Awaken the Guardian

Last updated
Awaken the Guardian
Awaken the guardian.jpg
Studio album by
Fates Warning
Released1986 (1986)
RecordedSeptember–October 1986
StudioStagg Street, Preferred Sound (Los Angeles)
Genre
Length47:57
Label Metal Blade
Producer Fates Warning, Brian Slagel
Fates Warning chronology
The Spectre Within
(1985)		Awaken the Guardian
(1986)		 No Exit
(1988)
Alternative cover
Fates Warning - 1986 - Awaken the Guardian (deluxe).jpg
2005 deluxe edition

Awaken the Guardian is the third studio album by American progressive metal band Fates Warning, released in 1986 through Metal Blade Records. The album was the band and their label's first to enter the U.S. Billboard 200, reaching No. 191 and remaining on the chart for four weeks. [1] It is also the first Fates Warning album to feature guitarist Frank Aresti and the last with original singer John Arch, who was replaced by Ray Alder on their subsequent 1988 album No Exit .

Contents

Reissues

Awaken the Guardian has been reissued several times. The first was as part of a double album with No Exit in 1992, [2] followed by a remastered edition in 1994, [3] and once again as a deluxe Digipak edition on June 28, 2005. [4] The latter includes a bonus disc containing demos and live tracks, as well as a DVD of a concert from December 28, 1986, at the Sundance Club in Long Island, New York; this being the only known video footage of the Awaken the Guardian line-up performing live.

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [5]
PopMatters Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [6]
Rock Hard 9.0/10 [7]

Robert Taylor at AllMusic gave Awaken the Guardian three stars out of five, calling it "a closet classic from the underground metal years of the '80s" and the song "Guardian" being noted as a highlight. As with Fates Warning's previous album The Spectre Within (1985), Taylor recommended it more for fans of heavy metal than progressive metal, remarking that "the song structures are too rudimentary to be called progressive." [5]

Jeff Wagner at Decibel magazine ranked the album at number 134 in the Decibel Hall of Fame, saying it was "one of the celebrated masterworks of the genre." [8] Adrien Begrand at PopMatters , reviewing the 2005 reissue, called it the best of Fates Warning's catalog, adding that "such a stirring combination of traditional metal and progressive sounds would never be duplicated by the band", and concluding that "Awaken the Guardian still resonates with life today" and it "solidifies Fates Warning's place in metal history." [6]

Loudwire named it in #4 on its list "Top 25 Progressive Metal Albums of All Time." [9]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Jim Matheos and John Arch, except where noted

No.TitleLength
1."The Sorceress"5:44
2."Valley of the Dolls"5:22
3."Fata Morgana"5:25
4."Guardian"7:33
5."Prelude to Ruin"7:23
6."Giant's Lore (Heart of Winter)" (Arch, Frank Aresti)6:00
7."Time Long Past" (Matheos)1:51
8."Exodus"8:39
Total length:47:57
Disc two (CD): 2005 deluxe edition bonus tracks
No.TitleLength
1."The Sorceress" (demo)5:27
2."Valley of the Dolls" (demo)5:33
3."Prelude to Ruin" (demo)7:06
4."Fata Morgana" (live)5:08
5."Damnation" (live)5:44
6."The Apparition" (live)5:57
7."The Sorceress" (live)4:51
8."Guardian" (live)6:40
9."Die Young" (live)4:04
Total length:50:30
Disc three (DVD): live at the Sundance club
No.TitleLength
1."Valley of the Dolls"4:28
2."Pirates of the Underground"6:57
3."Orphan Gypsy"6:25
4."Fata Morgana"5:41
5."Traveler in Time"6:17
6."The Sorceress"4:37
7."Guardian"6:54
8."Prelude to Ruin"7:10
9."Damnation"6:02
10."The Apparition"6:00
11."Die Young"3:24
12."Kiss of Death"5:11
Total length:69:06

Personnel

Fates Warning

Production

Charts

Chart (1987)Peak
position
US Billboard 200 [1] 191

Related Research Articles

OSI was an American progressive rock band, originally formed by Fates Warning guitarist Jim Matheos in 2002. Chroma Key keyboardist and vocalist Kevin Moore is the only other full-time member of the band. The collaboration may be considered a studio project, as its members and contributors write and track most of their material independently, sharing and developing tracks long-distance, only coming together at the end of the process for mixing and additional tracking. The band's name is a reference to the Office of Strategic Influence, a short-lived American government agency formed in 2001 to support the War on Terror through propaganda. The band has featured a number of guest musicians on its albums, including Sean Malone, Steven Wilson, Mikael Akerfeldt, Joey Vera and Gavin Harrison.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fates Warning</span> American progressive metal band

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 changes over the course of their 42-year career, and Matheos is the only constant member. As of 2020, the band consists of Matheos, vocalist Ray Alder, bassist Joey Vera, drummer Bobby Jarzombek and guitarist Michael Abdow. Fates Warning also had a revolving cast of drummers and guitarists by the time Jarzombek and Abdow joined the band in 2007 and 2020 respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">John Arch</span> American heavy metal singer

John Arch is an American singer most well known for his work with the progressive metal band Fates Warning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jim Matheos</span> American songwriter

Jim Matheos 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 alongside Kevin Moore, as well as making other appearances with many different bands and artists.

<i>No Exit</i> (Fates Warning album) 1988 studio album by Fates Warning

No Exit is the fourth studio album by progressive metal band Fates Warning, released in 1988 through Metal Blade Records. It is the first Fates Warning album to feature current singer Ray Alder, who replaced John Arch after the release of Awaken the Guardian (1986), as well as the last to feature drummer Steve Zimmerman, who left the band just prior to the recording of their subsequent album Perfect Symmetry (1989). The album's title was inspired by No Exit, a 1944 play written by French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bobby Jarzombek</span> American drummer

Bobby Jarzombek is an American musician of Polish and German ancestry who is currently the drummer for country music legend George Strait. Bobby also has been a drummer for Sebastian Bach, and progressive metal band Fates Warning. Guitarist Ron Jarzombek is his younger brother.

<i>Free</i> (OSI album) 2006 studio album by OSI

Free is the second studio album by American progressive rock band OSI, released by InsideOut Music on April 21, 2006.

<i>Night on Bröcken</i> 1984 studio album by Fates Warning

Night on Bröcken is the debut studio album by the American progressive metal band Fates Warning, released in September 1984 through Metal Blade Records.

<i>The Spectre Within</i> 1985 studio album by Fates Warning

The Spectre Within is the second studio album by progressive metal band Fates Warning, released in October 1985 through Metal Blade Records. It has been reissued three times: first as a double album together with Night on Bröcken (1984) in 1992, followed by a remastered edition in 1994, and again in 2002 with four bonus tracks as well as new cover art.

<i>Perfect Symmetry</i> (Fates Warning album) 1989 studio album by Fates Warning

Perfect Symmetry is the fifth studio album by progressive metal band Fates Warning, released in 1989 through Metal Blade Records; a remastered 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.

<i>Parallels</i> (album) 1991 studio album by Fates Warning

Parallels is the sixth studio album by American progressive metal band Fates Warning, released on October 29, 1991, through Metal Blade Records. The album reached No. 20 on the U.S. Billboard Heatseekers chart.

<i>Inside Out</i> (Fates Warning album) 1994 studio album by Fates Warning

Inside Out is the seventh studio album by progressive metal band Fates Warning, released on July 26, 1994 through Metal Blade Records. The album continues with the commercial sound that Parallels began. It was the last to feature long-time bassist Joe DiBiase, who left after its release, as well as the last to feature guitarist Frank Aresti until his return to band in 2005. Aresti later appeared on their 2013 album Darkness in a Different Light as a full-time member and on the 2016 album Theories of Flight as a guest. DiBiase would return in 2010 and 2016 for a number of shows, but did not officially rejoin.

<i>Live in Athens</i> (Fates Warning video album) 2005 video by Fates Warning

Live in Athens is a 2005 DVD release by progressive metal band Fates Warning.

<i>A Twist of Fate</i> 2003 EP by John Arch

A Twist of Fate is an EP by singer John Arch, released on June 17, 2003 through Metal Blade Records. At the time, the EP was Arch's first musical work in over seventeen years since leaving progressive metal band Fates Warning in 1987, with whom he recorded their first three albums; the last being Awaken the Guardian (1986). Consisting of two tracks, A Twist of Fate features Fates Warning founder and guitarist Jim Matheos, with whom Arch would later release a collaborative album in 2011, entitled Sympathetic Resonance, under the banner of Arch/Matheos. Also among the line-up are Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy and current Fates Warning bassist Joey Vera.

<i>Sympathetic Resonance</i> (album) 2011 studio album by Arch/Matheos

Sympathetic Resonance is a collaborative studio album by singer John Arch and guitarist Jim Matheos, released on September 9, 2011 through Metal Blade Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Aresti</span> American guitarist and composer

Frank Aresti is an American guitarist and composer and former member of progressive metal band Fates Warning.

Arch/Matheos is an American progressive metal project.

<i>Darkness in a Different Light</i> 2013 studio album by Fates Warning

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 albums in their career, as well as being their first studio album with guitarist Frank Aresti since Inside Out (1994); although he appeared on the band's next album Theories of Flight (2016), as a guest, Darkness in a Different Light would be the last to feature Aresti as an official member. Drummer Bobby Jarzombek also makes his debut with Fates Warning on this album, and it is the band's first release through Inside Out Music.

<i>Theories of Flight</i> 2016 Fates Warning album

Theories of Flight is the twelfth studio album by progressive metal band Fates Warning, released on July 1, 2016 through Inside Out Music; their last release on the label with their re-signing with their longtime label Metal Blade Records in 2019. Theories of Flight marked the first time since 2004's FWX that Fates Warning had recorded as a four-piece. Although guitarist Frank Aresti was still a member of Fates Warning at the time of the album's writing and recording sessions, he does not appear in band photos inside the album booklet and is credited only as a guest, for providing guitar solos on two tracks ; therefore, this is the last Fates Warning album to feature Aresti.

<i>Long Day Good Night</i> 2020 studio album by Fates Warning

Long Day Good Night is the thirteenth and final studio album by American progressive metal band Fates Warning, released on November 6, 2020. It is Fates Warning's first release on Metal Blade Records since 2004's FWX and also the first to feature guitarist Mike Abdow as a full time member, which he became in 2017 having previously been a touring only member and appearing as a guest on their previous album Theories of Flight in 2016.

References

  1. 1 2 "Fates Warning Chart History". Billboard . Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  2. ↑ "Fates Warning - Awaken The Guardian / No Exit". Discogs . Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  3. ↑ "Fates Warning - Awaken The Guardian". Discogs . Retrieved March 17, 2015.
  4. ↑ "Awaken The Guardian". Amazon . Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  5. 1 2 Taylor, Robert. "Awaken the Guardian - Fates Warning | Songs, Reviews, Credits". AllMusic . All Media Network . Retrieved March 16, 2015.
  6. 1 2 Begrand, Adrien (September 15, 2005). "Fates Warning: Awaken the Guardian (Expanded Edition)". PopMatters . Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  7. ↑ Trojan, Frank. "FATES WARNING - Awaken The Guardian". Rock Hard (in German). Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  8. ↑ Wagner, Jeff (March 2, 2016). "Fates Warning - "Awaken the Guardian"". Decibel . Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  9. ↑ Hill, John (August 2, 2017). "Top 25 Progressive Metal Albums of All Time". Loudwire . Retrieved May 11, 2019.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.