Music and lyrics - Jim Matheos

Vocals - Ray Alder
Guitars and guitar synth - Jim Matheos
Drums - Mark Zonder
Bass - Joey Vera
Piano and keyboards - Kevin Moore

Additional voices - Bill "shoot me" Metoyer, Lydia Montagnese,
Mark Zonder, Terry Brown, Lindsay Matheos

Recorded, produced, and mixed by Terry Brown
at the Carriage House, Stamford CT November-December 1996
Assistant engineers - Andy Katz and Joe Peccerillo
Mastering - Eddie Schreyer at Oasis

Pre-production - Bill's Place

Catering - Gearge Hideous, Fidel Horrendous, and Arthur Letsgoberg
at Salad Face International

Art direction and design
Ioannis ad Steven Jacaruso at Vivid Images Int.

Photography - Ioannis and Heide Coyle

Thanks to Brian Slagel and everyone at Metal Blade, everyone at Massacre, Joey "tick" and Tracey Vera, Kevin Moore, Terry "How much grayer could it be?" and Linda Brown, Bill "I'll pray for you heathens" Metoyer, Johnny Montagnese and family, Andy "manny" Katz, Ted Keedick, J.J. "sugar daddy" Jacobs, Takumi Suetsugu, Ed Picard, Fabrizo Giruzzi (the patron saint of Fates Warning), Hugh Syme, Dimo Safari, Mike Portnoy (an honorary Fates member) and Dream Theater, Jim Pitulski, Steve Einzig, Joe Serling, the Matheos family, the Alder family, John Meredith, Steph Holmes, Ron Evans, Pete Parada, Jason Anderson, Vince Dennis, Andrew Ellis, j.j., Mike Kelley, Steve Grom, George and Ioannis Vasilopoulos at Vivid Images, Buck Brundage and Rob Reid at ART, Paul Nelson and Larry Chipetta at Daddy's Junky Music, Tim O'Connell and Port Cargo LTD., Faye Rappaport and Rosa Daza at DR Handmade Strings, SST, Audio FX, Mackie Designs, Alesis, Mesa Boogie, Fender, Ampeg, GMS Drums, Zildjian Cymbals, Latin Percussion, Attack Drum Heads, Vater Drum Sticks, Mechanical Music, Drum Workshop, and Electo-Voice.

Special funky gratitude from J to T.

Ray would like to thank Amy Marie Motta for her inspiration and always believing in him.

Jim would like to thank Laurie and Lindsay Alexis Matheos.

Very special thanks to Joe "bones", "bonesy cow", "bones e. newman", "boney fife", "bone-zo the clown", "bones on the rocks", "crampaw", "mike white", "heavy metal kid", "blue collar man", "disheveled boy", "spork", "murk", "moe", "mondo", "sav", "rogue male", "danny", "rewind", "dumpy", "the chokester", "the incinerator", DiBiase for his contributions and dedication over the years. We'll never sound the same!

A Pleasant Shade Of Gray marks a new chapter in the Fates Warning story. Not only is the album one song, clocking in at over fifty five minutes, but a couple of new musicians were enlisted to help out the Fates Warning nucleus of guitarist/songwriter Jim Matheos, vocalist Ray Alder and Mark Zonder on drums. Ex-Armored Saint bassist Joey Vera was brought in to round out the rhythm section with Zonder while Kevin Moore from Dream Theater was recruited for his expertise on keyboards. Matheos wrote the album from his home in New Hampshire after Fates Warning completed their tour for the 1994 release, Inside Out. A Pleasant Shade Of Gray reflects the changes that the band has gone through over the years with it's variety of styles and the maturity of the songwriting and musicianship. Parts of the composition are reminiscent of vintage Fates Warning from the No Exit or Parallels period while other sections border on industrial, progressive rock and even classical. The album has a huge atmospheric sound comparable to the likes of Yes or Pink Floyd thanks to the production of Terry Brown, who is famous for his work with Rush. All of the actual album artwork is also by Hugh Syme who has done the last three Fates Warning covers as well as most of Rush's. The progression that Fates Warning exhibits on this, their latest masterpiece, can also be compared to the changes that a certain Canadian trio has undergone over the years. It is the continuing development of Fates' sound that makes this the most anticipated and ambitious release of their illustrious career.

• The first single release (3984-24129-2) from the album contains the following:
  
  1. A Pleasant Shade Of Gray: Part 2
  2. A Pleasant Shade Of Gray: Part 2 Remix (Previously Unreleased)
     Remix deranged by Steve Tushar of Carbon 12
  3. A Pleasant Shade Of Gray: Part 7 Demo Version (Previously Unreleased)
• The album is also available in a Digi-pack version in Europe, with no noticeable differences from the domestic release).
• More Album Notes