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Rating: The chameleon! What an extraordinary animal! What an ability to adapt to the surrounding environment and to constantly change skin!
Well, if I had to play a nice game and associate each band in the metal scene with a group, Fates Warning would be this wonderful lizard.
And "Inside Out" their favorite offspring.
Let me explain better.
Born in the early eighties to emulate the characteristics of the purest classic "heavy metal," Fates Warning will be remembered for their direct contribution to the development of Progressive Metal undertaken after a succession of integral and radical changes both in their line-up and in the sound they produced.
The album in question can be considered a sort of channel/bridge to the stylistic development embarked upon with the previous albums "Perfect Symmetry" and "Parallels," definitively abandoning the "Maiden-like" atmospheres and the more transparent Speed Metal to delve into the murkier and more intricate universe of the progressive style.
From a technical standpoint, the musicians (even if this work is considered by many as the most fragile of the trilogy) deliver an absolutely impeccable performance, from the undisputed leader guitarist and founder of the band, Jim Matheos, to drummer Mark Zonder, a true virtuoso of the skins, capable of deconstructing uneven time signatures of absolute difficulty in an exemplary and sometimes inconceivable manner.
However, do not be deceived by the improbable technique just described above, because "Inside Out" reveals itself as an album as warm as a fireplace in December with songs of strong melodic and expressive impact like the open-track Outside Looking In, a true flagship of the entire album with its consistently aggressive march and a catchy chorus perfectly complemented by the vocals of Ray Alder, a true talent in vocal timbre, sound, and rhythmic form.
The songs follow with a sequence of flashes sometimes of pure stylistic technique and at other times of pure harmony and melody, at some points even touching upon a near "rock 'n roll catchy" vein and even revealing a few choruses to hum in the shower, as in Pale Fire, Shelter Me, or in the wonderful The Strand.
A special mention surely goes to the compelling and ultra-technical Face The Fear, while I would include Island In The Stream, Inward Bound, and Afterglow among the more melancholic songs where ethereal and gloomy atmospheres meld directly with the group's soul.
Even more innovative and completely out of the box is the Titanic (there's no other adjective to describe it) Monument, with a complex structure and traced in the middle by two of Matheos's beautiful and impactful solos.
In any case, "Inside Out" closes a cycle for Fates Warning, which, like the wonderful lizard known as a chameleon, will come to change their color to that shaded gray/black of their masterpiece known as "A Pleasant Shade of Gray."
What a wonderful animal the chameleon is!
What a wonderful group Fates Warning is!
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
03 The Strand (05:29)
the more i try
the more i feel i'm missing
the more i run
the more my feet keep slipping
the more i think
the more i tend to worry
the more i look
i see my thoughts before me
and i dream of a strand
as i struggle on the waves
and i see the end of a passing day
as i see the strand
in the corners of my mind
windows offer the view
of a coming day
the more i stretch
the more these walls confine me
the more i beg
the less it all seems likely
the more i mind
the matter that surrounds me
the more i find
my thoughts before me
drifting on an open sea
shipwrecked clinging to broken beams
waters to my neck
i strain to catch my breath
drifting in the boundaries
i've built up deep within me
waters to my neck
i strain to catch my breath
i'm tired of treading again
i'm swimming to the strand
05 Island in the Stream (06:30)
have you stood at the edge of the world
where the sea and sky collide
looked out to a distant horizon
and dreamed of drifting away
have you stood beneath a troubled sky
and watched the dark clouds gathering
closed your eyes to the threatening tide
and woke to another day
feel the cold winds all around you
let the night circle and surround you
breath deep the darkness that drowns you
let your imagination take you
to where your sleepless mind rests
to where your thoughts all run free
to your island in the stream
where you can dream at the edge of the world
to where your restless minds will sleep
to where our hearts will run free
to our island in the stream
where we can dream at the edge of the world
06 Down to the Wire (04:30)
has it been so long
i can't remember what we last talked about
my friend, forgive me
do you think of me as i think of you
i owe my life to ...
i hold on clutching to the hope that i'll be strong
when it comes down to the wire
i'll hold on to with every ounce of strength within me
when it comes down to the wire
don't think i've not thought
of what you mean to me, i do constantly
my friend, forgive me
do you think of me as i think of you
i owe my life to . . .
i hold on clutching to the hope that i'll be strong
when it comes down to the wire
i'll hold on to with every ounce of strength within me
when it comes down to the wire
my friend, forgive me
do you think of me as i think of you
i wish it were different
i wish i could take your pain
and now that i've found you
i feel like i've lost you again
09 Monument (06:34)
there's a blind desire there's a drive
there's a need to leave some lasting feat
something to hold, something to keep
a monument to complete
there's a written page there's a book
there's a search for something to say
something to share, something to speak
a monument to convey
is it fiction, is it confession
is it passion or just a profession
is it performance, is it expression
is it passion or just an obsession
there's a photograph there's a frame
there's a time, a moment to confine
something to save, something to see
a monument to enshrine
is it performance, is it expression
is it passion or just a profession
is it fiction, is it confession
is it passion or just an obsession
there's an empty room there's a blank page
there's a picture left incomplete
something is lost, something remains
a monument to defeat
is it fiction, is it confession
is it passion or just a profession
is it performance, is it expression
is it passion or just an obsession
10 Afterglow (03:26)
twilight and i lie awake
afterglow is all around me
i lie awake, in this light
and i wonder where you are tonight
voices turn to silence
echoes never fade away
twilight and i lie awake
afterglow is all around me
voices turn to silence
echoes never fade away
i lie awake listening
wondering where you are today
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