Still The Orchestra Plays [Import]

Savatage | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 30, 2010)
• Original Release Date: 2010
• Number of Discs: 3
• Format: Import
• Label: earMUSIC
• ASIN: B0030Y10QQ
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,698 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. Power Of The Night - Savatage

2. Hall Of The Mountain King - Savatage

3. 24 Hours Ago - Savatage

4. Legions - Savatage

5. Gutter Ballet - Savatage

6. Summers Rain - Savatage

See all 12 tracks on this disc

Disc: 2

1. Handful Of Rain

2. Chance

3. One Child

4. I Am

5. Anymore

6. Hourglass

See all 11 tracks on this disc

Disc: 3

1. Taunting Cobras-Live DVD Japan 84

2. Edge Of Thorne-Live DVD Japan 84

3. Chance-Live DVD Japan 84

4. Conversation Piece-Live DVD Japan 84

5. Nothing Going On-Live DVD Japan 84

6. He Carves His Stone-Live DVD Japan 84

See all 16 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Limited three disc (two CDs + PAL/Region 2 DVD) edition includes bonus DVD that features Japan Live _E4. 2010 collection from the Metal legends including three new acoustic versions as performed by Jon Oliva. Still The Orchestra Plays: Greatest Hits Vol. 1 + 2 includes digitally remastered milestones like 'Hall Of The Mountain King', 'Edge Of Thorns', 'Wake Of Magellan' and 'Gutter Ballet'. 24 tracks total including acoustic versions of 'Anymore', 'Not What You See' and 'Out In The Streets'. Earmusic.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Only essential if you need the DVD..., April 1, 2010

By 

Murat Batmaz (Istanbul, Turkey) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Still The Orchestra Plays (Audio CD)

Savatage is one of those bands to which no best-of compilation can do justice. Each period, from the band's early era to their encounter with Paul O'Neill during their mid era where they produced their absolute masterpieces (Gutter Ballet - Streets - Edge of Thorns) to their more progressive and symphonic stuff, is vastly different and should be listened to in its entirity. It is virtually impossible to cover the Savatage sound in a double CD.

Therefore, this compilation is primarily recommended only to die-hard fans and completists. I doubt even they would actually prefer to listen to Still the Orchestra Plays, though. Listening to only two or three songs from an album is far from leaving a huge effect, especially if said songs are from concept albums such as Streets, Dead Winter Dead, The Wake of Magellan, or Poets & Madmen (which is represented with just one song -- blasphemy!).

When the band released the compilation From the Gutter to the Stage in 1995, they included some bonus material, of which "This Is Where You Should Be" and the acoustic version of "D.T. Jesus" were absolutely mindblowing. Still the Orchestra Plays also contains three bonus tunes: acoustic versions of "Anymore", "Not What You See", and "Out on the Streets". All of them were recorded in 2009 by Jon Oliva. I remember reading somewhere that Jon also plays the guitar on the songs, but the booklet won't confirm me. The songs sound okay, but nowhere near as powerful as the original versions, especially "Not What You See". I was looking forward to hearing this one in an acoustic setting and Jon's unique singing, but it sounds totally uninspired and it seems like they were recorded because they had to be recorded as bonus material for a compilation.

My point is get this package if you want to have a DVD copy of the band's Live in Japan disc (recorded at a club in Kawasaki on 11/12/1994). This has already been available on VHS tape for years, but having it on DVD is still great. For those of you who haven't heard/watched this show, the lineup consists of Zak Stevens on vocals, Alex Skolnick on lead guitars, Johnny Lee Middleton on bass, Jeff Plate on drums, and Jon Oliva on keys. Given that this album came out shortly after Handful of Rain, the first album without Criss Oliva on lead guitars, it mostly contains songs off of this record to accommodate Skolnick's style of playing. Exceptions are songs like "Edge of Thorns", "Damian", and "Jesus Saves", but I've always felt the lead guitars on "Edge of Thorns" sound quite different even though I love Skolnick as a guitar player. Also, while Zak Stevens is an absolutely perfect singer, he doesn't capture the same intensity on the Jon Oliva pieces. Oliva also does some vocals at the end of the show, sharing vocals with Zak on "Gutter Ballet" and wrapping things up with "Hall of the Mountain King".

This is a digipack -- I've always favoured jewel cases, so I can't say I am thrilled by that. Also, there is nothing special in the booklet: no liner notes, no new pictures, or anything. The booklet contains lyrics and credits, and the cover art looks rather rushed compared to the band's studio releases. At least the SPV reissues that came out a few years ago had great liner notes, explaining the songs and how they were written and recorded. This one pales in comparison to it. The songs are arguably remastered, but Savatage has always been one of the greatest produced bands on the planet, so the original songs sounded perfect already. Maybe the ones on this compilation are slightly "louder" but honestly who cares about the loudness war?

Bottom line is get this if you want to have the DVD. For the music, go to their studio albums.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars To Remind people that Savatage are still Alive!, April 11, 2010

By 

Baha Amro (Jordan) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Still The Orchestra Plays (Audio CD)

This is a nice collection of Savatage songs and the DVD live from Japan with 3 Acoustic bonuses in which Jon Oliva sings and they are nicely done by the Mountain king.

Savatage is an under-rated band that had no luck in the sales and radio but musically we all admit that they are one of the best IF NOT even better than most of the well known bands.

On the other hand, Trans-siberian Orchestra arises from Savatage and hits the market and the Billboards.

This collection can be used as an introduction to a non-Savatage fan to know the band and to a TSO fan who is interested in Savatage to know what he/she was missing from the origin of TSO.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Kind of a let-down for me., May 1, 2010

By 

J. Robin Silver (Asheville, NC) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Still The Orchestra Plays (Audio CD)

I got into Savatage in the early days, and followed them through all their changes. I was glad to read that this was coming out, but when I got it, I'd hoped it would have been better.

I NEVER buy best of compilations. I only bought this for the DVD. However, I thought the song selection was a pretty fair one. I know some folks would rather it include this or that - But if you're a fan of the band, you most likely have all the CD's anyway. (That's why I never buy best of discs)

The three acoustic songs Jon did for this release aren't all that. He's so talented - In my opinion, it's effortless for him to sit down on any afternoon and bang out some old songs acoustically. I guess this is more of a personal thing for me. Because as much as I love all Jon's music, I get really tired of the piano & acoustic-laden ballads. I'd rather have more heavy rock. After all, isn't that what built their legions of Savafans?

It's nice to finally have the Japan show on DVD now. The video quality is good. Better than some other tape transfers I've seen. But the audio transfer to the DVD is terrible. The sound quality is muffled. Not crisp & clear. I've had the Live In Japan CD for years. It's from the same show (minus a few tracks) but sounds much better. I just don't understand why they didn't do a better job of mastering it. After seeing/hearing remastered footage of Led Zep from back in the 60's, and AC/DC from the early 70's, I know it must be possible.