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The return of Savatage after four years of continuously growing suspense! The expectations were very high because of the great quality of their very successful former album, “The Wake Of Magellan”. Meanwhile the vocalist Zak Stevens had left from the band (within a friendly atmosphere) which was a disappointment, mainly for the newest fans of the band, and not unfair, because Zak had taken part in a very important chapter of the Savatage history. This departure forced Jon Oliva to record the vocals for the whole album just like the old times until they would found the replacement. The album opens with “Stay With Me Awhile”, a typical solid Savatage song with a piano intro which personally reminded me the correlative one of the “Gutter Ballet” song. The second track, “There In The Silence” is probably one of the best songs of the album with nice keyboard lines, a very cool and catchy refrain and an impressive headbanging-concert-like change after its middle which leads to the guitar solo and then another impressive change to follow; definitely a great song. Then comes “Commissar” which was also meant to be the single off this album. It’s a typical rhythmic tune with some nice operatic vocal lines and a very callous continuation. “I Seek Power” is next, a song with slow to middle speed with a catchy refrain, but nothing really impressive. “Drive” is also a neutral composition with some interesting moments, though, like the cool guitar solo and the general feeling of “madness” it contains. And now comes the “Morphine Child”, probably the track that impressed most of the listeners. Although as an idea it’s not something that incredible, Savatage managed to make a real masterpiece out of it. It starts in a typical Savatage vein and within its 10 minutes it develops, becoming a marvelous song with many smart riffs, a great guitar solo, and from a point and up to the end it has lots of operatic vocals and spoken lines becoming more and more and the final result is a magnificent song that could be a part of a very successful rock opera with its huge theatrical elements. “The Rumor” is a quite decent track with slow acoustic and heavy parts exchanging, but still nothing outstanding. The same goes for “Man In The Mirror” which follows the same root, but with a more nice result. The ninth song of the album, “Surrender” is another great one! Starting with piano and the angelic soft voice of Jon, it then becomes a very heavy rhythmic one, made to be played live! Such a cool construction and riffing, it’s a real small diamond in the album. “Awaken”, which follows next, is a mid-tempo song based on a cool bass & drum rhythm which gives a quite satisfying result to our ears, but that’s all. Finally, “Back To Reason” is another highlight of this recording. It has an intro with piano and the vocals of Jon breaking your heart and causing lots of thrills while singing “Time, standing all alone, I bled for you, I wanted to, each drop my own…” which is definitely one of Savatage most beautiful piano moments. Then, the composition gets a heavy rhythm 100% Savatage with operatic vocals, the small use of vocal samples and finally ends with a mid to fast heavy part and the piano giving the outro for once more. It’s a very good Savatage album with its ups and downs that will not disappoint any fan in any case. It’s definitely not a masterpiece and the truth is that Jon Oliva behind the microphone does not sound like in “The Hall Of The Mountain King”. But then, who expected something different? The band offered here a great recording for its time that kept the flame of the band’s spirit alive and that’s the most important part. Actually it would be truly unfair just to focus on the musical part of this Savatage album, because behind the notes there lays a very emotional and sensitive concept. It’s all about a world famous and Pulitzer awarded photographer that through his business missions he found out about all the pain around the world and faced very powerful situations he could never imagine of. In the end he becomes suicidal and living in an abandoned hospital building. If you get the CD, make sure to read the concept in the booklet, it’s given through a very powerful description.
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KJP / September 2003 |
