Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Silver Anniversary Edition, April 21, 2006
So what sets the Silver Anniversary Edition of Savatage's 1983 classic Sirens apart from the earlier Metal Blade release? Both versions had remastered sound as well as bonus material. The earlier Metal Blade disc featured two tracks - Lady in Disguise and the Message. The 2002 Silver Anniversary Edition features three bonus tracks: Target, Living on the Edge of Time, and an untitled track. The untitled track is a laid back acoustic guitar piece, but the others are vintage Savatage, and totally fit the mood of the rest of the album.
Unfortunately the Silver Anniversary Edition does not contain the two bonus tracks from the earlier version, so Savatage completists (like me) need to have each version in their collection.
As an added bonus, the Silver Anniversary Edition features extensive liner notes on the band's early years written by original drummer Steve "Dr. Killdrums" Wacholz. To get the full story you'll have to get the Silver Edition of Dungeons Are Calling as well, but I figure die-hard Savatage fans would plan on buying that one anyway.
The track listing is as follows:
1. Sirens
2. Holocaust
3. I Believe
4. Rage
5. On the Run
6. Twisted Little Sister
7. Living for the Night
8. Scream Murder
9. Out on the Streets
10. Target
11. Living on the Edge of Time
12-98: blank tracks
99. Untitled Track
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Savatage - Sirens, April 24, 2008
I have loved this album since I was a kid. I had the album when it first came out and it had a different cover. I finally found it on CD many years later and was as happy as a kid on Christmas morning. Then, my car was stolen and the CD was in it, so I bought it again. The guitar work is outstandnig and very unique. The drums are cannons and the bass player holds it down. The vocals are awesome as well and fit the band perfectly. So many bands cop different things off other bands, but Savatage has their own style and it's a shame that the guitar player passed away at such an early age in such a tragic way. I strongly recommend this to anyone who digs metal.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Aaah yes, the debut Savataging of the senses, October 16, 2007
With a front cover that proclaims `here be a gothic tinged band' the punter should know what to expect, and if that didn't tell you the Savatage logo and the title Sirens gives you further clues. Savatages' debut album is a fiercely traditional heavy metal experience on a number of levels. These would include the overall gothic overtones of many of the songs such as the title track, the riffage of the guitars and not least the heads down passion of this blast of jagged metal. And it's the passion and the execution that lift these admittedly fairly simple constructs, this just doesn't sound like a debut in that the band seem fully realised, their lyrical ideas already in place and the overall musical attack being quite confident. I think they call it purity of mission.
Originally produced by Dan Johnson the music is allowed to breath as per just about every Savatage release and the band are to be commended for managing to get such an honest and full range sound and it must be said that there are a few studio bells and whistles used here, such as air raid sirens on Holocaust. It's this use of the tools available but not a reliance on them that also marks this band as a mob who had their stuff together right from their first album.
The original release had nine tracks, ending with Out on the Streets (reprised on Fight for the Rock) though the remastered version is out and about, with two extra tracks in Lady in Disguise and The Message. These numbers do fit in with the feel of the album in general though aren't life altering. If you can pick up the remastered version for the same price my advice would be to go for it - I mean you might as well get more bang for your buck right?
This album would probably be good for any student of traditional heavy metal, fans of Judas Priest or Jag Panzer who missed this mob first time around and also power metal fans who prefer vocalists who don't aim for the stratosphere, as Jon Oliva has plenty of timbre to his voice and can do the high pitched thing, but in general prefers a lower register delivery. The riffs are simple but effective and the songs don't outstay their welcome, laying waste to the room and then leaving someone else to clean up the mess!
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