Fate Warning - Disconnected (2000)

Fates Warning were arguably one of the first bands that could be described as progressive metal. From the beginning they’ve been fusing elements of both genres into a style all its own. Other bands, such as Dream Theater, Queensryche, and Opeth may or may not do it better (depending on who you ask), but Fates Warning pre-dates them all in this brilliant hybrid that might best be described as Yes meets Metallica.

After the departure of original vocalist, John Arch, in the late eighties Fates Warning took a few years to really regain their footing with Ray Alder. They arguably hit their creative peak with A Pleasant Shade of Grey, but I’d argue that was merely the first of several strong albums. 2002’s Disconnected, is both more accessible and slightly less adventurous. But in being more accessible, I’d argue it’s the best of Fates Warning’s albums for the uninitiated to start with. As with A Pleasant Shade of Grey, ex-Dream Theater keyboardist, Kevin Moore, lends his talents to Fates Warning. Its his collaborations with Fates Warning that later led to his partnership with Jim Matheos in their band, OSI that married the harder edged metal guitar chops of Matheos with Moore’s more ambient keyboard influences.

Starting with the ominous Disconnected Part 1, Disconnected draws the listener in. It’s in this opening that Kevin Moore’s influence is most evident. There’s a haunting ambience with an abrupt end before the heavy metal onslaught of One.

One is arguably one of Fates Warning’s strongest songs. Alder’s vocals are soaring and brilliant. Moore’s keyboard influences are a bit more subtle and less obvious but still noticeable.

So picks it back up where Disconnected Part 1 had left off. Matheos gives the intro a haunting ambience before the riffing comes in with Moore’s keyboard and shortly thereafter Alder’s vocals. While at a slower tempo than One, the crunchy guitars and Alder’s soaring vocals are trademark prog-metal.
Pieces of Me picks up the pace a bit. There’s a chugging and steady yet frenetic intensity to the song. It also suggests musical themes that would later be more fully explored by Matheos & Moore on some of the more uptempo music from the first OSI album in 2003.

There’s a general ambience throughout the album that is generally lacking on albums of many of Fates Warning’s contemporaries. If you're new to Fates Warning, there's not a better place to start than Disconnected!

Related Links
One (Live in Athens)

Disconnected (Wikipedia)
Disconnected (AllMusicGuide review)
Fates Warning (Official Website)
Fates Warning (Wikipedia)
Jim Matheos (Wikipedia)
Ray Alder (Wikipedia)
Joey Vera (Wikipedia)
Mark Zonder (Wikipedia)
Kevin Moore (Wikipedia)

One Track Mind: Dream Theater - Surrounded (song review)

One of my favorite Dream Theater songs is Surrounded. It's off their 2nd album, Images & Words, which is considered by many to be one of their best.

Surrounded
by: Dream Theater (from Images & Words)

Morning comes too early and nighttime falls too late
And sometimes all I want to do is wait
The shadow I've been hiding in has fled from me today

I know it's easier to walk away than look it in the eye
But I will raise a shelter to the sky
And here beneath this star tonight I'll lie
She will slowly yeild the light as I awaken from the longest night

Dreams are shaking
Set sirens waking up tired eyes
With the light the memories all rush into his head

By a candle stands a mirror
Of his heart and soul she dances
She was dancing through the night above his bed

And walking to the window he throws the shutters out against the wall
And from an ivory tower hears her call
"Let light surround you"

It's been a long, long time
He's had a while to think it over
In the end he only sees the change
Light to dark
Dark to light
Light to dark
Dark to light

Heaven must be more than this
When angels waken with a kiss
Sacred hearts won't take the pain
But mine will never be the same

He stands before the window
His shadow slowly fading from the wall
And from an ivory tower he hears her call
"Let the light surround you"

Once lost but I was found
When I heard the stained glass shatter all around me
I sent the spirits tumbling down the hill
But I will hold this one on high above me still
She whispers words to clear my mind
I once could see but now at last I'm blind

I know it's easier to walk away than look it in the eye
But I have given all I could take
And now I've only habits left to break
Tonight I'll still be lying here
Surrounded in all the light

I believe it's the overall vibe of spiritual renewal that permeates the song that hits me like a sucker punch to the soul. Lyrically speaking, it's one of the best songs Dream Theater has ever released. And musically, it's probably one of their most accessible songs. I believe the lyrics were written by keyboardist Kevin Moore who left the band after their 3rd album (Awake) to take his music in a different direction. While their current keyboardist (and Julliard alum) Jordan Rudess has filled the hole on keyboards. I don't think the band has ever fully recovered from the loss of Moore as a songwriter. Of all the members of the band, Moore was arguably the best lyricist.

Surrounded is also one of the most upbeat songs in Dream Theater's catalog. Over the past 9 to 10 years much of their material has trended more towards the metal end of the spectrum. Surrounded however is quite accessible to non-metal listeners.

And normally I'm not a big fan of the operatically trained James LaBrie's vocals, but I find his voice suits this song quite well. He shows uncharacteristic restraint when needed and lets loose on those parts of the song that need that little extra oomph.

It's not a wonder that even eight studio albums and seventeen years later this remains one of my favorite Dream Theater songs.

OSI - Blood (2009)

Heavy metal isn’t generally known for its ambience. Listening to any of OSI’s three releases it doesn’t appear that Kevin Moore or Jim Matheos received that memo. Their latest release, Blood, is a natural progression from its two precursors. Where 2003’s self-titled debut felt a bit tentative, 2006’s Free and their latest, Blood feel decidedly more certain.

While some may describe OSI’s music as being progressive metal, perhaps ambient metal is a more fitting descriptor. While the music does certainly bear the evidence of the progressive metal roots of both Matheos (Fates Warning) and Moore (Dream Theater)—Moore’s influence provides the music with a much more ambient feel that listeners only caught sparse glimpses of on his Dream Theater material.

After providing percussion on the first two OSI releases, Mike Portnoy bowed out for the third outing—in his place Matheos and Moore tapped Porcupine Tree’s Gavin Harrison. Given Porcupine Tree’s musical proclivities, one might argue that while Portnoy may have a better pedigree, Harrison’s style is a much better fit for this band than his predecessor.

With each successive release Moore’s vocals have seemed to fit better than the one before. While Moore is a mediocre vocalist at best, his sparse vocals fit the general ambience of OSI’s music. And much like on their debut in which Porcupine Tree’s Steve Wilson contributed his vocals to shutdown, OSI once again knew when to invite guest vocalists to step in—Mikael Akerfeldt (of Opeth) on Stockholm and Tim Bowness on No Celebrations (only available on the 2CD Digipak version).

In addition to No Celebrations, the two disc digipak version of this release also features a cover of the late Elliot Smith’s Christian Brothers and an extended version of Terminal.

All that being said, this release isn’t for everyone—if you’re a fan of the first two OSI releases, the recent albums of Fates Warning, and Kevin Moore’s Chroma Key releases, or if you’re willing to take a chance on something a bit different than the mainstream there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy this next leap in OSI’s musical evolution.

Related Links
Chroma Key Dead Air For Radios (1999)
Dream Theater Images and Words (1992)
Dream Theater Awake (1994)
OSI Free (2006)
Porcupine Tree In Absentia (2002)

Dream Theater - Images and Words (1992)

After taking a few years to re-group, change labels, and lead singers Dream Theater burst forth with what was the sophomore surge of all sophomore surges.

Their 1989 debut, When Dream and Day Unite, went largely unnoticed despite its superlative musicianship and finely crafted songs. Images and Words would not suffer the same fate.

Gone was Charlie Domenici, in his place was the operatically trained James LaBrie. And as good as the material on When Dream and Day Unite had been, it was and is imminently forgettable when compared to the calibre of the material on this stellar release.

The album opens with a bang on Pull Me Under, the song that put Dream Theater on the map and into heavy rotation on MTV's Headbanger's Ball with its music video. Pull Me Under doesn't just catch the listener's interest... it grabs the listener by the proverbial balls and doesn't let go for over eight minutes on a fantastic musical ride. To this day this song is a fan favorite at Dream Theater's live shows .

Another Day is a beautiful song written by John Petrucci for his father... Petrucci would mourn his father on 1997's Falling Into Infinity album with the song Take Away My Pain. Another Day bears a bit more optimism than the mournful Take Away My Pain but at the same time it doesn't have quite the emotional punch of the follow-up track.

While there are no weak tracks on this album, the best 1-2 punch are tracks four and five, Surrounded and Metropolis Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper. Surrounded is probably the most accessible song on the album, had it been released as a single it would have had serious hit potential-- it's a testament to keyboardist Kevin Moore's lyrical talents. Metropolis Pt. 1: The Miracle and the Sleeper is another musical journey, much like Pull Me Under it grabs hold of the listener from the start and doesn't let go until the song ends over nine and a half minutes later. The big difference being that it grabs hold even tighter than the album's opener.

Of the remaining tracks, Under a Glass Moon and Learning to Live are great uptempo tracks of the same mold as Take the Time, whereas Wait For Sleep is lyrically one of Dream Theater's best songs-- again penned by the talented Kevin Moore. After Moore's departure the band replaced his keyboard parts with an acoustic guitar when playing the song live. Either way the song is absolutely beautiful and shows a softer side of this emminently talented band.

While this isn't my favorite of Dream Theater's albums, it's status as a "classic" in a genre they helped create, progressive metal, can't be denied. Messrs. Portnoy (drums), Petrucci (guitar), Myung (bass), Moore (keyboards), and LaBrie (vocals) are all truly masters of their craft, and it is rarely more evident than it was on this sophomore release.

Related Links
Pull Me Under (live performance)

Pull Me Under (music video)

Metropolis Pt. 1 (live performance)

Surrounded (live in Tokyo)

Wait For Sleep (live performance)

Chroma Key - Dead Air For Radios (Review Revue)
Dream Theater - Awake (Review Revue)
Dream Theater - Home (Review Revue)
Dream Theater - Live in Cleveland 9/3/02 (Review Revue)
Dream Theater - Octavarium (Review Revue)
OSI - Free (Review Revue)

Chroma Key - Dead Air For Radios (1999)

In 1994, keyboardist Kevin Moore left, Dream Theater, a band he had been with since their inception in the mid eighties to take his music in a rather different direction. In Moore's departure, Dream Theater lost their strongest lyricist. His contributions to Dream Theater included Pull Me Under, Surrounded, and Wait For Sleep off their break-out Images & Words album and 6:00, Lie, and the beautiful and dark Space-Dye Vest which, in hindsight was Moore's final farewell to his band and provided a glimpse at the direction he ended up taking his music following his departure.

If one is expecting the heavy metallic crunch of Dream Theater, they'll be sorely disappointed as the direction Moore took was considerably different than the direction Dream Theater has gone since his departure.

In the wake of Moore's departure he's released 3 Chroma Key albums, collaborated with Fates Warning as a guest keyboardist, and released 2 OSI albums with guitarist Jim Matheos of Fates Warning and Mike Portnoy of Dream Theater.

Each of the Chroma Key albums offers something different, but his debut, Dead Air for Radios, is easily the most accessible. One can hear the influences of Brian Eno, Peter Gabriel, and even Pink Floyd on many of the tracks of this beautifully ambient CD. Moore seamlessly fuses elements of seventies prog-rock with eighties synth-pop creating a sound that is distinctly his.

While Moore's voice is unremarkable, it's perfect for this style of music which benefits greatly from his understated vocal delivery. The one constant in the songs on this album is that each track isn't so much a song as it is an aural painting and Moore isn't so much a musician as a painter who uses your eardrums as his canvas. His music isn't mere music, it's entire moods. On his own terms, Moore is able to inject a certain emotional ambience that was never fully realized during his tenure in Dream Theater.

The only link one might hear to Moore's work with Dream Theater are his clever lyrics which are just as sharp now as they were then:

from America the Video:
"lost my head in my hotel room when the ground shook
had to choose between the bible and the phone book"

from Colorblind:"stopped in the shade of a road sign
when the sun rose like a bomb
tried to read the simple writing
but the letters came out wrong
it's all white lines to me
but things are getting clearer
i can almost read the writing in the mirror"

from S.O.S.:
"cry blackbird cry over the waves i hear you
coalcovered clouds white snow there they go
ice on your wings songless he sings i hear you
nowhere is home go alone there's a phone"

from On the Page:
"maybe i should write it first
and do the living later
'cause life is so much cleaner on the page"

The only weak spot on the album is the apocalyptic final track, Hell Mary, which sounds out of place in the context of the album as a whole. If you're bored of the same old same old, and looking for something new or different Dead Air for Radios is an excellent place to start.

Related Links
Chroma Key website (you can listen to a stream of the album in its entirety here)
Dead Air for Radios (All Music Guide Review)
O.S.I. Free (Review Revue)

OSI - Free (2006)

In 2003 OSI (Office of Strategic Influence) released their self-titled debut CD. Combining the songwriting, keyboarding, and vocals of former Dream Theater keyboardist Kevin Moore with the guitar chops and songwriting skills of Fates Warning's Jim Matheos and the impeccable time-keeping of Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy this prog-rock supergroup created a new sound all their own. A kind of techno-metal combining all the best elements of all 3 of the musicians involved.

Oftentimes when a debut is succesful a band will wrest on the laurels of the success of that debut with their sophomore release-- every once in a great while instead of wresting on those laurels a band will evolve and extroplate upon the music of their debut for their follow-up. OSI falls into the latter category as they've evolved and improved upon what had been a thoroughly enjoyable debut.

Kevin Moore's vocals sound a bit more self-assured than they had on the debut and while Moore doesn't have an exceptional voice-- he does have a voice which fits perfectly within the style of music this group performs.

But the strength isn't in the individual pieces which make up this band it's in the sum of the whole. During his tenure in Dream Theater, Moore's lyrics were often the best of any of the songwriters in the band and while Dream Theater has continued to evolve musically since his departure in 1994, lyrically they've never quite matched the punch they had when Moore was in the band. Add to the mix Fates Warning's Jim Matheos and Moore's former bandmate, Mike Portnoy and the musical chemistry is quite unmistakable.

Musically some of the songs bear a passing resemblance to the material on Fates Warning's Disconnected album. Which can be attributed not only to Matheos influence but also to Kevin Moore's occassional guest spots on keyboard with Fates Warning. Moore's keyboard work is quite melodic and the chemistry between Moore's keyboard and Matheos guitar work is some of the best I've heard since the Geoffrey Downes/Steve Howe chemistry on Yes Drama album and on the first couple of Asia albums.

Much like on the debut, the last song on Free, Our Town, is a dramatic shift in gears from a techno-metal vibe to a more stripped down acoustic song. The addition of banjo and pedal steel makes for quite a stark contrast to the crunchy guitars and electronic flourishes which grace the rest of the album.

Given how busy both Matheos and Portnoy are with their respective bands, I won't hold my breath for an OSI tour, but if one were to ever happen I'd be one of the first in line for tickets.

Dream Theater - Awake (1994)

I bought this album a little over four years ago, and at first it didn't grab me. But about 8 months later I gave it another listen... Not only did it grab me... it never let go!

I'm not a big fan of The Trilogy, but other than that, I LOVE the CD. From the first moments of 6:00 and the catchy Caught in a Web the CD gets briefly weaker with track 3. Although I'm not a big fan of "The Trilogy" (Erotomania, Voices, The Silent Man) I will say that technically speaking, it's fantastic, it just doesn't grab me like the rest of the CD... After "The Trilogy" comes the crunching and angry The Mirror with its infamous Puppies on Acid intro, Lie picking up right where The Mirror leaves off. The Myung-penned Lifting Shadows off a Dream (excellent lyrics), the energetic and passionate Scarred and lastly, a farewell to Kevin Moore (this was his last album before going on to pursue a solo career under the name Chroma Key) with the extremely dark and personal Space Dye Vest.

Love is an act of blood and I'm bleedingA pool in the shape of a heart
--Wow, they don't write lyrics like these any more....

Brilliant lyrics! Jordan Rudess may be a more talented keyboard player, but Moore's lyrical talent has been and continues to be missed on Dream Theater's later releases.