Savatage 2 Disc Anthology

[wayland smithers]

Great to see Savatage is back in some form at least. The tracks picked are good but how in the hell is "Believe" not included???? Paul ONeil and Jon Oliva must have not been involved. Someone dropped the ball big time! And I'm assuming its because "Sirens" and "Dungeons" were on Metal Blade Records, but how do you not include the title track to both albums when your calling the collection "Greatest Hits" anthology?

Here's the press release:
earMusic/Edel Records has set a March 2 European release date for "Still The Orchestra Plays: Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2", the official anthology from the legendary U.S. metal act Savatage. The collection contains remastered classics plus three new, previously unreleased acoustic recordings. The limited edition of the anthology comes with the complete "Japan Live" show from 1994, which appears here for the first time on DVD.
"Still The Orchestra Plays" will be followed by the re-release of Savatage's complete catalog — remastered and featuring bonus tracks as well as newly recorded audio commentary.

"Still The Orchestra Plays: Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2" track listing:
CD1: Greatest Hits Vol.1:
1. Power Of The Night
2. Hall Of The Mountain King
3. 24 Hours Ago
4. Legions
5. Gutter Ballet
6. Summers Rain
7. When The Crowds Are Gone
8. Ghost In The Ruins
9. If I Go Away
10. NYC Don't Mean Nothing
11. Edge Of Thorns
12. All That I Bleed

CD2: Greatest Hits Vol.2:
1. Handful Of Rain
2. Chance
3. One Child
4. I Am
5. Anymore
6. Hourglass
7. The Wake Of Magellan
8. Morphine Child
Bonus tracks (recorded by Jon Oliva in 2009):
9. Anymore (acoustic)
10. Not What You See (acoustic)
11. Out On The Streets (acoustic)

DVD - "Japan Live 94":
1. Taunting Cobras
2. Edge Of Thorns
3. Chance
4. Conversation Piece
5. Nothing Going On
6. He Carves His Stone
7. Jesus Saves
8. Watching You Fall
9. Castles Burning
10. All That I Bleed
11. Stare Into The Sun
12. Damien
13. Handful Of Rain
14. Sirens
15. Gutter Ballet
16. Hall Of The Mountain King

Producer/composer Paul O'Neill, who co-founded Trans-Siberian Orchestra with Savatage mastermind Jon Oliva, told TheNewsStar.com that he and Oliva are working on a Broadway musical called "Gutter Ballet" (also the name of the second record O'Neill did with Savatage) that they hope to get to the stage in the next two years. It's the culmination of a work that O'Neill began in the 1970s. Many of the songs have already had rock versions recorded by Savatage, but will return to their roots for the Broadway show.
"We want to take it back to the original blues, gospel, Motown sound," he said. "For Savatage, you've got to metal it up. Jon and I are kind of psyched to be doing it because Broadway is something we've always wanted to take on."
According to O'Neill, there are also some Savatage projects in the offering, including a possible new album.

 

[Dolamite S. Biffle]

That DVD sounds pretty enticing. I wonder if thats Zak and jon or just Zak singing

 

[J. Golden]

About time the Japan show will be out here.
The rest seems pointless more unreleased stuff would be nice. This should be a nice starting point for those TSO folks that don't know Savatage. That is if they understand who Savatage are, find that it is hard to explain it to some people.
They need to finally but out a DVD collection.

 

[J. Golden]

That DVD sounds pretty enticing. I wonder if thats Zak and jon or just Zak singing

Osn't that the Japan show that has been out on video forever? If so it is Zak sporting a C.O.C t-shirt REPRESENT

 

[MYSTIC1]

Some rare, unreleased bonus tracks would have been nice.....

 

[DTJeff]

That DVD sounds pretty enticing. I wonder if thats Zak and jon or just Zak singing

It's all Zak except for "Gutter Ballet", which the two of them do together. I've had the Japan show on DVD for a couple of years now as a bootleg copy transferred off of the old VHS release. Great concert. I'm excited to get a quality upgrade here.

Also, I'm excited to hear the 3 bonus tracks. I love Jon singing just about anything while playing piano, and particularly enjoyed those acoustic Wake of Magellan bonus tracks, and I figure these will be in that same vein. Could've appreciated some rarer tracks (God damn it, I want a good quality version of Larry Elbows), but I'm not complaining. Also, the remasters could probably do some of the older albums good.

The absence of Sirens, The Dungeons are Calling, and Believe are all a bit strange to me. Especially considering they included "I Am". Aside from those issues though, I gotta say this is pretty much all of my favorite Savatage tracks.

Frankly I'm just happy there's been SOME news. It shows that the band isn't being forgotten about completely. One of the reasons Savatage isn't more popular is because they've been GONE for 7 years. Their CDs are difficult to find in most record shops or moreso chain stores, it's nearly impossible to buy a t-shirt or any merchandise (paid $30+ for a shirt on Ebay, and that's cheaper than what most go for). If the name was actually actively thrown around and the stuff was still in circulation, the name would get around more, and I think they would gain some popularity. Savatage was such an incredible band that any fan of true music should appreciate the living hell out of. It's a crime they are not more popular than they are, but that almost makes the enduring allegiance of their fans that much more special. The title is very fitting, still the orchestra plays. The difference now however is that the fans are keeping the music alive in spirit.

 

[booB]

Good idea, terrible track list. Are they really ignoring 25% of the band's discography completely?

 

[edgeofthorns]

...of course I have all of this already, but I'm glad to see Japan 94' get a proper release. It's a great live show, but I want an honest to god live DVD collection released. Basically, Jon is the one that needs to be in charge of the live DVD collection too.

~Brian~

 

[Cheiron]

Compilations are to exploit the wallets of dedicated fans, or for the person who wants to get into the band. Not putting best songs on a compilation opens the possibilities to put it on future compilations. And yeah, who owns what limits what can be put on.

 

[bwrightson]

I am guessing they left "Believe" off of this since it was used it on the new TSO Night Castle CD.

Bill

 

[Jasonic]

Eh, just another item to add to the "hype" of a Savatage reunion that may or may not ever happen. Aren't they ignoring Dungeons are Calling and Sirens? Maybe it is a licensing issue, as Metal Blade might have exclusive ownership of these.

 

[Sir Exar Kun]

I am guessing they left "Believe" off of this since it was used it on the new TSO Night Castle CD.

That one I kind of understand...... But why was "Jesus Saves" left off???? That used to be played several times daily on Z-Rock! Closest thing I ever heard to a "hit" from them in that era.....

 

[metalmusic]

Good idea, terrible track list. Are they really ignoring 25% of the band's discography completely?

This. That said, I will still pick it up just for the three Oliva acoustic tracks.

 

[eaeolian]

Good idea, terrible track list. Are they really ignoring 25% of the band's discography completely?

Yep. There's one song that doesn't involve O'Neill. Draw your own conclusions.

 

[edgeofthorns]

...this is up for pre-order on Amazon. I wonder which is the best version to have though?

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss?url=search-alias%3Dpopular&field-keywords=Savatage+Still+The+Orchestra+Plays&x=18&y=20

~Brian~