Customer Reviews

Poets & Madmen

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I am shocked at how many negative reviews there are on this album. I almost have to wonder if someone doesn't hold a grudge against Savatage and is fabricating all these critical comments of an album that is first-rate. But even the Amazon.com "Editorial" review throws out false accusations of this album being a "tight metal funnel that squeezes much of the joy out of the proceedings". I don't know what this guy was smoking (or not smoking as the case may be), but he couldn't be any further off-base.

Folks, this album is an incredibly complex arrangement of crunching guitar riffs, dancing keyboards, and vocal melodies that range from haunting to downright angry. Of course, due to its complexity, it takes a few listens at high volume before you actually start grasping how much is going on with this masterpiece. I am assuming that the negative reviews of this album come from people who failed to give this disc the few extra spins necessary, and not from people whose heads are so far in their holes that all they can hear is their hollow heartbeat.

While touting itself as a concept album (which its not), this album in less like Dead Winter Dead and Wake of Magellan than it is to Mountain King and Gutter Ballet, although the songwriting is much more mature and production is excellent. This album delivers hard and heavy in the 80's style of grooving riffs, hooks, and melodies. I love all Savatage, but when I have the irresistable urge to let my hair fly and strain my neck muscles, this is the first disc to land in my CD tray.

Poets and Madmen is not speed metal, or thrash metal or any of the other sub-category of the genre. It is just straightforward heavy metal, well-written, well-produced, and well-played...at least in my hallowed halls.

With their latest concept album, "Savatage" again approaches a socially conscious subject, but this one is done in a more unusual manner. The "story within the story" centers on a Pulitzer Prize winning photographer and a photo he took of a four-year-old girl in the Sudan. Her family was caught up in a man-made famine and they were walking 30 miles to a feeding station. During the journey, all her family members have died and she struggles through the last miles alone. When the child reaches the feeding station she's told the food is gone. Exhausted and alone the girl collapses in a squatting fetal position, a vulture sitting beside her waiting for her to die. This is the photo that won the Pulitzer Prize, but it slowly drove the photographer into the depths of depression, contemplating suicide and landing him in a mental institution. This is where the actual story begins.

Three teens break into what is supposed to be an abandoned and haunted mental institution, but find they are not alone. They see a figure in the corridor ahead of them and follow it to a closed and locked steel door after the figure steals the jacket of the teen with the car keys and his cigarettes and lighter. When they reach the door they find the jacket neatly folded outside with the keys, lighter and box of cigarettes with one missing from the pack. They can see the figure through the window in the door holding the unlit cigarette. The owner of the smokes slides his lighter under the door, the figure lights the cigarette and slides the lighter back. This is when the teens see a chart beside the door and discover the history of the photographer inside the room. You'll have to buy the album to see how the story comes out!

Anyone familiar with Savatage and their concept albums is already aware that these albums tell a story. The lyrics and music portray different parts of the story and liner notes become a very important part of the listening process. As the story advances, narration not on the album is printed between the lyrics to the songs and the combination carry the story line.

This album relies heavily on guitar work that is really outstanding. Although guitarist Al Pitrelli has since left to join Megadeth, he was still with the band when the album was recorded. The dual guitars of Pitrelli and Chris Caffrey drive this album from beginning to end. Jon Oliva, founder of "Savatage," carries the vocals on this album.

There is a very definite ominous sound to most of the songs on the album, and you can totally picture this abandoned building in the middle of nowhere haunted by the ghosts of its former inhabitants. Then there's the one that seems to have been left behind. . . I can't stress enough how much the guitars set the atmosphere, but there are also outstanding keyboards, bass, drums and vocals to support them.

Most of the album is very hard rock/metal, but the softer songs make even more of an impression because of this. The trademark "Savatage" vocals in "round-robin" presentation (each vocal starts with a certain lyric and tone and is then overlaid with a new lyric and tone 3 more times) is SO impressive. Hearing all these different melody/lyric lines happening at the same time with none of them getting screwed up is nothing short of fantastic.

The progression in intracacy from the first "Savatage" concept album "Streets," through "Dead Winter Dead" and "Wake Of Magellen" becomes even more apparent on "Poets And Madmen." This band has been around for a long time, but each new album seems to outdo the previous ones. I highly recommend this album to any music lover. There is so much diversity in instrumentals, vocals and lyrics it's impressive even if the genre isn't your favorite type.

What a shock Savatage has realesed another great album. Zak's gone but Jon is back with a vengence. His vocals are crisp and the best they've sounded since Streets. The drumming is great as usual and both Chris and Jonny are playing great. The storyline is one of their best yet, and the music tells the story very well though it takes a few spins to get a good understanding. This album could be seperated into two acts, before and after Morphine Child since it's witht hat song the album changes target. I saw the band last night. They had to be seen to beleive. The new guy's are great. The new vocalist fits the style perfectly and is a wildman on stage. He does the Zak songs perectly and a pretty good job on "The Mountain King"'s as well. Buy this album see it performed live and you'll see the show of your life.

The many bad reviews on this site made me not want to buy this album at all. Only seeing it used on Amazon, and reading several other really good reviews convinced me to order this. At first I wasn't impressed, but then, it blew me away. Actually every Savatage album since Gutter Ballet, except Handful of Rain, has blown me away (Handful of Rain was good, don't get me wrong, it just didn't have as big of an effect on me). Jon Oliva is back on vocals, and he does a pretty good job. He uses only a growl; no high screams of the earlier albums. While he sounds pretty good, there are some parts that really make me miss Zak Stevens, and Oliva sounds strained in some parts. Al Pitrelli is gone at this point to Megadeth, although he plays some guitar solos (for a full list of solos Pitrelli did on the album, check out the FAQ on Savatage's website), Chris Caffery takes over in the writing process, cowriting nine of the songs. For the solos, Caffery uses Al Pitrelli's Les Paul, so there's only a subtle difference in the playing. This is a concept album, although much more loosely based on the story in the liner notes than Savatage's previous two albums.

1. Stay With Me Awhile 9/10- Good song to kick off the album. I love that guitar interlude in the middle.
2. There in the Silence 9.5/10- Starts off with an eerie synth melody. Probably has Caffery's best guitar work of the whole album even though it doesn't have a solo per say; there are a number of parts with no singing that Caffery fills with incredible and catchy, crunchy guitar riffs and runs.
3. Commissar 10/10- Starts out with trademark piano licks but is really unlike anything Savatage has done before. Features IMO the only successful usage of Oliva's rap-singing and a 3 (!) part guitar solo in the end. For those who are curious it goes Pitrelli/Caffery/Pitrelli.
4. I Seek Power 9.5/10- I love the harmonic guitar leads in the verses, but Oliva sounds strained in the chorus. The guitar solo starts out great but is too short.
5. Drive 5/10- Unlike anything Savatage has done before, but this experiment was a partial failure. Not really bad, just not that good.
6. Morphine Child 10/10- Progressive metal fans will love this 10:00+ song. Great intro and riff as well as a fantastic solo in the middle. Savatage uses the layered vocals similar to Zak Stevens only instead of Stevens they use a choir made of the entire band, Paul O'Neill, and a couple of others that I can't remember.
7. Rumor 10/10- Another song that is like nothing I have heard Savatage do before. It is half acoustic guitar based folk and half heavy metal. Pitrelli does the solo and leads in this one, but Caffery is the star once again with a several great riffs. The lyrics here are the best I've heard from Savatage since "St. Patrick's."
8. Man In The Mirror 10/10- Oliva sounds great here during the quieter parts, he's actually singing instead of yelling. The lyrics fall prey to some cliches, but for the most part, this is a great song.
9. Surrender 8/10- Good guitar work in the first part, but the ending is what hurts this song, especially with the piano-saturated part where Oliva repeats "See the show!"
10. Awaken 5/10- Weakest song on the album, comes close to filler.
11. Back To Reason 7/10- Decent song, but I was hoping Savatage had finally ditched their ending ballad formula after I heard "Hourglass," but I was wrong. If you like Savatage's earlier ballads (Alone You Breathe, Believe), you'll love this one.
12. Shotgun Innocence 7.5/10- Decent song from the Edge of Thorns era, with Chris Oliva on guitar and Zak Stevens on vocals. If you like nostalgia, you'll love this song just for the fact that it has those previous two people playing, although the song itself isn't anything great.

I'm tired of bands that were popular in the 20th Century releasing albums in the 21st Century saying that it's a "back to the roots" album, especially when its not. This is not "back to the roots." It's heavier and more riff-based, but it's closer to "Wake of Magellan" than "Hall of the Mountain King."
Contrary to what many people say, this is one of Savatage's better albums. It is more consistant than "Wake of Magellan" and has more lasting power than "Dead Winter Dead." I can't say that this is their best ever, although I'm not 100% sure why. Zak's departure has a part in that, plus there's a noticable lack in extended solos, and Al Pitrelli IMO is a critical aspect of the band's sound, his guitar has the best sound of any guitarist in the history of rock/metal (except maybe Slash). Still, if you can find it, this is a great album. Highly Recommended.
P.S. Chris Caffery is more talented than you might have originally thought. His work here shows it, but also look to his solo album and his stunning work with Doctor Butcher.

I've long had mixed views on Savatage, especially on their post-"Hall of the Mountain King" era. Starting with "Gutter Ballet," they wrote some great songs, but they also went soft, really playing pomp rock rather than metal. The prominence of the piano did not bother me - I enjoy it in bands like Psychotic Waltz, Angel Dust, and Even Song - but I objected to the Elton-John-cum-Andrew-Lloyd-Webber way Savatage made use of it. Granted, Savatage's songwriting started to mature with "Dead Winter Dead," and "Poets and Madmen" represents the culmination of this process. And it doesn't hurt that it's their heaviest album since "Hall of the Mountain King"!

"Poets and Madmen" continues Savatage's long tradition of concept albums with powerful story lines. In contrast to an album like "Streets," however, Savatage are content here to let the story carry its own weight rather than trying to bring it continually to the forefront of the listener's consciousness through musical artifice.

Instrumentally, the album features a heavier guitar sound, as mentioned, along with perhaps a greater emphasis on synthesizers rather than just piano than in the past. Also, Jon has taken over on vocals completely, and Zak Stevens has left the band. I preferred Zak slightly, but Jon does a great job. Structurally, the album is Savatage's most progressive, with rather complex and dynamic meters in songs such as "Commissar," "Man in the Mirror," and "Awaken."

Suckers for concept albums - you know who you are! - will be proclaiming this the album of the year. I prefer Opeth so far, but I will say that "Poets and Madmen" has made me a Savatage fan again. Privately, I sometimes think it's their best album yet. But don't tell anyone I said that.

I actually have the Limited Edition that was released in Europe because I got tired of waiting for the stateside release. I'm sorry that I waited as long as I did to purchase this. I've been a Savatage fan since the release of Hall of the Mountain King, which is still my favorite my Savatage. These guys continue to put out consistently good Heavy Metal. For those young guys who have never heard Savatage, this is actually a good place to start no matter what the other people say, who have reviewed this album. I would have to rank this as one of the five best Savatage albums ever. The songs, Commissar, Drive and Man in the Mirror are certainly classics that deserve proud mention amongst the likes of Hall of the Mountain King, Sirens, and Gutter Ballet. The rest of the album is very worth a listen. It comprises a very good contrast of older Sav (Hall of the Mountain King and Streets) to the newer stuff (Handful of Rain and Dead Winter Dead). A very good release for a band that has not gotten the respect that they are very much overdue for. Buy this CD today.

Poets & Madmen rocks way harder than WAKE OF MAGELLAN, the only shame is this album is sans Zak Stevens, which would have been the real basis for the title poets & madmen, which would feature both Zak and Jon on vocals, each vocal style mixing superbly. But you gotta work with what you got, and there's no one I'd rather have here than Jon. The songs kick serious @$$ Especially on "Awaken" and "Surrender" you can tell this is definately a more guitar rock oriented album than before. Serious power on display. Not as catchy as EDGE OF THORNS or POWER OF THE NIGHT, it makes up for grooves in power and just plain awesome guitar solos from Al Pitrelli? Is that him I think it is but Chris Caffery as well. Man I can't tell you how much I love Savatage. This is a great album and belongs in CD trays across the World! WARNING: For this album to be effective it must be played at full volume.

The popularity of allegory faded near the end of the 1970s. Unfortunately, this approach in rock n' roll has to remain tight and fluid otherwise the ideas and music suffer as result. Four songs truly shine and reveal the Savatage from Handful of Rain and Streets--two albums that perhaps the band will never equal again in their career (though true fans hope they some day will).
"Commisar," "Morphine Child," "The Rumor" and "Back to a Reason" all equate the band with those two concept albums that are probably the benchmark gold within their entire discography. These songs seem to me the best examples of songs that shine in true Savatage measure. The narrative that frames the story told through the songs is just as interesting and bold as those globally consciuos and political/spiritual-protest LPs such as Dead Winter Dead, Streets and The Wake of Magellon. You have to honor this spirit and read the lyrics which have always been intelligent, restrained and adequately posed within their given contexts. Changes in the band's lineup have created changes in the sound.
This reviewer remains partial to the one of Handful of Rain and although that lineup will probably never coelesce again, I cannot help compare every album since to that nearly perfect album. Three stars for Poets and Madmen, not because of what the album doesn't achieve--for the way specific songs remind me of a moment when everything was tight and something deeper and magical filled the music with a sound I haven't heard since. I still listen...

First I would like to say that I am a HUGE Savatage fan. They are one of my favorite bands ever. I saw them first on the Streets tour and they won me over back then. Since then they have amazed me with deep, paralyzing lyrics and awesome musical prowess. Now with only pieces of the band left standing, Jon Olivia takes over again as the voice of the band. And although he sounds good on some tunes, the departure of Zac and Al really has a bearing on this record. Zac was supposed to sing half the songs (they even dumped two songs cause Jon could not sing them properly)... Thus Poet (Zac) and Madman (Jon)...

Now I thought the last few albums from Savatage were artistic strokes in a desolate, depraved music scene. The new album to me sounds more like Sirens than the new material. There are many bright spots and I do believe it is an album worth purchasing but it is definitely a step backwards in time. If you are a big fan of early Savatage I think you will appreciate this disk. If you are into the layered, structured sounds of Handful, DWD, or Wake I think you will be a bit disappointed. The lyrics and content are not as complete as previous efforts.

Another note I just saw them live for this tour and they have added a new guitarist and new lead singer to replace Zac and Al.. This is the 3rd time I have seen them and it was a bit disappointing. They sounded OK --- but in the past they were tighter, had better harmonies, and could sing the 5 part vocals better. The band can't keep replacing key members and maintain their excellence. It just was not the same. Savatage still rule but the new direction is a bit disappointing and I am sure they are as disappointed in the departures as we the fans are.

Great CD. You won't be disappointed. SEE THEM LIVE is all I can say. You will forever be a Savatage fan!

Saw them in Detroit at the Emerald. Ungodly. They were tight, the new guitarist and singer were dead on, as well as the rest of the band, for every song. The came out afterwards (by the bus) and signed autographs and chatted with the fans for at least 30 or 40 minutes (I had to leave, so don't know how long after that they stayed).

These guys are a class act. Jon Oliva is BRILLIANT. All of them appreciate their fans unlike most band that have been around over a decade.

I really liked the 'operetic' quality of Dead Winter Dead and Wake of Magellan. I didn't hear alot of that in this record except for Morphine Child (my favorite song on the disc). There a couple slow tunes, some fast tunes. Awaken heartens back to the old, old Savatage days! Sounded great live by the way.

Jon's vocals are better than I've ever heard them.

You must buy this!