Ray Alder vs John Arch

[Still Remains]

I was wondering what the forum thought about these two great vocalists? I am a Ray fanboy, personally.

 

[Palabra de Dios]

Ray is a good vocalist, and has become very prolific since starting with Fates Warning as a kid.

But the reason I choose Arch is because of how awesome that early Fates stuff is. Just fucking classic metal, and way more up my alley than other stuff as the band progressed.

 

[Cheiron]

Both amazing.

 

[Midihell]

Both are great vocalist. But I'm more of a fan of Ray's.

 

[sccaldwell]

Both are great vocalist. But I'm more of a fan of Ray's.

This.

 

[Osiris' Eyes]

Old school point of view here...

LOVE John Arch w/ Fates Warning
LOVE Ray Alder w/ Redemption

Hate to admit it, but I never warmed up to the change from John to Ray w/ Fates, and to this day I still prefer the early stuff as opposed to No Exit and beyond.

 

[J-Man]

Ray all the way.

 

[AngraRULES]

They're both great singers, but I'd pick Ray any day.

 

[kingdomgone86]

Ray was way better back around Parallels. He can't sing now though and he dodges high parts that he used to be prolific in.

 

[Comic Book Dude]

Ray is a great singer, BUT...Arch has such a unique sound and delivery, that he'll always be the stand-out for me. Nobody sounds quite like John Arch....those early Fates albums were fantastic.

 

[TheLongshot]

Ah, a thread for Pierpont and Locust to hash things out.

 

[cslebn]

To me John Arch is a great metal singer and he fit the early albums well, but Ray Alder's voice is silk smooth gold - more with age. I don't need a singer screaming up high all the time. Someone who can continue to be great while their voice changes and reshape themselves continually is awesome. That and I don't think APSOG would have been what it is with Arch singing.

 

[Purveyor Of Evil]

Arch by a wide margin.

 

[p1driftfiend]

Fates with Arch and Fates with Alder are two completely different bands.

Apples and oranges and it's not even worth answering.

That said, Arch era Fates is .

Awaken the Guardian is one of the best albums evAr, and the song "The Apparition" from Spectre has no equal.

 

[Azrael LenGraden]

John Arch... I wish the first three FW records had the production quality of their latter releases!

 

[labrekk]

Both are excellent at what they do, but I don't really care for any...If I was forced to choose one, I'd go with Alder though.

 

[TwizstedJesus]

I remember the day that No Exit came out. I was so eager to hear the new singer, even though I had loved John Arch. I popped that cassette in the boombox, and....bammmm...total disappointment. Where was the Fates that I had fallen in love with? What is this new crap?

Total and epic fail!

By that evening, I had listened to the tape at least 4 or 5 times and I was trying to replicate the high notes in "Silent Cries" and "Ivory Gate...".

Fates Warning "No Exit"became my favorite disc of all time.

No comparison really...Arch and Alder are both GODS! But different styles. Arch could never do what Ray did with later material, and have you ever hear Ray do the "Awaken..." stuff live? Absolutely horrid compared to John.

 

[ApolloFC]

I'm Ray fan. He sold me with his performance at PPUSA and then completely owned me on the last Redemption album which I just had to get it was so awesome.

 

[Pelata]

Ray Alder

Arch has a strong voice...I don't dislike him...I just prefer Ray.

 

[Bryant]

Somehow Fates Warning flew under my radar until "No Exit" so Ray era FW was the first I was introduced to him. Obviously, that makes a big difference as well as the fact, Arch has four releases he is on, whereas, I don't even want to try and count how many have Ray on vocals.

I do like Arch, but prefer Ray

Bryant