APSOG...not getting it?

[Samsara]

Hi everyone. Yet another new post for today. LOL.

I know many FW fans thing of APSOG as the band's best album, ala Mindcrime with Queensryche, but I'm not understanding it.

I like APSOG, but I prefer Disconnected, Parallels, and FWX a whole lot more.

Can someone tell me, or tell me where to look, to the understanding of the concept and what it is all about? I might be better able to appreciate it if I knew what the entire thing was based on...

Thanks!

Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

[SethFWF]

The concept for me has always been a matter of individual interpertation, like most poetry is. Kind of a 'how each person perceives good and bad times in their life' maybe?

As much as I like story albums, this one doesn't need to be specific for me as the music and vocals are just so awesome.

Have a great weekend back....

Seth

[BenMech]

the concept is this: over the course of a night, Jim Mattheos reflects whether Fates Warning mattered to anyone, or whether his life would have been better spent doing something else. Meanwhile, it is raining that gray New England cold rain and the nearby roads are kinda busy still. By the end of the album, Jim concludes It WAS worth it, the members who left didn't leave in vain, and then it reaches morning, as heard with the annoying alarm brrrring

[Samsara]

Thanks for that! Now that gives me a bit more perspective! I'll listen again this week...

[rwo1]

Personally i think Operation Mindcrime is better..mainly because of the fact that you can actually follow the story...now dont get me wrong...i like a bit of a challenge just as much as the next prog guy....but if you want to know why APSOG was sort of passed over by the vast metal community .....that probably why

[Residue]

APSOG blew me away for the first few years I had it. Absolutely staggeringly amazing at the time. Looking back, it is not an album that ages as well as Parallels or Disconnected, in my opinion. Disconnected is the big surprise for me. I was not a huge, huge fan of it when it first came out, but I find now that I listen to it more often than I listen to many other FW albums.

I don't think enough time has elapsed for me to gauge FWX from the perspective of the test of time, but I listen to it frequently so far. I think the OSI album is the one that's going to blow people away in 10 years' time. That's a jewel that sneaked right by a lot of FW fans. I love it.

[seraph762]

i listen to different albums for different reasons

if im depressed,
i listen to disconnected and fwx

wish
handful of doubt
still remains

maybe another perfect day

if i want to hear some crazy syncopated progressive music,
i listen to pleasant shade.

track 4,
track 5,
track 8,
track 11,
track 12..

track 6 and 9 are more depressing tracks.

my metalhead friend says fates warning makes him ready to cry or fall in love.

[SethFWF]

That's the great thing about their catalogue, different albums for different moods. I go with the first 4 for more of a thrashy/power prog.

Then the next 3 for more technical, catchy stuff(although I still need to re-aquire "Parallels" on CD), then I like APSOG and "Disconnected" for dark Rush style stuff...probably the style I've been liking the most lately. Then "FWX" for their most modern sounding style, still dark and moody though.

Compare their catalogue with say Flotsam and Jetsam who I really like a lot, but their albums didn't change a whole lot since "No Place for Disgrace". Their straight up thrash style is excellent, but when I'm looking through the albums I have from them...mood doesn't come into factor, each album is the same style but still with great songs. FW gives you that extra thought process of 'what kind of FW do I want to hear today'.

Seth