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The Wake of Magellan

1). The Ocean 1:33
2). Welcome 2:11
3). Turns to Me 6:01
4). Morning Sun 5:49
5). Another Way 4:35
6). Blackjack Guillotine 4:33
7). Paragons of Innocence 5:33
8). Complaint In the System 2:37
(Veronica Guerin)
9). Underture 3:52
10). The Wake of Magellan 6:10
11). Anymore 5:16
12). The Storm 3:45
13). The Hourglass 8:05
14.) Somewhere In Time/Alone You Breathe + 4:37
15.) Sleep + 4:16
16.) Stay + 2:48

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The Opening

I have been a Savatage fan for a couple of years now.  I was first hooked on "Dead Winter Dead"  thanks to the Sarajevo Christmas tune being played somewhere?  I remembering hearing it and I was completely hooked.   As time passed I acquired more of their albums and then got a real good feel for the band.  "The Wake of Magellan" happens to be the last one I purchased and is the one I listen to more than any of the others currently.  Why?  well I'll get to that a little later.  To give a good description of what this release sounds like, its a mature disc.  The story, the music, the lyrics, everything has this mature sound to it.  A group of very talented musicians, getting together to record a very in depth a polished disc.  Savatage isn't a progressive metal band, nor or they really power metal, but have qualities of both subgenres.  They are a little of both, with some rock opera mixed in, all presented in a broadway-ish form.   Everything on this album could easily be made into a great broadway show...and has that beyond metal feel to it.  Whether this will appeal to the die hard speed power fans or not, or the prog fans that MUST have their token 20 minute keyboard soloing epic, remains to be seen. 

Everyone does their job very well, there's no denying the genius of this band.  You have Zak Stevens doing most of the main vocals, he has a very powerful voice capable of so much and he appeals to the metal mainstream, hitting all the high notes and also doing a nice growl now and then.  Jon Oliva is a genius, and one of the founders of this band, he plays the keyboards and also does lead vocals on a few songs, he has a very metal growling voice, that can be aggressive or inspiring.  The talent of this man as a musician is amazing.  Al Pitrelli and Chris Caffery are awesome guitarists, playing what each song needs with accuracy and emotion, helping weave this tapestry of music.   Johnny Lee Middleton is their quite capable bass player and Jeff Plate is pounding the skins.  A very formidable team.  Paul O'Neill is worth mentioning because of the fact he writes all the lyrics and poetry and most of the music.  But the formula they have going here is wonderful, and this band as a team is unstoppable, playing their own form of metal, grand, huge and epic.  Some of the songs need time to get used to and others are instant, get up and grab you classics, but more on that shortly.....

The Songs



This cd has been out awhile, those that wanted it, already have it, I don't think there are too many still wondering whether they should get it or not, so I'll lightly touch on the classics......all songs are Zak on vox unless stated otherwise

The Ocean-Welcome......these two tracks open up the disc and set the stage for the story.  The first song is a short instrumental passage giving you a feel of what is to come, the quiet and the turbulance and the depth in the future, the second is a welcoming into the disc.
Turns To Me......the first true sone and one of my favorites.  Slick and Savatage-y, its one of my favorites and just explodes right off the cd. 
Morning Sun......this song tricks you into thinking its going to be an acoustic
Another Way......hehehe,  yeah I love this song.  Its gritty and classic Jon Oliva.  He really puts that rough punch into it, and his vocals are so endearing.   Just trust me, this thing is so catchy it took me right offguard.  The use of violin in this song is exceptional, and the guitar just cranks and adds so much to it.  This might be one of their best in many years.
Blackjack Guillotine......continuing with that delightfully gritty sound, BG opens up and never lets go.  With some rushed vocals fitting into this awesome rhythm, you cant go wrong.  It sounds so awesome.  Definitely heavy metal. 
Paragons of Innocence.......I think the band decided to get all the really good gritty headbanging real metal songs out of the way at one time, because this is three in a row.  And all of them are purely awesome and some of my favorite Savatage tracks.  Listen to them all at once, they will give you a very warm fuzzy Sava feeling .  Check out the awesome vocal passage, the highlight of the song, and right in the center, Jon says "Got it let" a dozen times in a row at least without taking a breath, wow, makes me breathless just hearing it. 
Complaint In the System.......more straightfoward Sava metal, except with "Gotta complaint in the system" repeated over and over at times, kind of annoying but the stop start herky jerky guitar riffs are neat and overall it has a nice metallic sound.
Underture.......a Sava instrumental, in all its grandness.   The guitar is nice big and beautiful, and this song kind of pathes the way from the more harder hitting songs to the Sava goes broadway material.
The Wake of Magellan....... the first real epic this disc sees.   Even though it only clocks in at over 6 minutes it still makes its mark and paints the scene even wider with some beautiful lyrics and a show of really great bass runs that allows the more ominous and lighter parts shine through, kind of like the lull in the crashing waves of the ocean itself. The end is too awesome with the multilayers of Zak vocals pouring in, two or three different lyrical passages repeated over and over building and building with the chanting of "don't hear it don't hear it don't hear it" to end in its own explosion of "they whisper and I" and then calmness......beautiful.
Anymore.......a ballad of grandness, with the light and shade expected in a Savaballad these days.  Its beauty is inspiring and huge, toying with emotions.  Its more of a reflection into the blind faith and innocence of youth compared to the inner searchings of adulthood.  Of course I could be wrong, but songs have different meanings to everyone.  I find it to be very inspirational and beautiful. 
The Storm.......is one of my all time favorite Savatage instrumentals, what makes it different is the way its laid out, like a gentle ocean being attacked and the crashing waves from the lightning strikes of the storm brewing on the horizon and ultimately taking over and tossing the seas around.  Yes it manages to capture all of this within its musical boundaries.   The guitar playing is top notch. 
The Hourglass.......the cool multilayers of vocals are repeated in this song, slightly differently but it kind of took away that unique magic that the title track had, but since this song is here to wrap up the storyline its forgiven.  As with the other songs, it has a huge epic grand gigantic bombastic totally huge quality. 
Somewhere In Time/Alone You Breathe......I didn't know Jon Oliva could sing this.....well, he just sounds so pretty.  Gentle and gorgeous, his voice and the piano, delivering a very heartfelt version of this 90s Savatage classic tune.  This is a sing a long acoustic track in its finest form, only comparable to...
Sleep.......when this song was released on Edge of Thorns, it was stripped as it was, mostly acoustic guitar and Zak's pretty vocals, and this song is just that, except with Jon Oliva on vocals and keyboards, and that's it...another of my favorites, and also one of three bonus tracks for the US release only, the other two being the Alone you Breathe and the next one...
Stay.......soft and acoustic, more Jon vocals, which I love.   A nice soft ending to this great cd. 

In Conclusion


To sum everything up, this disc is one of the best of the year, and in my opinion one of the greatest accomplishments in this band's career, I was on a Savatage high when I originally acquired it I dont think they could have released anything BAD in my eyes at the time, but even now, going back and experiencing it all again, I can't see or hear many flaws.  Except that I think some of the poetry helping detail the story, would have made some really great lyrics.  But how can you find fault in that?  My only complaint is that its too short, but clocking in at over 70 minutes including bonus tracks, how can you get too upset over the length, the answer is, you can't!  So no matter how you see it, this is yet another classic, that will get pretty high markings from me, because well, I love it.  Its hard to get inspired to review something that's just pure crap because its tough just thinking about having to listen to it again.   Get it, you'll like it.  End of story!
Savatage
Production Songs Lyrics Performance Overall
9.6 9.4 9.6 9.7 9.6
1