Savatage - Poets and Madmen

Savatage and Trans-Siberian Orchestra: Am I the only one that noticed that the two most recent Savatage albums, Dead Winter Dead (1995) and The Wake of Magellan (1998), and all three TSO albums sound a bit too much alike? That the line that separates TSO and Savatage has blurred quite a bit? I have noticed this and I'm not thrilled by it.

With Poets & Madmen, I was hoping that the DWD/TWOM/TSO thing would be dropped--or, at the least, expanded upon. I love Dead Winter Dead, The Wake of Magellan and Trans-Siberian Orchestra. But I was hoping Poets & Madman would progress and move beyond that sound. Savatage has always progressed--with each and every album. I don't want to hear the same thing over and over again from Savatage--and we don't. Every album has been different. And, with Poets & Madmen, maybe the expectations were a bit too much. Zachary Stevens, Savatage's primary lead vocalist over the last four albums, is gone. Guitarist Al Pitrelli has also departed (he joined Megadeth). And guitarist Chris Caffery is now a full contributor to the songwriting (he had previously penned three tracks on TWOM), co-writing nine of the eleven tracks on P&M. I though this combination of events--Jon back on vocals, Caffery as a main songwriter--would be the perfect mixture for a new and "progressive" album from Savatage. The combination of events worked, but not the way I thought it would…

1. "Stay With Me Awhile" - The album starts off in a similar way that The Wake of Magellan did with "The Ocean" and "Welcome". Except this time, it is just one song. The verses here are very reminiscent of Dead Winter Dead/The Wake of Magellan verses. But the chorus is harsh and aggressive--kind of like some of the more aggressive tunes off the two aforementioned albums like "Another Way" and "Doesn't Matter Anyway". This is a good song, even if it combines bits and pieces we've heard from Savatage before.

2. "There in the Silence" - The beginning of this song sounds like a cross between something Journey would come up with and Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion"! And a synthesizer is used by Savatage, I believe, for the first time ever! Weird. Again, we are treated to DWD/TWOM type verses and an aggressive, harsh chorus. This is another good song. And it ends with a really heavy "outro".

3. "Commissar" - When I first heard this song, I thought maybe the line that separates TSO and Savatage was being blurred. But after the opening vocal lines, we are slammed with a heavy, aggressive, kick-ass tune. This song is very much in the same vein as "Another Way" (TWOM) and "Doesn't Matter Anyway" (DWD). Great song, Jon is at his absolute best here. Caffery is playing heavy riff after heavy riff. Clearly, this is one of the best songs on this disc. The ending guitar

4. "I Seek Power" - Like many of the songs on Poets & Madmen, this song starts off ominously. It is very slow and calm--but you know that this will change. And change it does, becoming heavy as the chorus kicks in. This is a trend that is consistent throughout the entire album--slow, calm verses and aggressive, driving choruses. I will admit, this formula is used a bit too much on the album. But the formula works quite well here. Cool song! Jon's vocals go from sweet to harsh quite nicely.

5. "Drive" - This is the most unusual song on Poets & Madmen--and the shortest. It is difficult to describe. "Drive" is an aggressive, fast paced tune all the way through. The song does have a "Sammy & Tex"/"New York City Don't Mean Nothing" (from Streets) feel to it. Not one of my favorites here, but its okay.

6. "Morphine Child" - With the ominous (and cool) opening guitar and piano combination, you know your in for something special. The song kicks in with a very cool guitar riff--very epic sounding. Things settle down with Jon's beautiful voice singing a very beautiful melody. And the chorus is grand! Very Epic! The song is complicated in structure--"Chance" from the album Handful of Rain definitely comes to mind. In fact, this songs combines what many fans like most about Savatage (and TSO, for that matter)--the epic grandness, the Queen-type vocal harmonies and the emotionally manipulative songwriting. And, of course, the point-counterpoint vocals. This is a great song! Truly, it ranks right up there with Savatage's best work!

7. "The Rumor" - This song is good and it sounds like a lost track from Streets! Well, maybe it ain't that good. But it works. It has that "pleading to God" thing to it that many tracks on Streets did. Again, calm, sweet verses are coupled with aggressive choruses. This is a solid tune made even better by Chris Caffery's input as a songwriter and guitarist.

8. "Man in the Mirror" - This song also has a Streets feel to it. Jon Oliva really came up with some interesting vocal melodies on this one. But the calm verse/aggressive chorus thing is beginning to wear thin. Still, this is a good song. Special thanks go to Chris Caffery's guitar work--again!

9. "Surrender" - This is only one of two songs on Poets & Madmen that wasn't co-written by Chris Caffery (the other one is "Back to a Reason"). Jon Oliva and producer Paul O'Neill penned this number--but you can't tell Caffery wasn't involved in this one--because he really is! His guitar work smokes big-time! The song starts off calm (again!), but when it goes aggressive, it stays aggressive. "Surrender" is a very good song--it has vocal melodies in it that are different for Savatage. I kind of wish more songs like this had filled the album.

10. "Awaken" - Yes! A cool bass solo opens this song up! I wish Savatage did more of this! Pretty, good song. Follows the P&M formula of calm/aggressive/calm, etc. But, hey, it works on this one. I hear the album Streets here--especially some of the more aggressive tunes on Streets. Maybe a little bit of "Agony & Ecstasy" is present here. Anyway, good song.

11. "Back to a Reason" - Hey, it's a lost track from TSO's Beethoven's Last Night! That's what it sounds like. Not a bad thing, I guess. But, damn, this ain't TSO! Still, it's a good song (grumble, grumble).

Poets & Madmen is a concept album, by the way. It wasn't originally intended to be one like DWD and TWOM were. But that's what it ended up becoming. The story is a complex one dealing with suicide, lost souls and tyrants and I won't try to explain it now.

So how did the album work out? Poets & Madmen is both a success and a failure to me. The leap forward I had hoped for did not really happen--though I felt, with Caffery's input in the writing, that it came close. But, at the same time, Poets & Madmen succeeds because, even though the songs have that TSO/TWOM/DWD feel, they are good songs. The songwriting is solid. And isn't that what counts the most? Plus, Caffery's guitar work is fabulous! He makes the album for me! With Caffery's aggressive guitar work, this makes P&M Savatage's heaviest album since Hall of the Mountain King, I have no doubt about that. And Jon Oliva sounds as good as he did on Streets. So even with the negatives, this is still a solid album. I admit, I like The Wake of Magellan and Dead Winter Dead more. But this is far from a bad.

Rating:
8.4
( a good album with some flaws)

The best: "Morphine Child" & "Commissar"!
The worst: Did Savatage really need to combine DWD, TWOM & TSO into one album?
The weird: Some Savatage fans are complaining about P&M because they think it DOES NOT sound like TWOM & DWD!
The rest: The bass is more prominent on P&M than it has been in years!

Review by Joseph White -
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