Artist: Savatage
Label: Metal Blade/Spybat
Release Date: 1985
Rating: 3 Skulls
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Title: Sirens Artist: Savatage Label: Metal Blade/Spybat Release Date: 1985
Rating: 3 Skulls |
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Reviewed by Solomon:
Sirens marks the debut of a band that are practically a metal institution. Savatage have carved their own little niche in the metal marketplace over the last couple of decades, starting out as a fairly straight-forward power metal band and heading into more "progressive" pastures as time went on. Not that Sirens is altogether "typical" for the time. Jon Oliva's distinctive operatic shrieks and smoker's rasp, along with brother Criss' characteristic blues-tinged, VI-VII-I metal crunch is introduced here and carried through on later albums. Even if the band never made serious headway into the mainstream, they have stuck it out through thick and thin, even weathering Criss Oliva's untimely death in 1993 to become a solid, veteran act. Sirens represents a band that never embraced the L.A. glam rock of Motley Crue and Ratt and avoided the chaotic tendencies of the San Francisco Bay Area thrash scene. Even if Florida is better known for death metal and alligators, Tampa's Savatage have eked out a career that has stood the ravages of an ever-changing musical climate.The horn and piano passages of other choice albums like Gutter Ballet and Streets had not found their way onto Sirens at that point, but the basic 'Tage template was laid out. Jon's unmistakable vocal slant and the band's edgy, straight-forward metal plodding that had graced future albums are present and accounted for. The dark dirge of opener "Sirens" and the groovy stomp of "On The Run" are favorites of mine. "Holocaust" has an appealing, winding guitar weave going through it, but beyond a few cuts, Sirens leaves me feeling a bit flat, especially in view of the band's later output. This is not a totally negative point, as it's better to say the band improved upon itself rather than failed to live up to past glories. This is almost cheating, but the 1994 re-release includes two tracks that should have made the original cut. "Lady In Disguise" is a moodier, more interesting "ballad" contribution than "Out On The Streets." "The Message" is an excellent melodic rocker that really gives the album a boost.
I'd plug in Hall of the Mountain King or Streets before this one, but Sirens is a decent introduction to a classic band that has stood the test of time.
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