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Poets & Madmen

Savatage - Poets & Madmen Audio CD

A fair review of the Savatage "Poets & Madmen" 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.

Band: Savatage
Title: Poets & Madmen
Rating:

Release Date: 2001-04-17
Media: Audio CD

Tracks: 1: There In The Silence 2: Commissar 3: I Seek Power. I Seek Power 4: Drive 5: Morphine Child 6: Rumor, The 7: Man In The Mirror 8: Surrender 9: Awaken 10: Back To Reason

Well I didn't like it at first, but...
" This is clearly not what I heard, partially because it was Jon Olivia as opposed to Zak Stevens, and partially because it was a much darker album in general. When I first listened to this album, I expected more of the same along the lines of "Dead Winter Dead" and "Wake of Magellan. So, at the time, I rarely listened to this album at all, and pretty much hated it. Now, however, I have gotten used to it and have found some songs I really like on it (Morphine Child, Back to a Reason, Man in the Mirror, Surrender). It's still not my favorite Savatage album, but I enjoy listening to it now. So, if you listen to this once and hate it, give it another chance, and you may like it.

Savatage - Sinks While TSO Soars
After putting out two really incredible albums "Dead Winter Dead" and "In The Wake Of Magellan" I found "Poets" to be a bit of a letdown. "Poets" would be another elaborate concept album for Savatage. The band is cut down to a four piece on this one with the departure of vocalist Zach Stevens and guitarist Al Pitrelli. Chris Caffery is still able to fill the guitar slot admirably, but Jon Oliva is left to handle all of the lead vocal duties. Although this is like a step back in time for older Savatage fans, I always thought Oliva's voice was the band's Achilles heel back in the pre- Zach Stevens days, and the lack of Stevens voice hurts the band on this one. The album is definitely rawer in feel and for the most part heavier than the Stevens erea discs that came before it. Some will like this direction and some will not. For all of its faults the album does contain some outstanding individual tunes. The 10 minute "Morphine Child" is the highlight of the album with "Commissar", "There In The Silence", and "Man In The Mirror" all great ones as well. The final track "Back To Reason" is another good one that has also been recorded by Savatage's alter ego Trans Siberian Orchestra. I have always found it interesting that as TSO the Savatage guys are able to play huge arenas while at the same time as Savatage they were playing small clubs to a couple of hundred people on the "Poets" tour. Savatage has seemingly ceased to exist after this album (although TSO is still going strong). Here's hoping that Oliva and the rest of the band will get it together again for another go round.

Not The Bands Best. But Still Good
Espcially since I had heard that Jon Oliva was doing all the vocal work and I've always been more into his voice than Zac Stevens (I do love his too). As a long time fan of Savatage I was excited to hear this album.
However that turns out to be where the true downside of this album is.
You see it can easily be heard(I've checked into this too) that the song's were not wrote for Jon's voice. So it doesn't work as well as it could have if Zac had done it.

The songs are solid and catchy. There's plenty of emotion.
Plus this looks to be the last true savatage album.

.

Goin' out with a whimper rather than a bang
It certainly doesn't sound like anybody had fun or that there was any sense of mission here. Jon Oliva has publicly dissed this album, admitting how difficult a process it was to make. Another somewhat bodgy concept upon which to hang another bunch of sub standard Sava tunes and no real reason to exist. Prominent faults with this release can be summarised as follows;

- the above mentioned sub standard concept/story for this album
- middling songs, all again produced to Paul O'Neill. There just aren't the songs here. Commissar tries and I Seek Power rises above the murk but the whole feel of the album is encapsulated by the cover art; dank and heavy of eyelid with an unfinished feel. In a way it feels like a piece of impressionist art - like a third rate metal band trying to write a Savatage album.
- The lack of a band feeling; it's sort of like a Jon Oliva solo album in that while we still get the joy of having Caffery, Middleton and Plate in the band there just isn't a guitar god to throw in some licks to add bite. Al Pitrelli is on here but not enough to really stamp himself onto the finished product.

Long time fans such as myself will find a few things here of worth. But no way would I recommend this album to the newcomer to this band. Nor to anyone I wanted to convert to the cause of heavy music. It still rates two stars though. Hey, it's Savatage. . . . Whaddya want?.

Actually, It's Not That Bad
Only seeing it used on Amazon, and reading several other really good reviews convinced me to order this. The many bad reviews on this site made me not want to buy this album at all. At first I wasn't impressed, but then, it blew me away. Actually every Savatage album since Gutter Ballet, except Handful of Rain, has blown me away (Handful of Rain was good, don't get me wrong, it just didn't have as big of an effect on me). Jon Oliva is back on vocals, and he does a pretty good job. He uses only a growl; no high screams of the earlier albums. While he sounds pretty good, there are some parts that really make me miss Zak Stevens, and Oliva sounds strained in some parts. Al Pitrelli is gone at this point to Megadeth, although he plays some guitar solos (for a full list of solos Pitrelli did on the album, check out the FAQ on Savatage's website), Chris Caffery takes over in the writing process, cowriting nine of the songs. For the solos, Caffery uses Al Pitrelli's Les Paul, so there's only a subtle difference in the playing. This is a concept album, although much more loosely based on the story in the liner notes than Savatage's previous two albums.

1. Stay With Me Awhile 9/10- Good song to kick off the album. I love that guitar interlude in the middle.
2. There in the Silence 9. 5/10- Starts off with an eerie synth melody. Probably has Caffery's best guitar work of the whole album even though it doesn't have a solo per say; there are a number of parts with no singing that Caffery fills with incredible and catchy, crunchy guitar riffs and runs.
3. Commissar 10/10- Starts out with trademark piano licks but is really unlike anything Savatage has done before. Features IMO the only successful usage of Oliva's rap-singing and a 3 (!) part guitar solo in the end. For those who are curious it goes Pitrelli/Caffery/Pitrelli.
4. I Seek Power 9. 5/10- I love the harmonic guitar leads in the verses, but Oliva sounds strained in the chorus. The guitar solo starts out great but is too short.
5. Drive 5/10- Unlike anything Savatage has done before, but this experiment was a partial failure. Not really bad, just not that good.
6. Morphine Child 10/10- Progressive metal fans will love this 10:00+ song. Great intro and riff as well as a fantastic solo in the middle. Savatage uses the layered vocals similar to Zak Stevens only instead of Stevens they use a choir made of the entire band, Paul O'Neill, and a couple of others that I can't remember.
7. Rumor 10/10- Another song that is like nothing I have heard Savatage do before. It is half acoustic guitar based folk and half heavy metal. Pitrelli does the solo and leads in this one, but Caffery is the star once again with a several great riffs. The lyrics here are the best I've heard from Savatage since "St. Patrick's. "
8. Man In The Mirror 10/10- Oliva sounds great here during the quieter parts, he's actually singing instead of yelling. The lyrics fall prey to some cliches, but for the most part, this is a great song.
9. Surrender 8/10- Good guitar work in the first part, but the ending is what hurts this song, especially with the piano-saturated part where Oliva repeats "See the show!"
10. Awaken 5/10- Weakest song on the album, comes close to filler.
11. Back To Reason 7/10- Decent song, but I was hoping Savatage had finally ditched their ending ballad formula after I heard "Hourglass," but I was wrong. If you like Savatage's earlier ballads (Alone You Breathe, Believe), you'll love this one.
12. Shotgun Innocence 7. 5/10- Decent song from the Edge of Thorns era, with Chris Oliva on guitar and Zak Stevens on vocals. If you like nostalgia, you'll love this song just for the fact that it has those previous two people playing, although the song itself isn't anything great.

I'm tired of bands that were popular in the 20th Century releasing albums in the 21st Century saying that it's a "back to the roots" album, especially when its not. This is not "back to the roots. " It's heavier and more riff-based, but it's closer to "Wake of Magellan" than "Hall of the Mountain King. "
Contrary to what many people say, this is one of Savatage's better albums. It is more consistant than "Wake of Magellan" and has more lasting power than "Dead Winter Dead. " I can't say that this is their best ever, although I'm not 100% sure why. Zak's departure has a part in that, plus there's a noticable lack in extended solos, and Al Pitrelli IMO is a critical aspect of the band's sound, his guitar has the best sound of any guitarist in the history of rock/metal (except maybe Slash). Still, if you can find it, this is a great album. Highly Recommended.
P. S. Chris Caffery is more talented than you might have originally thought. His work here shows it, but also look to his solo album and his stunning work with Doctor Butcher.

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.