From the Gutter to the Stage: Best of Savatage [Import]

From the Gutter to the Stage: Best of Savatage [Import]

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
Limited edition version of the metal quintet's 'best of' with a four track bonus CD featuring 'Shotgun Innocence', 'Forever After', 'This Is Where You Should Be' & 'D.T. Jesus'. Spanning the years 1981-1995, it features a total of19 tracks, also including 'Sirens' (Live), 'Power Of The Night', 'Hall Of The Mountain King' and 'Gutter Ballet'. Double slimline jewel case. 1996 release on Edel. The full title is 'From The Gutter To The Stage: The Best Of Savatage1981-1995'.

Tracks:

Sirens (Live)
Power Of The Night
Prelude To Madness
Hall Of The Mountain King
24 Hours Ago
Gutter Ballet
When The Crowds Are Gone
Silk And Steel
New York City Don't Mean Nothing
Agony And Ecstasy
Believe
Edge Of Thorns
Chance
Mozart And Madness
One Child

Tracks:

Shotgun Innocence
Forever After
This Is Where You Should Be
D.T. Jesus

Album Description

Limited edition version of the metal quintet's 'best of' with a four track bonus CD featuring 'Shotgun Innocence', 'Forever After', 'This Is Where You Should Be' & 'D.T. Jesus'. Spanning the years 1981-1995, it features a total of19 tracks, also including 'Sirens' (Live), 'Power Of The Night', 'Hall Of The Mountain King' and 'Gutter Ballet'. Double slimline jewel case. 1996 release on Edel. The full title is 'From The Gutter To The Stage: The Best Of Savatage1981-1995'.

Album Details

Best of Savatage 81-95: Includes a CD with Four Bonus Tracks, 24 Page Booklet.

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful Treatment of an incredible Metal Band.......2004-12-07

Savatage breaks the molds of all metal bands. They defy convention, and definition. Another review hits it right on the head. It's hard to put them into any catagory.

Their music is soaring, deep, and very much thought provoking. This album fits their style perfectly, and shows the strength and power of Savatage. A group that has gone through the tragic death of one of the founding brothers, Criss Oliva. There have been many changes of personel, but they still manage to bring out some of the most compelling,deep, complex metal you'll ever have the pleasure of hearing.

There is no yelling, there is no distortion. This is pure metal at its best. This collection takes some of their best songs. Doing this group justice would take a set of at least 4 disks, so having two is very limiting.

Sirens, their fist mega hit, off of the album of the same name.

Prelude to Madness and Hall of the Mountain King are a very successful attempt to put classical music to metal. This is a trend that would led them to create Trans-Siberian Orchestra. This takes a piece orginally done by Greig to soaring metal heights. These two songs belong together because Prelude leads into Hall. It's off of Hall Of the Mountain King album.

Gutter Ballet. This is their first attempt and metal orchestration. You can hear Criss Oliva battling with the Orchestra.

When the Crowds are Gone. their first power ballad. Tells the story of a person who realized, much to their dismay, that their career is likey and it's time to give it up. It's off of the album Gutter Ballet.

Edge Of Thorns, the first song featuring Zak Stevens was the start a milder more mellow Savatage. I like the album, and this song is the Title track.

Chance - Released on "Handful of Rain!" This is the first attempt at counterpoint ever in the history of heavy metal. This showed that they were always breaking new ground with every release. The 5 voices are amazing. This style is done on almost every frequent album that they released.

Mozart and Madness. Off of Dead Winter Dead, a rock opera. This is a full length track which included yet another first. This was recorded with a full orchestra. A relatively new concept which hsa been followed by many groups, including Metallica. No-one, though, has come close to matching the wonderful symetry that is created by Savatage and the orchstra on this piece.

I've been a Savatage fan for over a decade now. I love every single album that they've released. They are a tremendous group that keeps impressing me, and changing their style of play, and the way in which they create their music.

If you can find this one it's a great collection of great songs by an incredible group.

No 'Best of' could do justice for Savatage... but still..........2004-06-26

From the Gutter to the Stage is a double compilation CD comprised of Savatage's songs from 1981 to 1995. That means there are no songs from their last two studio albums The Wake of Magellan (1998) and Poets and Madmen (2001).

I personally don't think it is at all possible to compile any 'best of' albums for bands whose career spans over two decades since I believe these bands go from style to style always growing, improving, maturing and progressing, be it for the better or worse. Well I won't get into any details about the songs here because no matter how I much tried I'd fail to verbalise my feelings about Savatage... my favourite band of all times.

Basically this is a little insight into the progression of Sava's musical style from the early 80's to the mid 90's covering some of the band's major hits including "Sirens", "Hall of the Mountain King" and "Gutter Ballet" with original vocalist Jon Oliva. The songs are listed in chronological order so the change of style is pretty obvious. With the release of Gutter Ballet in 1989, Savatage signalled that they were going to become one of the most progressive bands ever embracing their earlier Beatles, Queen, The Who and Pink Floyd roots and combining them with their own unique form of heavy metal. Second vocalist Zak Stevens is introduced to the listener with "Edge of Thorns" and from here on three meticulously detailed songs off the Dead Winter Dead album follow. With songs like "Chance" and "One Child" the band explores with different vocal harmonies and counterpoint vocals reminiscent of 70's Queen, only fuller and stronger.

15 songs is no where near enough to give anyone a good idea of what Savatage is about, but it's enough to prove that musically and songwriting-wise they are among the most progressive bands in the world. Their use of keyboard and piano intertwined with soaring lead guitar work, fiery rhythmic bass and unpredictable drum work makes them stand head and shoulders above any other band, regardless of their genre.

The best and most appealing thing about this CD, however, is on the second disc featuring the two bonus tracks on the Jap edition of Edge of Thorns. "Shotgun Innocence" and "Forever After" being officially the last two songs recorded by co-founder/guitarist Criss Oliva who was killed in a car accident shortly after the release of this album make this purchase quite worthwhile. Also there is the 1987 HOTMK outtake "This Is Where You Should Be" which is a heart-wrenching love song and "D.T. Jesus" which is basically a different version of the same song on the band's 1991 release Streets. This has got to be one of the most moving vocal deliveries by Jon Oliva ever accompanied by a destroying guitar solo performed by his brother Criss. To this day this remains as one of the most difficult Savatage songs to listen to because of the sheer power and intensity it encompasses.

If you're a die-hard Sava fan, the second CD alone is worth buying this release. However if you're new to the band, I'd much recommend starting out with Streets and Edge of Thorns. Depending on how you enjoy these discs, you can decide where to go. The best way to immerse yourself in Savatage is to give their albums a full listen.

impressive; very 80's sava.......2003-11-29

When I saw this album in a sales bin in Switzerland, I bought it because Dead Winter Dead had made me a Savatage fan. Well, what can I say - I was raised playing classical piano and my musical roots lie more in the purely melodic than in 80's metal, which is what this album mostly contains. Of course, that should not come as a surprise, as this album comprises Savatage's hits from 1981-95. Mine is a two-disk pack, with 5 (I think) bonus songs on the second CD. Quite frankly I prefer the later Savatage stuff along the lines of DWD and TSO, in part because Zak Stevens has, in my opinion, a broader and clearer vocal range. I'm not too much into Jon Oliva's shrieking or rasping. But if you are looking for a collection of Sava's "greatest hits," and are a die-hard fan, then this probably sounds like a lot of nonsense to you. That said, the instrumental pieces are brilliant, especially Criss Oliva's guitar solo "Silk and Steel." Among other songs: Hall of the Mountain King, When the Crowds are Gone, New York City, Believe, Chance, Mozart and Madness, and One Child. It gives an excellent scope of their work and you can really HEAR how their style changes over the years. Let's leave it at that :-)

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