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Fates Warning - Awaken The Guardian



8.5 | 245 votes |
Release date: 10 November 1986
Style: US power metal

Owners:

255 have it
30 want it
1 trades it


01. The Sorceress
02. Valley Of The Dolls
03. Fata Morgana
04. Guardian
05. Prelude To Ruin
06. Giant's Lore (Heart Of Winter)
07. Time Long Past
08. Exodus

[2006 Deluxe Edition bonus CD]
01. The Sorceress [demo]
02. Valley Of The Dolls [demo]
03. Prelude To Ruin [demo]
04. Fata Morgana [live]
05. Damnation [live]
06. The Apparition [live]
07. The Sorceress [live]
08. Guardian [live]
09. Die Young [live]

[2006 Deluxe Edition bonus DVD - Live at Sundance, Long Island, NY]
01. Valley Of The Dolls
02. Pirates Of The Underground
03. Orphan Gypsy
04. Fata Morgana
05. Traveler In Time
06. The Sorceress
07. Guardian
08. Prelude To Ruin
09. Damnation
10. The Apparition
11. Die Young
12. Kiss Of Death

Top 20 albums of 1986: 9

Additional info
Line-up :
John Arch - vocals
Jim Matheos - guitars
Frank "X" Aresti - guitars
Steve Zimmerman - drums
Joe DiBiase - bass

Keyboards played by Jim Archambault, John Arch's brother.

Recorded at Stagg Street Studios & Preferred Sound Sep - Oct 1986.

Released as a double album with "No Exit" in 1992.

Guest review by
Clintagräm
Rating:
8.2
The year of 1986 can be seen, for some, as the biggest year in Metal. I don't even need to name drop for legendary bands and their albums to begin flying around inside your head. But I'll bet most of the bands you're thinking of are from the Extreme Metal category. But one band was almost completely at the other end of the spectrum: putting out Melodic, fantasy driven Metal.

Read more ››
published 12.04.2008 | Comments (6)

Guest review by
ponderer
Rating:
10
Although metal had long since been born, the roots of progressive metal were finally starting to take hold in 1986. I had already been exposed to a lot of rock & roll as a child (Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Rush, Pink Floyd, etc), but I hadn't yet really got the full meaning of what progressive metal could be. We had been fully exposed to metal and its offshoots, power metal, thrash, and the beginnings of death metal, but nobody had dared explore the music as much as the boys from Fates Warning. I have to be very careful not to take anything away from their offering a year earlier, The Spectre Within, which in its own right is monumental, but Awaken the Guardian would be a summit of sorts for the band because soon after its release the band would be changed forever.

Read more ››
published 03.07.2008 | Comments (0)

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Comments

Comments: 20   Visited by: 427 users
08.12.2012 - 16:17
Rating: 9
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
Written by Yaniv on 14.11.2012 at 13:42

This album is hard to digest at first, you need to listen to it a couple of time to start to like it but not in loop, otherwise it will become boring.
The sound is good, sometimes it's look like prog Iron Maiden. Guardian is the best track.


You either love or hate Arch's voice. The production is crappy on the album but it is saved by terrific song writing.
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rekt
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24.07.2013 - 21:42
Rating: 10
belphegor666

Fata Morgana and The Guardian all the best songs from this album in my opinion...John Arch's vocals are amazing, the whole team rules i give 10 to this album
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24.04.2015 - 21:18
Rating: 10
Jagermeister

Lol, who would rate this any lower than 10.0?
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But don't you ever get lost in Necropolis?
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25.04.2015 - 02:27
Fearmeister
Account deleted
Written by Jagermeister on 24.04.2015 at 21:18

Lol, who would rate this any lower than 10.0?


People who don't like it as much?
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25.04.2015 - 15:45
Rating: 10
Jagermeister

Written by Guest on 25.04.2015 at 02:27

Written by Jagermeister on 24.04.2015 at 21:18

Lol, who would rate this any lower than 10.0?


People who don't like it as much?


Hmm, never thought of that...
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But don't you ever get lost in Necropolis?
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02.04.2018 - 23:49
Rating: 8
Redel

Maybe their best album,at least from their power metal era.
I have always known Fates Warning for their power metal, discovered their progressive stuff only recently.
I seem to enjoy their power metal slightly more than their prog stuff, though Parallels is certainly a good album. Then again, I've never been much into prog metal in general.
Highlights on the one at hand are Guardian and Exodus for me.
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11.11.2020 - 06:16
Rating: 10
Lord Slothrop

One of my favorite albums of all time.
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12.11.2020 - 02:05
nikarg

Written by Lord Slothrop on 11.11.2020 at 06:16

One of my favorite albums of all time.

Makes perfect sense, it is one of the best USPM albums of all time. Maybe the best even.
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14.11.2020 - 10:07
Rating: 9
majormalfunction

US power metal classic. John Arch is definitely among my favourite metal singers. If anyone has missed the second disc you should check it out, the live songs are a fantastic live document of these guys (bootleg quality though)
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Everything's twice as bright with money in your hands
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06.02.2021 - 00:01
Rating: 9
tea[m]ster
Au Pays Natal
Best album artwork ever.
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rekt
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19.02.2021 - 15:37
Rating: 8
Redel

Written by nikarg on 12.11.2020 at 02:05

it is one of the best USPM albums of all time. Maybe the best even.


Iced Earth fans -- those who are left of them, like me -- might disagree.
It is a great release, best FW album for me (Guardian, Exodus are masterpiece).
But it does not even come close to best IE.
We can agree on "among the best USPM albums of all time".
It is certainly better than any Manowar.
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19.02.2021 - 17:24
JoHn Doe

Written by Redel on 19.02.2021 at 15:37

Written by nikarg on 12.11.2020 at 02:05

it is one of the best USPM albums of all time. Maybe the best even.


Iced Earth fans -- those who are left of them, like me -- might disagree.
It is a great release, best FW album for me (Guardian, Exodus are masterpiece).
But it does not even come close to best IE.
We can agree on "among the best USPM albums of all time".
It is certainly better than any Manowar.


so which Iced Earth album is better than this?
I for one always get bored with IE... I shouldn't have asked but I'm curious.
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I thought the two primary purposes for the internet were cat memes and overreactions.
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19.02.2021 - 17:30
Rating: 8
Redel

Written by JoHn Doe on 19.02.2021 at 17:24

so which Iced Earth album is better than this?
I for one always get bored with IE... I shouldn't have asked but I curious.

I easily get bored with most -- if not any -- IE past 1998.
But I prefer their first 3-4 albums a lot to the one at hand, well at least that is me.
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04.03.2021 - 00:27
Rating: 10
Scintil

Even best iced earth albums are hot garbage compared to Fates Warning. It's just different League.

Also if you want to talk about best US Power metal, talk about Crimson Glory, Early Queensryche, Riot, Virgin Steele, Manilla Road, Metal Church, not Iced Earth
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04.03.2021 - 16:15
Rating: 8
Redel

Written by Scintil on 04.03.2021 at 00:27

Also if you want to talk about best US Power metal, talk about Crimson Glory, Early Queensryche, Riot, Virgin Steele, Manilla Road, Metal Church, not Iced Earth

Manilla Road yes, Riot, VS naaaah, Metal Church no.
Crimson Glory, early QR not USPM in my eyes.
Rather Sanctuary, Helstar...
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04.03.2021 - 16:30
Rating: 10
Scintil

Written by Redel on 04.03.2021 at 16:15

Rather Sanctuary, Helstar...

Actually big fucking +1. Also by early 'Ryche I mean first album + EP.

[Edit] Didn't really want to include God knows how many bands. The ones I included I find have more interesting albums than IE. IE albums are just very mixed bags (except Stormrider ofc), even Burnt Offerings, with fantastic songs like title-track or Dante's Inferno, has some unlistenable garbage tracks.
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22.07.2021 - 15:52
kevindebrajne
Account deleted
Never liked the term "The greatest of all time...", but when it comes to metal music this is what comes to my mind.
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14.06.2022 - 20:25
Rating: 8
Joppe
Steelemeister
I don't think I've heard this album too many times, maybe once or twice before this. There's something in the name "Fates Warning" that makes me forget about them and only return to them after years have passed. Generally speaking this is really good music; not too repetitive songwriting, good musicianship and the only thing which kind of puts me off is the vocals; I know John Arch is kind of a big name in the us power circles, but I think he is underperforming compared to other aspects of this album.

So it's another of those albums worth finding. Now I'll probably forget this band again if I don't put a sticker note somewhere saying "Fates fuckin Warning"
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My vision is augmented
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02.10.2022 - 13:35
Rating: 10
Metal Rasputin

Awesome album and a classic for sure. I remember reading some interview where they said that back when the band recorded this they probably went a little too far with all the goodness, because it turned out this stuff was really hard to nail perfectly live and at the time they got a reputation of being more of a killer studio band rather than a great live act, which eventually also ended up hurting them.
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You've got a lot of guts. Let's see what they look like!
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15.02.2024 - 17:08
Rating: 10
The Galactician

A classic release. It’s a shame Arch was bumped after this but poor guy couldn’t take the touring and live performances. The stage was basically hell for him.

I read in the latest Metal Blade biography that he was finally diagnosed bipolar 2. The good news is he has a much better understanding of his mental health and can do something about it, albeit a bit later in life. Better late than never.
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