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Savatage - The Best & the Rest Audio CD

A fair review of the Savatage "The Best & the Rest" Audio CD. Please note that the below review is the views of the authors, and authors only. You can get a complete list of all Savatage reviews here, or go back to the Savatage tabs.

Savatage Band: Savatage
Title: The Best & the Rest
Rating:
Release Date: 2004-01-06
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: Gutter Ballet 2: Degrees of Sanity 3: Jesus Saves 4: Edge of Thorns 5: Agony and Ecstasy 6: Chance 7: Complaint in the System 8: Hourglass 9: Voyage 10: Prelude to Madness 11: Hall of the Mountain King 12: This Is the Time (1990) 13: Believe 14: Desiree 15: All That I Breed

Varied single disc collection - 3.5 stars
Given their early face melting metal leanings on such towering classics as Hall of the Mountain King does the compiler of this disc go with their hotshot early years or do they weigh things more towards the later, more intricate and at times no less heavy albums that gave rise to tunes such as Agony and Ecstasy and Paragons of Innocence? Such are the questions any `best of' compiler must face with a band such as Savatage. Given Savatages' lengthy career and sterling metallic romps any attempt to encapsulate their career in a single disc is always going to be difficult.

On this particular collection we get a range of tunes predominantly from the later years. Prelude to Madness and Hall of the Mountain King are both here, of course, but the rest of the album charts the later less successful years of the bands career. Barnstormers like Agony and Ecstasy is a whiplashing meisterwerk and are interesting to listen to next to tunes such as This is the Time and Believe and while I feel that a single disc is totally inadequate to really formulate a true best of, it has to be said that this disc does give the listener a glimpse of the full range of this bands talent right down to including a couple of acoustic piano versions of songs.

Elsewhere we get tasty morsels such as Gutter Ballet and Degrees of Sanity both of which are towering slices of metal. Fans of their earlier material may be inclined to bemoan the fact that there is little of Jon Oliva on this disc and that is a fair enough criticism and such fans may be best directed to purchase an alternate best of collection that came out in '96 entitled From the Gutter to the Stage which gives far more attention to the Oliva years as specifically covers 1981 - 1995.

Outside of purely musical issues, a couple of things to consider with this album are that firstly, it is not arranged in chronological order. So you aren't able to chart the bands progress. Secondly while there is a discography printed on the inside of the rear cover of the booklet, there is no indication in the package as to what songs are from what release which makes it hard to for the newcomer to determine what studio albums to buy if they do really love a couple of the tunes here.

So in summation I feel that this is a disc of very good music. A number of the numbers are very traditional and well played heavy metal while other tracks very eloquently show the bands ability to utilise acoustic formats and the way they were able to make interesting use of vocal harmonies to carve out their own niche. However the simple fact is that this band put out too many good slices of heavy rock music to fit onto one CD. And the space restrictions aren't helped by the length of some of the tunes (eight of the fifteen cuts going over the 5 minute mark, but hey, that's Savatage for you). .


Great... but not for Savatage's follower
Sorry, my poor English's not allow me to write as much as I think, so I better get to the point. I've been a follower of Savatage for 4 years, and I own all the albums from Hall of the Mountain King to The Wake of Magellan (I've also listened to the others that released before 1986 but didn't really like 'em). For you, people who like Progressive Rock or (in this case, as I called) Symphonic Rock, and still don't know Savatage, it's great for you to take this album. It'll give you the taste of Savatage's music. Although the CD misses many many great songs but it'll surely make you never forget this band, not just listening but feeling the music. Great songs in this CD include All That I Bleed, Believe, Gutter Ballet. . . But for you, Savatage's fans, you must agree with me this CD's nothing but a bunch of messing songs. It's really a joke to hear the progression of the music over 12 years rolled up into 1 album (It's called The BEST & the REST, I can't understand why the hell), though.


You can see a complete list of all Savatage discography, or go back to the Savatage tabs. There is also a good guide on how to read guitar tabs here.

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