2007 sees the re-issue of Fate’s debut album on MTM Classix, coming some 22 years after it initially hit the streets. 

Fate are a Danish melodic rock outfit who have gone on to record four more albums since this, self-titled, debut. They also seem to have acquired somewhat of a cult status in AOR / melodic rock circles. 

Of course this release has been digitally remastered but the sound is still quintessentially 80s melodic rock with the big pompous gang-style vocals and simple song structures. That is no way meant as criticism, it’s just that titles such as “Fallen Angel”, “Rip It Up” and “Danger Zone” are nowadays so incredibly cliché-sounding, but at the time, that’s what songwriters used to frequently use as subject material. 

This is very much a journey back into the past, but given that’s when I first got into rock, it was an extremely pleasant trip.  I must admit that Fate passed me by first time around, but listening to the debut now, I would definitely have been a fan at the time had our paths crossed. 

Singer Jeff Limbo has a really decent voice which fits the music style to perfection, whilst original six-stringer and band founder Hank Shermann handles guitar work well enough. 

I don’t think that the songs themselves have stood the test of time perhaps as well as some other albums released around the same time, but it is a somewhat unfair comparison to try to judge them in the context of albums released today. You need to approach this album (and others of its ilk) with a definite air of context to see where today’s melodic rock evolved from, rather than dismissing it as not on a par with current contemporaries. 

Overall, I am sure there will be plenty of people out there pleased to finally be able to get their hands on a copy of this re-issue, as the original CD has been out of print for about 15 years. All fans of very 80s sounding AOR / melodic rock will definitely want to add this to their collection as well. A great blast from the past !!