Theories of Flight | ||||
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Studio album by | ||||
Released | July 1, 2016 | |||
Recorded | 2015–2016 | |||
Genre | Progressive metal | |||
Length | 52:17 | |||
Label | Inside Out Music | |||
Producer | Jim Matheos | |||
Fates Warning chronology | ||||
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Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Sputnikmusic | [1] |
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. [2] 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 ("From the Rooftops" and "White Flag"); therefore, this is the last Fates Warning album to feature Aresti.
In his review of the album, Trey Spencer of Sputnik Music stated "Theories of Flight feels like a classic", arguing "when a band somehow manages to take the most solid and memorable moments of their breakthrough release and seamlessly mesh them with a sound they’ve been circling around for years, and do so flawlessly, then it is at least worth proclaiming that they’ve released a milestone within their own career. But is it worth stopping the discussion there; I don’t know? While it’s too early to start calling Theories of Flight another pinnacle of the progressive metal genre, in 10-years’ time that may very well be what this album has become." [1]
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "From the Rooftops" | Jim Matheos, Ray Alder, Bobby Jarzombek | 6:52 |
2. | "Seven Stars" | Matheos, Alder | 5:33 |
3. | "SOS" | Matheos, Alder | 4:34 |
4. | "The Light and Shade of Things" | Matheos, Alder | 10:14 |
5. | "White Flag" | Matheos, Alder | 5:20 |
6. | "Like Stars Our Eyes Have Seen" | Matheos, Alder | 5:13 |
7. | "The Ghosts of Home" | Matheos | 10:31 |
8. | "Theories of Flight" (Instrumental) | Matheos | 4:00 |
Total length: | 52:17 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
---|---|---|---|
1. | "Firefly" | Matheos, Alder | 3:15 |
2. | "Seven Stars" | Matheos, Alder | 4:25 |
3. | "Another Perfect Day" | Matheos | 3:25 |
4. | "Pray Your Gods" (Toad the Wet Sprocket cover) | Glen Phillips, Todd Nichols, Dean Dinning, Randy Guss | 3:45 |
5. | "Adela" (Joaquín Rodrigo cover) | Joaquín Rodrigo | 2:25 |
6. | "Rain" (Uriah Heep cover) | Ken Hensley | 4:03 |
Chart (2016) | Peak position |
---|---|
Austrian Albums (Ö3 Austria) [3] | 32 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders) [4] | 175 |
Belgian Albums (Ultratop Wallonia) [5] | 192 |
Dutch Albums (Album Top 100) [6] | 70 |
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100) [7] | 12 |
Italian Albums (FIMI) [8] | 80 |
Swiss Albums (Schweizer Hitparade) [9] | 16 |
US Heatseekers Albums (Billboard) [10] | 2 |
Progressive metal is a broad fusion music genre melding heavy metal and progressive rock, combining the loud "aggression" and amplified guitar-driven sound of the former with the more experimental, cerebral or "pseudo-classical" compositions of the latter.
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 41-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.
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.
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.
FWX is the tenth studio album by progressive metal band Fates Warning, released on October 5, 2004 through Metal Blade Records; their last album on the label until re-signing in 2019. It is also the band's last studio album to feature drummer Mark Zonder.
Joey Vera is an American bassist who is known as a member of the heavy metal band Armored Saint and progressive metal band Fates Warning. During 2004 and early 2005, he toured with Anthrax as a fill-in for Frank Bello, who had taken a break from the band. He was also a member of Engine, recorded with Tribe After Tribe, and appears on the OSI album Free. His first solo album, A Thousand Faces, was released in 1994. His current solo project, A Chinese Firedrill, released an album titled Circles in 2007. On August 1, 2019, Vera was announced as the touring bassist for a newly reunited Mercyful Fate filling in for Timi Hansen.
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.
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. 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.
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.
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.
Tragic Idol is the thirteenth studio album by British gothic metal band Paradise Lost. It was released on 23 April 2012 in Europe and 24 April 2012 in North America via Century Media Records.
Alpha Noir/Omega White is the ninth studio album by Portuguese gothic metal band Moonspell, released on 27 April 2012. It is the band's first double album. The band's press release cited Bathory, King Diamond, Onslaught, early Metallica, Testament and Artillery as influences for Alpha Noir, which was described as "an incendiary album". Omega White was instead described as an album of "pure atmosphere and shadow", an homage to Type O Negative and The Sisters of Mercy and similar to Moonspell's second album Irreligious. Alpha Noir and Omega White were both produced and mixed by Tue Madsen, who had previously worked on the band's Under Satanæ and Night Eternal records.
The Living Infinite is the ninth studio album by Swedish melodic death metal band Soilwork, released on 27 February 2013 in Asia, 1 March 2013 in Europe, on 4 March 2013 in the UK and on 5 March 2013 in the US. It is the band's first double album. It is also the first Soilwork release to feature guitarist David Andersson; founding guitarist Peter Wichers left Soilwork for the second time in 2012, making this the second album to not feature him. This also marks the band's last album with longtime bassist Ola Flink who parted ways with the band right before the recording of the next album The Ride Majestic.
Sympathetic Resonance is a collaborative studio album by singer John Arch and guitarist Jim Matheos, released on September 9, 2011 through Metal Blade Records.
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.
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.
Like It Is: Yes at the Mesa Arts Center is a live album and video from the English progressive rock band Yes, released on CD and DVD, LP, and Blu-ray on 3 July 2015 in Europe and on 10 July 2015 in North America on Frontiers Records. It is a partial recording of the band's concert on 12 August 2014 at the Mesa Arts Center in Mesa, Arizona as a part of their 2014–15 Heaven & Earth Tour.
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