I have (unfortunately) only witnessed Fates Warning live once, when they opened for DT on the Awake tour, but it was such a FANTASTIC (short) show.
Not quite the same, obviously, but I have to say their Live Over Europe is one of my favorite live albums of the last few years, period. There's some incredible energy in those performances, and the "setlist" (I know it's a collection from many shows) is a pretty great representation of the Alder era. There isn't a ton from APSOG, but considering the whole thing was on Still Life, I'm not complaining
REALLY glad they preserved a full performance when it came out.
I almost forgot that I bought the expanded version when it came out. I don’t think I’ve actually watched that show since I had it on VHS.
EDIT - I went downstairs to go look at that collection again and I had completely forgotten that there’s a second full performance on that DVD that I’ve never even seen at all!
Ha! I didn't even know of an expanded edition! I have the double CD Still Life with the full album on one CD and a variety of songs on the other, and then I have the APSOG - Live VHS (!)...are you saying there is another live DVD?
I think the expanded edition came out on the 20th anniversary five years ago? It’s 3CDs/1DVD. Disc 1 is the remastered album, disc 2 is the live performance from the VHS, disc 3 is demos. The DVD has 2 complete performances. The remastered show from the VHS, and a 2nd performance from 1998 at The Whiskey which I’ve never seen.
Are we talking about the expanded edition of....what? There's an anniversary edition of APSOG that was released in 2007, and which includes a DVD version of the Pleasant Shade of Gray Live VHS. I believe there's also a second CD of rough mixes.
Stadler is wont to say "we like who we like" and I wholeheartedly agree, so when I say I should like them it is just based on trends and suppositions. It is mostly about giving them a good chance, when I don't think I have done properly.
The thing about FW is that depending on the album, you’re going to get a COMPLETELY different band.
The Arch-era started as a Iron Maiden wannabe, but started to get more complex very quickly.
When Arch left and Ray Alder came in, they traded a Bruce Dickenson soundalike for a Geoff Tate soundalike.
Huh. I think both singers are pretty far from being soundalikes. Maybe Ray is sorta kinda in the Geoff Tate ball park, but he has his own style and his own voice. And I don't think Arch sounds anything like Bruce Dickinson.
Agree. I about did a spit take when I read Arch described as a "Bruce Dickenson [sic] soundalike." And that's not even factoring in the fact that Bruce has always been excellent live, while Arch might be the single worst live vocalist I've ever heard (at least as far as the stuff from the '80s goes).
I've always described Night on Brocken as an attempt to sound like Maiden, but with a vastly inferior singer.
As far as Chris's dive into the albums, I see no reason not to default to going chronologically. Brocken might be a bit of a slog, but things change pretty quickly (even though it's the same lineup on Spectre). The addition of Frank Aresti on Guardian shows a huge leap, and No Exit with Ray was spot on for 1988 (the heyday of Operation: Mindcrime).