Review Summary: Absolutely recommended to anyone who hasn’t yet heard anything by Fates Warning, because even though this is still a progressive metal album, it's FW easiest record since they went progressive.
With “Perfect Symmetry” Fates Warning had found themselves in the same position Queensryche did when they made “Rage For Order”; they had released a progressive metal masterpiece (needless to explain if, how and why “Perfect Symmetry” is important to the progressive metal genre) but commercial success was yet to come. Seeing what “Operation:Mindcrime” did to Queensryche’s career, FW decided to take the same step Queensryche took after “Rage For Order”.
Therefore “Parallels” find FW trying to express themselves in a more conventional way. They just simplify their song structures and they try to make use of all their strengths, but in a more accessible way . So they write songs that build up nicely and really explode as soon as choruses kick in, songs that include the catchiest vocal lines since their power metal days, their best melodies and their most straightforward riffs. No wonder this album was initially considered as a commercial release.
This is a false statement though. “Parallels” is not a simplistic, mindless album. It’s not at all a cheesy metal record packed with hit wannabes. On the contrary, it is very introspective and intelligent, it just displays everything in moderation, as opposed to the excess progressive metal usually brings forth. Its intelligence and moderation is best reflected in Jim Matheos lyrics. In “Point of View” he declares every man’s right to have an opinion and the subsequent right for every one else to disagree. In “Eye to Eye” he tries to explain that he and his fans have nothing in common except for the music and in “Don’t Follow me” he states that everyone should find solutions to their own problems and not look up to a musician they admire to find these solutions. In “Leave the Past Behind” he expresses a very rare (for hard rockers anyway) “bygones be bygones” attitude, and so on.
The guitar work in this album is admirable, but for the opposite reasons that it was admirable in “Perfect Symmetry”. Instead of lengthy songs with very odd time changes, there are some of FW’s most powerful riffs and some of the most melodic solos this band ever wrote. Nevertheless, Ray Alder is the true star of this album; his performance is very mature and in the spirit of “Parallels”, modest. In spite of the somewhat sad mood of the album his vocal lines are very catchy and especially in choruses he’s outstanding, bringing to mind Geoff Tate and the way he performed in “Operation:Mindcrime”. As a result all songs in “Parallels” are incredible and only if you absolutely have to pick out a few you’d go for “Eye to Eye”, “Point of View” and the acoustic marvel that is “The Road Goes on Forever”.
Unfortunately, this record didn’t become the commercial breakthrough FW expected. However, it’s sheer brilliance and the fact that “Parallels” is the most accessible FW record since they went progressive is the reason this album is pretty much adored by progressive and non-progressive fans alike. It’s absolutely recommended to anyone who hasn’t yet heard anything by this band, especially before diving in to FW’s more complex stuff.
