A Pleasant Shade of Gray former bassist Joe DiBiase, who departed the band in 1995; "A Pleasant Shade of Grey" was the first Fates Warning album without DiBiase. A Pleasant Shade of Gray A Pleasant Shade of Gray is a concept album by the progressive metal group Fates Warning, released in 1997. It contains one song divided into twelve parts and is noted for its darker mood and more progressive style. "A Pleasant Shade Of Gray" is a single song that is divided into twelve tracks. The album is notable for its darker mood and mixture of progressive rock and metal with hints of industrial,
A Whiter Shade of Pale in 2005, Jim Irvin of "Mojo" said that its arrival at number 1 on 8 June 1967, on the same day that the Beatles' "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" topped the national albums chart, marked the start of the Summer of Love in Britain. According to music historian Harvey Kubernik, in the context of the Summer of Love, "A Whiter Shade of Pale" was the "one song [that] stood above all others, its Everest-like status conferred by no less than John Lennon and Paul McCartney, who were enthralled by the Chaucerian wordplay and heavenly Baroque accompaniment". Kubernik also writes