardian is still as perfect as it was way back. This was the first Fates Warning disc I ever bought and I still listen to it on a regular basis. With each passing year, I re-discover its brilliance and impact on the genre. This band is kind of like Psychotic Waltz who were also as amazing and influential but were always overlooked by the masses.

If you've never listened to pre-Parallels period Fates Warning, then you might be pleasantly surprised. Awaken the Guardian is the last album with original singer John Arch and the best in my opinion. Arch seriously defined the sound of Fates Warning on the fist three releases since he co-wrote each song with guitarist Jim Matheos. He co-wrote each song on ATG as well, except the instrumental piece, "Time Long Past". Of note is that Arch co-wrote "Giant's Lore (Heart of Winter)" with second guitarist Frank Aresti and I believe this is the only track in the entire Fates Warning catalog that wasn't written by Jim Matheos. I said it before and I'll reiterate: John Arch is one of the most amazing singers that has ever walked the face of the earth. He can wail like every other screamer out there, but what's more is, he can still retain melody hitting those high notes. Unfortunately, Awaken the Guardian was the last album he did before he disappeared for 17 years only to return with a two-track solo project where he proved his voice was still as amazing as ever.

The lineup on Awaken the Guardian differs greatly from their current one, or vice versa. With a second guitarist, Frank Aresti, who plays unique DARK acoustic pieces, as well as lead solos alongside Matheos; original drummer Steve Zimmerman, who is very different from demigod Mark Zonder, but equally competent and intense in his own way; and bassist Joe DiBiase, who is more of a traditional Heavy Metal bass guitarist than someone like Joey Vera, this album sees the band blending its traditional metal roots with their branched-out technicality and more progressive approach to songwriting. The music offers a wide array of musical diversity that will appeal to any metal fan, regardless of the genres they're attached to. Matheos and Aresti play sharp, heavy and aggressive guitar riffs with extensive solos that will please any metalhead. As I mentioned above, Aresti lays down some really evil acoustic guitars, like the one in the intro, "The Sorceress". That is perhaps the most evil intro on any Fates Warning album. There is more of this plucked acoustic guitar to be heard on "Guardian" as well as on the instrumental track, "Time Long Past". The latter is significantly interesting as Aresti plays a brooding acoustic piece and Matheos lays down an emotionally engaging guitar solo over it.

Drummer Steve Zimmerman has always been a personal favourite of mine as he tends to play his snares loud, in your face and still technically impressive. His cymbal work and drum attack respectively on "Valley of the Dolls" are proof that Fates Warning always consisted of technically advanced musicians. It's a shame they have always been so underrated throughout their entire career. In the 80's everyone had their attention on Queensryche and Crimson Glory, while the 90's saw Dream Theater and their many clones dominating the waves.

"Prelude to Ruin" is one of my favourite songs because it exemplifies Arch's perfection as a melodic singer and puts the beautifully synchopated rhythm guitars under the microscope. The layered guitar theme in the intro is turned into a heavy progressive track by the end of the track. On "Giant's Lore", Arch's vocals are toned down and there's an eerily beautiful main riff that intermittently steals the show here. "Exodus", the longest track on the album, displays also the band's most progressive approach to composition. The song envelops a wide range of diverse instrumentation with John Arch doing a killer vocal performance and the rhythm section providing pummeling bass and drum attack. This is essential to everyone, but especially those who pride themselves in being Progressive Metal fans.

it became too "old".......2005-02-03

For me it sounds like bad Mercyful Fate. If u really like good prog check out latest works of Fates. Pleasant Shade is much much more creative and inreresting than this.

GOLDEN "ARCH"ES.......2004-12-28

ARCH/MATHEOS AND COMPANY CREATED AN EPIC PROG CLASSIC HERE. THIS IS CREATIVE AND I'M SURE I HAVE NEVER HEARD ANYTHING LIKE ARCH'S PHRASING-VERY UNIQUE. GUARDIAN MIGHT BE THE BEST SONG EVER CREATED. A MUST FOR EVERY SERIOUS MUSIC COLLECTION.

FW's foray into prog.......2004-09-15

1986 was quite the year for metal. Master of Puppets, Reign in Blood, Somewhere in Time, Rage for Order, Peace Sells... But Who's Buying?, the list goes on. One of the most overlooked entries on that list, or in all of metal, is Awaken the Guardian. On their two previous outings, Fates Warning showed a strong Maiden-influence, but on Awaken the Guardian they have found their own sound. John Arch still sings with power and emotion reminescent of Bruce Dickinson. Frank Aresti and Jim Matheos are a guitar duo for the ages, though sadly the former decided to leave a few albums later. There are no bad songs on this disc; "Time Long Past" is bit short, though killer cuts such as "Fata Morgana", the title cut, and "Prelude to Ruin" rule the day and night.

Also, you just HAVE to love that album cover!!

THE REPORT CARD:

The Sorceress: A (intro is very dark and macabre, riffs that follow are extremely catchy)
Valley of the Dolls: B+ (solid, not as good as the tracks it comes in between)
Fata Morgana: A (John Arch really makes good use of his pipes here)
Guardian: A (this is my favorite cut here)
Prelude to Ruin: B (a live staple, I think?)
Giant's Lore: A (If you like Metallica...)
Time Long Past: B+ (a short lead-in to...)
Exodus: A (Mr. Arch keenly demonstrates how to go out on a good note, if you'll pardon the pun)

A Staple.......2004-05-13

I bought this on cassette in...86? Thereabouts...I wore out the original tape, luckily I'd dubbed a spare. I'm now (2004) on my third such spare, I'm nowhere near the same guy who bought the original tape, but I still listen to this album every couple of weeks. Most of my music from those days has vanished into the mysterious place where cassettes go (stolen, beer spilled on them, etc), but this album is still very much relavant to me. I had to get it on CD just so it would be less vulnerable to time and wear.
PRO: it's an amazing blend of complex melodies, powerful vocals and intriguing (if sometimes incomprehensible) lyrics.
CON: Not for everybody. Arch's vocals are a little too dramatic for a lot of people, and the lyrics tend to dwell on the metaphysical/mythical.
This is one of the best albums of the heyday of intelligent metal.

Average customer rating:

Awaken the fantasy within!
Apparition
If you like excellent metal, You need to own this EP!
My first Fates album
Buy It For Guardian, Stay for the Rest

Awaken the Guardian
Fates Warning
Manufacturer: Metal Blade
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Progressive Metal | Progressive | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

Spectre Within
Night on Bröcken
No Exit
FWX
Parallels

ASIN: B0009JK0X4
Release Date: 2005-06-28

Tracks:

The Sorceress
Valley of the Dolls
Fata Morgana
Guardian
Prelude to Ruin
Giants of Lore Heart of Winter
Time Long Past
Exodus

Tracks:

The Sorceress (DEMO)
Valley of the Dolls (DEMO)
Prelude to Ruin (DEMO)
Fata Morgana (LIVE)
Damnation (LIVE)
The Apparition (LIVE)
The Sorceress (LIVE)
Guardian (LIVE)
Die Young (LIVE)

Tracks:

Sundance
Valley of the Dolls
Pirates of the Underground
Orphan Gypsy
Fata Morgana
Traveler in Time
The Sorceress
Guardian
Prelude to Ruin
Damnation
The Apparition
Die Young
Kiss of Death

Album Description

Originally released in 1986, Fates Warning's third release, "Awaken The Guardian" would forever seal the band's place in Heavy Metal history. Regarded as the band's breakout release, original member and Fate Warning brainchild, JIM MATHEOS has gone to the vaults to offer, to the fans, and extraordinary glimpse back to 1986 with a 2 CD, 1 DVD set of rare demos, a live concert video and more.

Customer Reviews:

Awaken the fantasy within! .......2007-06-28

When it comes to progressive metal bands, Fates Warning is often mentioned THIRD when it comes to the "biggest" names in the genre, that is when they're mentioned at all. Queensryche and Dream Theater have their own pluses and minuses, but it seems that Fates should have at least half the success the others have had. They are relatively comfortable, but there are many who still have not heard the excellence that this band has been about for years.

As far as the band's fans themselves, a lot of them seem to fall into two camps: One being with an almost cult-like adoration of the John Arch era, another camp not quite as fervent preferring the Ray Alder era. Well both camps can count me out, as I like everything the band has done, at least up to and including Pleasant Shade of Gray. They kind of lost me after that when they tried to follow it with their last two albums, decent attempts but missing alot of what I liked about them back in the day.

However, now we speak about favorite albums, albums that surpass genre, time period, and time itself in general. Definitely contained in my top twenty or thirty albums of all time, would be this opus, an opus I discovered ten years ago, probably to the month (this one).

Fates Warning (or whats left of them) may be "embarrassed" by this album(recent interviews with Jim Matheos stating as much as it reminds him of old yearbook pictures), but they couldn't deny the impact it has had and offered us this plush, deluxe edition which also reminds me of the work Metal Blade Records has done with the Psychotic Waltz reissues (a very similar band). The dvd is indeed pretty raw, but as Arch era footage is scant, it still provides us a raw glimpse into a band that was inventing a whole new genre of music as they went along, that being progressive metal (just ask Mike Portnoy, who wrote the booklet!)

Now, some prog (metal) snobs may laugh at the lyrical content, it being more based in fantasy, but I ask, is the Lamb Lies Down On Broadway about "real subjects and interpersonal relationships"? You look a little bit deeper and there are metaphors and real life stories contained within the shell of fantasy John Arch weaves around us.

Indeed, Fates Warning has almost been a metal version of 70's Genesis with their rich textures and atmosphere.

This 1986 album is the one where odd time signatures were first used to the forefront as much within the metal genre (well also Voivod and Watchtower were doing similarily at the time as well), and the epic, almost maze like song structures gleaned from a heavy dose of early Mercyful Fate (think Satan's Fall) and other bands such as Rush.

The other influence that reviewers often fail to point out is that of Black Sabbath. Black Sabbath type riffs are all over the place, such as the Children of The Grave styled (and D tuned) riffs in the Sorceress.
Despite his naysayers who only think Arch was a nasal version of Bruce Dickinson (only partly true), Arch's vocal melodies are ahead of their time, going up full scales even when the song's riffs were more simple! Listening to this album, one can hear Phrygian scales of various types, among other scales, all done within a single vocal melody!

Sometimes, it does sound like Arch was pushing the limits of his own voice. If he (or the band would have let him) would've stuck around, I'm sure that he would have progressed even further as a vocalist.

Like Jimi Hendrix, James Dean, Syd Barrett, or others, since Arch's musical career (not as adversly affected as those previously mentioned, he just became a carpenter and started a family), was cut short; and since the music he helped create was so legendary and epic, he is seen as a legend as much as he is.

In other words, Arch was a genius, and despite some Prog Metal Snobs who have no sense of history, Awaken The Guardian towers over many albums, even by the same band.

No other album (Perfect Symmetry and Parallels come close) in this band's discography was as consistently powerful, melodious, epic, and majestic as this one, while also being groundbreaking in the early use of Prog hallmarks like odd timings, strange intervals (especially the vocals), acoustic guitars and keyboards creating atmosphere, and the afore-mentioned maze like structures.

If you don't own it, or haven't given it a chance, I plead with you to do so. We need this album to sell more, so that maybe John Arch will come out with more music once again, more than the recent John Arch EP contained.

Ok, so maybe I'm in the Arch cult to some extent it turns out. Future reviews of Fates other releases should show that I am very into the band in general, but there was definitely something special about this album.

Indeed, when we talk about earliest fully formed progressive metal albums, we can speak of:

Watchtower - Energetic Dissasembly -1985

Fates Warning - Awaken the Guardian -1986

Queensryche- Rage for Order - 1986

Voivod- Killing Technology - 1987 (give it a chance even if you've only heard the recent two).

Honorable Mention: Crimson Glory - Transcendence (but only if you consider them as progressive, great band though).

Feel free to comment with more albums that fit this description, because its research worth discussing.

Apparition.......2006-08-11

I was first introduced to this album in the late 80's after hearing the song"Apparition". I didnt know the name of it and always asked people if they new the name of the song with the words "I wanna know what". Of course people looked at me crazy and didnt know what i was talking about.Although it was hard to understand the lyrics,the song jammed. It was one of those songs you could here over and over, especially if you were high.haha Luckily my boyfriend was a guitar player for a local metal band and knew of this band and introduced me to this album. I was blown away. My boyfriend would play of couple of the tracks on his guitar for me so you know i was happy. when i finally got the lyrics I fell even more in love. Arch's voice and the stories he told in his music were beyond imagination. Back then we had the wonderful cassette tape, and I was finally able to listen to a whole cassette front and back without having to rewind and fast forward to my favortie song, which on most cassettes, was in the middle. Of all the great bands in the 80's, they were definitely one of my favorites and still are today. Some sixteen years later i find myself downloading the songs, but i'm a little rusty on the lyrics. I was devastated over the departure or Arch but didnt have the heart to abandon the band. Alder's voice was great but in no way did he have the imagination and creativity of Arch. This is definitely one of the albums i'll be listening to in the nursing home 30-40 years from now

If you like excellent metal, You need to own this EP! .......2006-06-12

There are two fillers on the whole album wich are not realy fillers they just don't have the intensity and whole heart felt metal feeling you get from the other songs. Fates warning in the 80's is some of the best metal you will ever hear, F*** ATREYU and as i lay dying.... THIS IS VERY HIGH QUALITY OF THE PUREST FORMS OF MUSIC>...This is when metal singing took talent. Do not buy any of the new fates albums they are horrid crap, the singer blows and they don't even play metal anymore. Bottom Line is FATES WARNING AWAKEN THE GUARDIAN contains some of the greatest metal music ever recorded. If you dont like this than you simply suck!

NEVERMORE SUCKS TOO>...BUY fates Warning's metal albums instead(not the garbage they make today)

My first Fates album.......2006-02-22

I bought this album at Fates Warning last summer, and as my first album, it made me buy what is now four more Fates Warning albums since. This cd is absolutely amazing. Songs such as Gaurdain and Prelude to Ruin sold it for me on first listen. But the other songs still held strong as well. They are all very good songs though. The bonus disc is not the best quality, but if you see the words live and demo on it, you know not to expect the best quality. But listening to it is a pleasure nonetheless. The DVD is the only thing I havent ever truely enjoyed. The only reason that the review stays at 5 Stars is because of how strong an album this is. I definetly recommend it to prog fans and metal fans alike. Its a great introduction to the sound of early Fates. If you are more interested in the later days though, this isn't an accurate represenation.

Buy It For Guardian, Stay for the Rest.......2005-11-09

The price of this album is worth it for the track "Guardian" alone. This song is probably the greatest metal balad I've heard. It has the perfect mix of touching lyrics, metal riffs, and a balad sound. John Arch's lyrics and vocals put the finishing touches on an amazing song.

However, that said, the rest of the album is great as well. Exodus is a great epic song (although not as long as some of Dream Theater's tracks, the song progresses through various metal sounds). The other tracks are all great, although none stand out quite like Guardian, or to a lesser extent Exodus

For people who haven't heard Fates Warning, they're stuff that came after this album was more progressive, although this album certainly doesn't lack musical ability. Also if your a fan of Dream Theater and like all the solos and everything, this might or might not dissapiont you (I love both of these bands), since it is progressive in its overall sound and musical ability, and isn't dominated by heavy guitar solos, drum patterns, or keyboard riffs.

Also this album has the bonus album and DVD. The bonus album with extras, ive given a quick listen to some of it. Although I haven't heard the whoel thing, from what I've heard I'd say its a nice bonus I guess, but not worth anything on its own. The DVD I haven't watched yet. So this album is great, but if you already own it, I'm not sure this special edition thing is worth buying it again.

Still I'm rating the main album since thats what I bought this for, and it gets 5 stars.