Question about Savatage - Handful of Rain or Wake of Magellan?

[Black Winter Day]

Damond Jiniya? Any good? Have you seen that Jon Oliva is touring on his own this year? Does he have solo material, or is it all Savatage songs?

Al Pitrelli is fine, and I'm glad he wasn't asked back into Megadeth. Poland is much better suited for that.

Damond is a fairly young dude with an excellent range... his voice suits sava perfectly (markgugs can probably find you some live bootlegs with him singing) -- probably better than zak stevens.

i don't know what is the deal with jon. i know he is working on a solo album, though.


and PLEASE tell me that you have Edge of Thorns. if you don't, tell me anyway.

 

[JayKeeley]

and PLEASE tell me that you have Edge of Thorns. if you don't, tell me anyway.

I do have it. I'm one of the few who couldn't easily accept Zak's vocals after Jon, and so my interest in Savatage started to fade. I just don't think EoT is as good as, say, Gutter Ballet or HotMK.

I've been on a Sava/Skolnick kick lately so that's why I'm picking up the 'oldies' that I missed first time round.

Funny thing is, I think Poets & Madmen is my least fave Savatage album (from those that I've heard) and it had Jon back at the helm - go figure.

 

[Black Winter Day]

POETS AND MADMEN is my least favorite as well... but it was a rush deal. al pitrelli was supposed to play on it but left for megadeth. zak was supposed to compliment jon on vocals but left the band to have a kid.

my personal favorite early savatage album is THE DUNGEONS ARE CALLING. every note of it is pure gold. thanks for reminding me, i think i will listen to it when i get back to my room. for a while there it was in my top 5 albums of all time...

AHH-AHH!!!! MIDAS KNIGHT!!!

 

[Papa Josh]

Actually, both Pitrelli and Caffrey played the guitars on Poets & Madmen. That's the same duo currently live as well. Saw them on the Poets tour with Caffrey and Jack Frost taking Pitrelli's place. Damond was with 'em. "Edge Of Thorns" was better than the original and I like that album.

He is a great frontman, much, much better than Stevens, who I also enjoy, especially on the Circle II Circle material.

 

[Black Winter Day]

i think al played on 1-2 songs from P&M... nothing more than a guest appearance

 

[JayKeeley]

Handful of Rain showed up today. Wow, so different from previous releases isn't it? The songs are a lot more simplistic (straight to the point), and there's a much darker vibe to it compared to, say, Gutter Ballet or even EoT. I'm not sure what to think of it right now, although Zak Stevens' vocals aren't bothering me as much as they used to which is a relief.

I would have thought that Skolnick might have brought that heavier element to it, but it seems like Oliva and O'Neil wrote all the songs anyway. I'm sure Jon was still grieving for his brother when he penned these.

 

[Black Winter Day]

wait until you hear "alone you breathe"!

 

[JayKeeley]

wait until you hear "alone you breathe"!

After one listen, this is the best song on the album IMO. I thought Skolnick's solo on "The Ballad" was heartwrenching, but this blows it away. Fuck it, I paid $1.85 for this CD, and that song alone is worth the 185 cents.

Savatage are at their best when they do songs like this, and "When the Crowds are Gone".

 

[Black Winter Day]

yeah but "chance", "castles burning" and such are excellent songs as well