Perfect Symmetry (Fates Warning Album)
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Perfect Symmetry is the fifth studio album by
progressive metal Progressive metal (often shortened to prog metal) is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal music, heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified electric guitar, guitar-driven sound of the former with t ...
band
Fates Warning Fates Warning is an American progressive metal band, formed in Hartford, Connecticut, in 1982 by vocalist John Arch, guitarists Jim Matheos and Victor Arduini, bassist Joe DiBiase, and drummer Steve Zimmerman. There have been numerous lineup ch ...
, released in 1989 through Metal Blade Records;Taylor, Robert
"Perfect Symmetry - Fates Warning"
''
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
''.
All Media Network RhythmOne , a subsidiary of Nexxen, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went public on the AIM market of the London St ...
. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
a
remaster A remaster is a change in the sound or image quality of previously created forms of media, whether Mastering (audio), audiophonic, Cinematography, cinematic, or Videography, videographic. The resulting product is said to be remastered. The term ...
ed edition was reissued on June 10, 2008 together with a bonus disc containing studio demos, as well as a DVD of live performances from the 1989–90 ''Perfect Symmetry'' world tour. It was with this album that the band's more modern, progressive direction was established.


Overview

''Perfect Symmetry'' was Fates Warning's second album with singer Ray Alder, who fully participated in the writing of the album. Guitarist and founding band member
Jim Matheos Jim Matheos (born November 22, 1962) is an American guitarist and the primary songwriter for the progressive metal band Fates Warning, in which he has been the only consistent member since the group's beginning. Matheos also plays in OSI alongs ...
describes Alder as having "really started to find his voice and range n ''Perfect Symmetry'' It was our second album with him and he did some incredible stuff. It's also when he started to sing in a lower range and we welcomed that because that's the direction we wanted to head into anyway. Before that album, in terms of singing, we were like, 'the higher the better!'"Ramirez, Carlos (2008-06-10)
"Fates Warning Guitarist: 'Touring Is The Best Practice'"
Ultimate-Guitar. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
It was also the band's first album with drummer Mark Zonder, who, according to Matheos, "helped us go in that progressive direction we wanted to go in. It was an even bigger change than when Ray joined a few years before." Zonder confirmed in a 2011 interview that Matheos was pushing the songwriting in a more progressive direction: "It seemed a bit more prog and less thrashy. Seemed like Jim wanted to stretch things out a bit and make them a bit more airy-linear than straight up and down.""SpaceProg.com interview with Mark Zonder (2011)"
spaceprog.com. 2011. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
"Nothing Left to Say" was featured on the soundtrack to the 1991 film '' Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare''. An
instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...
version of "At Fates Hands", renamed "At Fate's Fingers", was released on the 1991 compilation album ''Guitar's Practicing Musicians Vol. 2'',"Various – Guitar's Practicing Musicians Vol. 2"
Discogs Discogs ( ; short for " discographies") is a database of information about audio recordings, including commercial releases, promotional releases, and bootleg or off-label releases. Database contents are user-generated, and described in ''T ...
. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
and resurfaced four years later on Fates Warning's only compilation album '' Chasing Time''.


Reception

Critical reception for ''Perfect Symmetry'' has been mostly positive. Robert Taylor at
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
gave the album four out of five stars and said, "This was the recording that established Fates Warning as a progressive band. Their metal influences still dominate the group's overall sound; however, Mark Zonder's unique approach to drumming adds another level of depth and credibility to the music." Trey Spencer at Sputnikmusic gave the album five stars out of five, describing it as "easily their most progressive album to date" and saying, "If you like your prog cold and precise without all the random instrumental masturbation that a lot of others utilize then you should do your best to pick this up as soon as possible." The album was relatively successful in the charts, reaching No. 141 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' 200"Perfect Symmetry - Fates Warning , Awards"
''
AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...
''.
All Media Network RhythmOne , a subsidiary of Nexxen, is an American digital advertising technology company that owns and operates the web properties AllMusic, AllMovie, and SideReel. Blinkx was founded in 2004, went public on the AIM market of the London St ...
. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
(the second-highest position in the band's history) and remaining on that chart for nine weeks. "Fates Warning - Chart history" ''
Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...
''. Retrieved 2015-03-20.
Fates Warning would not have another album enter the ''Billboard'' 200 until ''
Darkness in a Different Light ''Darkness in a Different Light'' is the eleventh studio album by progressive metal band Fates Warning, released in 2013 through Inside Out Music. It is the band's first album since '' FWX'' (2004), marking the longest gap between two studio albu ...
'' in 2013.


Track listing


Disc two (CD)


Disc three (DVD)


Charts


Personnel

* Ray Alder
lead vocals The lead vocalist in popular music is typically the member of a group or band whose voice is the most prominent melody in a performance where multiple voices may be heard. The lead singer sets their voice against the accompaniment parts of the ...
,
background vocals A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are u ...
*
Jim Matheos Jim Matheos (born November 22, 1962) is an American guitarist and the primary songwriter for the progressive metal band Fates Warning, in which he has been the only consistent member since the group's beginning. Matheos also plays in OSI alongs ...
guitar The guitar is a stringed musical instrument that is usually fretted (with Fretless guitar, some exceptions) and typically has six or Twelve-string guitar, twelve strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming ...
* Frank Aresti – guitar, background vocals *
Kevin Moore Kevin Moore (born May 26, 1967) is an American former keyboardist, composer and the founder of the Chroma Key music project. He was also a member of the progressive metal band Dream Theater, co-founder of the progressive rock supergroup O.S. ...
keyboard * Mark Zonder
drums The drum is a member of the percussion instrument, percussion group of musical instruments. In the Hornbostel–Sachs classification system, it is a membranophones, membranophone. Drums consist of at least one Acoustic membrane, membrane, c ...
*Joe DiBiase –
bass Bass or Basses may refer to: Fish * Bass (fish), various saltwater and freshwater species Wood * Bass or basswood, the wood of the tilia americana tree Music * Bass (sound), describing low-frequency sound or one of several instruments in th ...
*Faith Fraeoli –
violin The violin, sometimes referred to as a fiddle, is a wooden chordophone, and is the smallest, and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in regular use in the violin family. Smaller violin-type instruments exist, including the violino picc ...
on "Chasing Time" *Phil Magnotti –
engineering Engineering is the practice of using natural science, mathematics, and the engineering design process to Problem solving#Engineering, solve problems within technology, increase efficiency and productivity, and improve Systems engineering, s ...
, mixing *Matt Lane – engineering *Johnny Montagnese – engineering * Max Norman – mixing, executive production *
Bob Ludwig Robert Carl Ludwig (born December 11, 1944), is a retired American mastering engineer. He mastered recordings on all the major recording formats for all the major record labels, and on projects by more than 1,300 artists, including Led Zeppeli ...
mastering *Roger Probert – production


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Perfect Symmetry (Fates Warning Album) Fates Warning albums 1989 albums Metal Blade Records albums