“I’d rather listen to Lizzy Borden, to be quite honest.”

Posted on by J. Hubner

Summer of 1987.

This was the summer where I discovered metal. Speed metal, that is. I’d done the classics by the time I’d hit the 7th grade. Made my way through the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, the Stones, and Hendrix. AC/DC were in my collection, as well as a good chunk of hair metal. Most of 7th grade was consumed by Poison, Cinderella, Motley Crue, Dokken and Great White. But when summer rolled around, my brother introduced me to speed metal. Speed, thrash, whatever you want to call it. Suicidal Tendencies, Metallica, Megadeth, Anthrax, Slayer, Overkill, Metal Church,…my eyes and ears had been opened to the double kick drum, lightning fast guitar riffs, the pained howl vocals, and lyrics that ranged from drug addiction, politics, and devil worship; to teen angst, witchcraft, Stephen King and H.P. Lovecraft. It was the perfect place to land before heading back into Warsaw Middle School to start my 8th grade year.

Like with anything, you’ve got your good and bad metal bands. Most of what I came across I liked. I wasn’t all that picky. One afternoon my mom took me to Butterfly Records in downtown Warsaw and I had some money burning a hole in my pocket so bought Fates Warning’s No Exit. To be honest, I’m not sure why I bought this album. I may have read a review in Metal Edge or Circus. Or quite possibly my older brother may have mentioned them. In order to one up said older brother I may have bought the album before he had a chance. So I left Butterfly Records with No Exit on cassette and headed off to a guitar lesson. On the ride home I popped the cassette tape into the cassette player of my mom and dad’s 1984 Honda Accord and was impressed. It had twin guitar attack, impressive drumming, and banshee-like vocals with doom-laden lyrics. What more could a 14 year old kid as for?

Fates Warning were an east coast metal band that formed in 1983 out of Connecticut. No Exit was the fourth album and their first with a line up change that included new singer Ray Alder. After experimenting with progressive rock tendencies the band really jumped head first into the progressive/art rock vibe on No Exit. There were acoustic interludes, lyrics about anarchy, death, silent cries, and even a whole side, 21 minute suite called “The Ivory Gate of Dreams”. When their next album dropped the next year in 1989 called Perfect Symmetry they had gone full progressive and were more in line with bands like Queensryche with that Q Prime management vibe; including heady music videos and more expensive hair products. But No Exit still possessed a sense of danger to it. There was still a darkness in the dissonant guitar lines and Alder’s operatic howls. They never hit the drug-fueled doldrums of say Megadeth, or the speed metal delights of Metallica or Slayer, or even the hardcore charms of Anthrax, but it was a great album for an 8th grader to shake his fist to quietly in his bedroom.

On a recent trip to Neat Neat Neat Records I found a super clean copy of No Exit for $10 and instantly nostalgia got the better of me. After about ten minutes of mulling around the store I made my way back to the “F” section of the metal albums and grabbed Fates Warning. I also snagged a copy of Fogg’s High Testament(we’ll talk about that one later.) Was it all warm fuzzies and harkening back to the heyday of my teen speed metal years? No, not really.

Sometimes nostalgia can give you a nice surprise. Recent purchases of albums like Cinderella’s Night Songs, Dokken’s Tooth and Nail, and even older grabs like Van Halen’s Fair Warning and Diver Down showed that I wasn’t all that bad at finding good music to listen to in my pre-teen and teen years. Sadly though, sometimes records don’t age all that well. No Exit, while still probably exactly as it was in 1988, just isn’t that memorable of a record. It’s a sort of paint-by-numbers affair as far as metal albums go.

So basically you’ve got your chugging metal riffs, the galloping metal riffs, and the occasional spritz of thrash thrown in with Fates Warning. Album opener “No Exit” is 41 seconds of sorrowful, dissonant guitars as singer Ray Alder basks in some serious doomy vocals. When I was a teenager it probably sounded a lot better. Now it just sounds out of tune(God, I’m old.) “Anarchy Divine” goes in hard with some decent thrash moments and some nice tempo changes. Alder, to me, sounds like a poor man’s Joey Belladonna. He hits those high notes well enough, but there’s no heft there. Even Geoff Tate had some color behind his wailing. “Silent Cries” hints at a more progressive sound the band would dig into with their next album, Perfect Symmetry. It’s not bad, but it just doesn’t go anywhere. There’s no “oomph”. “In A Word” is the obligatory acoustic number all metal bands felt they needed to include back in the 80s. I guess it’s supposed to show off the soulful side of the band. Meh. I’d rather listen to Lizzy Borden, to be quite honest. “Shades Of Heavenly Death” has some nice early Anthrax vibes, but man those vocals just kind of bring everything down. I just can’t get into that wailing. “The Ivory Gates of Dreams” is the nearly 22-minute opus and works the best here. Alder keeps his vocals controlled here, and the band does a nice job of tempo changes and mixing up the art rock vibe with straight up speed metal. This takes up all of side B and I could see what I saw in these guys in the first place.

By 1989 the rough edges that were present on No Exit were mostly shaved off. In their place was arty, Rush-inspired progressive rock. It was a little more Queensryche’s Operation: Mindcrime and less Mercyful Fate’s Melissa. Fates Warning is still a quality progressive rock band, but No Exit won’t be spun again any time soon. Sometimes the past just needs to stay in the past I suppose. Let those sleeping dogs lie. Or those old rock records continue to collect dust in my memory.

Discover more from Complex Distractions

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.

34 thoughts on ““I’d rather listen to Lizzy Borden, to be quite honest.””

    1. Hey, you win some and you lose some. It was fun revisiting it regardless of the outcome. It won’t stop me from grabbing those classic albums(at least in my head.) And Lizzy Borden. My older brother bought me ‘Visual Lies’ for my birthday when I was 15. Man I loved that album! I actually listened to it not that long ago and it still holds up. It doesn’t get more anthem-like than “Me Against The World”. And until recently I had no idea Joe Holmes was the guitarist on that album. I’ve heard ‘Master Of Disguise’ was a solid album, too.

      Liked by 2 people

      Reply

  2. Never heard of this lot (no surprises, I guess) and I dare say I’ll keep my knowledge of them to “I read about these dudes at JH’s place”. Sorry this one didn’t pan out, but it would seem there’s been a good nostalgia hit ratio.

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

      1. Were the individual strings in the wooden box? I remember the sets of strings on the peg board and have a vague, vague memory of individual strings I flash back on now that you mention it. — and if you were shopping at Butterfly and into metal circa 1988 I might’ve tried to turn you on to Jane’s Addiction’s Nothing’s Shocking — anyone even vaguely into loud guitar usually got an earful from me whether it really suited their exact tastes or not. 🙂

        Jay has passed away, by the way. Not sure if Steve is still with us.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I wondered about Steve and Jay. I dealt more with Steve than I did with Jay. But I do remember seeing Jay more when they’d moved locations to what I believe was a jewelry store. Maybe it was the old Fitches Jewelry?

        And yes, it was the wooden box that had all the individual strings in it. Crazy to think about buying individual strings now. I mean, spend the extra $3 or $4 and get the whole pack. But hey, it was a pretty cool convenience for us teen rockers that didn’t want to change the whole set and only had a buck left from their lunch money.

        It’s possible you may have attempted to push Perry Farrell and company on me. Wouldn’t have been too hard as I was a fan. And not sure if you remember it or not, but do you recall that GIANT Hendrix at Woodstock poster that was up on the wall for years? I was the one who finally bought that thing. Wish I still had it.

        Like

      3. Wow — I don’t remember the Hencrix poster. I remember the Mellencamp Lonesome Jubilee poster that he had signed that was back by the (then) big screen TV and the back rooms. — and other funny things, like when we first started carrying CDs the entire selection fit in a small wooden box we kept on one counter.

        It doesn’t surprise me that you would have dealt with Steve more, since you were a guitar player. The inventory was often a bone of contention, since Steve would get hot on something (like, say, an Ibanez guitar) and instead of ordering one or two to see if there was a market for it in Warsaw, he’d get, like, six or so to test the waters.

        Speaking of waters, one of your other posts somewhere said you lived on one of the lakes. Which one? I was on Big Chapman. Before I could drive, I’d ride my bike to Butterfly back when it was near what used to be the high school — smoke cigarettes and play backgammon with Steve if rain came.

        I’m not sure what jeweler’s location they moved to, unless it was the Buffalo Street address across from Kline’s and that bar I can’t remember. I might’ve been gone by then.

        Thanks for responding! This is kind of a blast from the past.

        Liked by 1 person

      4. It’s great finding people that remember this stuff from my formative years. We’re few and far between anymore. And yeah, I lived NEAR Chapman. If you know where Lake Forest was I was just down the road from there in the Pines addition(on 450 N, if that means anything.) There was a field across from our house, but now they’ve filled it with a housing addition. My best friend lived in Chapman Lake Park, so I was down there a lot in the early to mid-80s.

        My older brother bought an old Framus guitar from Steve. The thing looked like a Fender Jaguar, but with like see-thru spots on it so you could see the wiring. It was cool looking, but a complete piece of crap. lol Oh well.

        Like

      5. If I remember right, 450 N was just north of where I lived, which was right on Nellie Bay, not quite spitting distance of Oswego. I don’t remember where Lake Forest is, but there were quite a few fields on 450 N (if I’m thinking correctly) which I remember being fallow. I did lots of snowmobiling in those areas when it was in season, and I remember one blizzard where school was (obviously) called off and Highway 13 (?) hadn’t been plowed yet; we’d just gotten an Arctic Cat and my friend Bruce went with me to test it out. It topped out at 85 mph and kept increasing speed and started to shimmy and scared the crap out of me, so I eased off before we broke our necks.

        What year did you graduate high school? Were you at WHS? I was class of ’85.

        Liked by 1 person

      6. Yep, that’s 450 N.

        Graduated from WCHS in ’92. My older brother graduated in ’86. It was like the old west back then, you could ride snowmobiles pretty much anywhere. Nothing is the same out there now.

        Like

      7. That’s crazy. Your brother and I might’ve passed in the halls or something. Small world!

        My mom had said Warsaw really blew up a couple of decades ago (I think) but now a lot of people have left. Apparently, there was some attempt to make it the Silicon Valley of the Midwest? Or maybe Biomet tried to bring in tech folks who didn’t want to live on the left coast or something?

        Apparently, the county is putting in a new sewage system around Big Chapman and residents have to pay for it. There’s value to infrastructure, but I’m just glad my mom is financially comfortable because that’s a bit of an ask, I think. Hopefully you’re not getting hit with that.

        Liked by 1 person

      8. We were just out of the Sewage plan, which is kind of ridiculous as it’s going in north and south of us. I would have personally been okay with it(my septic of 20+ years old now), but I can understand folks that don’t live in one of the million+ estates being upset to have to cough up 3 or 4 grand to get into it.

        Well, if you can recall, Warsaw was the “Orthopedic Capital Of The World” 30 years ago. Not so much now. Zimmer Biomet, Depuy, and Medtronic are all still here, but it’s nothing like it was. There’s the Warsaw Industrial Park west of town off 30. It’s had more businesses close than remain open. I’d love to see it flourish, but sadly it’s fading.

        Like

      9. “Orthopedic Capital Of The World” — oh, that;s right! One of my brothers worked at Biomet and helped make at least one body part that was used to help when conjoined twins were separated in California about 25 years ago, if I remember the timeline correctly.

        I wish Amtrack still stopped in Warsaw; it would make it a lot easier to visit.

        Liked by 1 person

      12. My senior year, I had started a literary magazine and was often off-site selling advertising. That and my affection for the movie Diner meant I was in long sleeves and a tie every day. Thinning hair meant I could convincingly pass as an adult and one time a kid was running in the hall and I made him stop and sent him to the principal’s office.

        The principal tracked me down later in the day and told me not to do that again. This memory appropriate of nothing but it would be really funny if that had been your brother!

        Mr. Powell was principal of the Freshman High, I think…?. I can’t remember who principal at Warsaw was. Had Mrs. Mock taken over by the time you got there?

        Liked by 1 person

      13. By the time my brother hit his Junior year he’d left the varsity baseball team, grown his hair out to his shoulders, and was a full on rocker dude. If you ever watched Stranger Things, that character in the last season, Eddie, he put me in mind of my brother in 84/85.

        I can’t remember who any of the WCHS authority figures were. It’s all a blur now. And Diner is a great flick! Perfect casting in that one. Levinson was great ensemble director.

        Like

      14. Diner… boy, if you can make the Guttenberg look like perfect casting…!

        Supposedly Mickey Rourke took him under his wind and nearly came to blows with Daniel Stern re Guttenberg’s acting skills.

        That was my introduction to Ellen Barkin, and I was like, “Who IS that!?”

        I met Kevin Bacon after a play he was in in Greenwich Village (my ride hadn’t shown up, and his driver asked me if I was Kevin). We wound up talking about Diner and Levinson, and Bacon was saying how much he wanted to work with Levinson again. Years later was Sleepers, and I was thinking, “Be careful what you wish for…”

        Authority figures at Warsaw…. Jack Musgrave English, Ann Robinson English, Dan Kuhn Sociology?, Carolyn Mock English/Journalism, Al Rhoades (sp?) was basketball coach and taught math… Becky Robinson was theater… I can’t remember who all else I had. Any names sound familiar?

        Liked by 1 person

      15. That’s pretty great you met Bacon! And Ellen Barkin. Yes.

        So I had Musgrave for Creative Writing, and Mr Kuhn for Sociology. I believe Rhoades was still coach of the basketball team. I don’t remember Robinson or Mock, though that’s not to say they weren’t there.

        Like

      17. I forgot I had Musgrave for Creative Writing, also. I remember in one critique session a girl said she thought a poem I had written sounded like John Lennon and I admired the fact that he said he didn’t think so at all. (I didn’t, either, and wasn’t sure where this girl was getting that.)

        Did Musgrave still do that thing where sometimes he would punctuate a sentence by flipping his tie over his shoulder?

        I remember one time a couple of friends and I were stoned and found his address in the phone book and just decided to show up. He did that thing where his eyes when comically wide, but he was nice about us basically stalking him, I guess. He was about as cool as teachers got, in Warsaw — when asked what church he attended (as if it were mandatory) he would say “The Church of What’s Happening Now.”

        Dan Kuhn came out to our house one time because we were trying to write a song together. The song went nowhere but Mom made him some cookies while we were working on it.

        I remember not long after I’d seen The Big Chill I had asked him if he knew this song “If I Want You Back” I’d heard. I sang a bit of it before he corrected me, laughing, that it was “Ain’t Too Proud to Beg.”

        I’m having a lot of memories! Funny I ran into your post searching for info about whether Butterfly had burned down (there was a rumor that Steve had committed arson). Thanks for responding!

        Liked by 1 person

      18. Love these stories! Glad you happened upon my post as well. And “Captain” Jack did indeed do the tie thing.

        As far as Butterfly burning, well the last location on West Market St did indeed burn. Never heard if it was listed as arson or not. Would it surprise me? Absolutely not.

        Like

      19. I never saw the West Market Street location. I don’t know where I heard it, but the rumor was that maybe Butterfly was overextended or Steve just wanted out or whatever.

        Do you know if it ever re-opened after the fire, and if Steve and Jay were still partners? Just curious.

        I remember when Jay got busted for growing pot out in his woods, and his wife Lana tried to take the blame, concerned for his reputation in the community. She was one of the sweetest, sweetest people you could ever meet.

        Liked by 1 person

      20. Butterfly was done after the fire. I’m thinking Jay and Steve had split by then, too. Jay may have stuck with the A/V business, as he came out and delivered a TV to my parents in the late 90s I believe. The West Market St location was an old brick building, probably a half block from the Buffalo/Market intersection. Down from where Bob List Photography was. It was waaaay to much store for Butterfly, that I remember.

        Like

  4. I just looked up Lake Forest. Technically, I was in that district a lot — two friends lived there, one right of the lake and another close enough to the lake that they had a pier. I lost control of a snowmobile in that area once and went through a barbed wire fence that slashed my throat pretty good — not pretty!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

  5. Yeah — somebody driving by pulled over to actually disentangle the wire from my throat — in the shape I was in, I couldn’t do it.

    Sticking with A/V sounds smart and sounds like something Jay would have done. He was pretty generous with commissions, too, and I would earn points from Pioneer to either buy something from their Elite series or some Bose speakers. That worked out well.

    I hope your folks liked the TV!

    Liked by 1 person

    Reply

What do you think? Let me know

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Unknown's avatar

Published by J. Hubner

Complex Distractions is a little corner of the universe where music and conversation reign supreme. Intellectual discussions and essays written about heady records, both big and small, that despite what you might think can truly change your life. Spinning the records for the good of mankind.