Part 11 – There are wounds that bleed inside us...
Released September 15, 1997 (Europe, Japan)
April 7, 1998 (U.S.)
Genre Progressive metal, Symphonic metal, Power metal
Length 60:06
Label Atlantic
Producer Paul O'Neill
Tracklist:
1. "The Ocean" (Instrumental) Jon Oliva, Paul O'Neill 1:33
2. "Welcome" Jon Oliva, Paul O'Neill 2:11
3. "Turns to Me" Paul O'Neill, Jon Oliva, Al Pitrelli 6:01
4. "Morning Sun" Jon Oliva, Paul O'Neill, Chris Caffery 5:49
5. "Another Way" Paul O'Neill, Jon Oliva, Al Pitrelli 4:35
6. "Blackjack Guillotine" Jon Oliva, Paul O'Neill, Chris Caffery 4:33
7. "Paragons of Innocence" Jon Oliva, Paul O'Neill 5:33
8. "Complaint in the System (Veronica Guerin)" Jon Oliva, Paul O'Neill 2:37
9. "Underture" (Instrumental) Jon Oliva, Paul O'Neill 3:52
10. "The Wake of Magellan" Jon Oliva, Paul O'Neill, Chris Caffery, Johnny Lee Middleton 6:10
11. "Anymore" Jon Oliva, Paul O'Neill 5:16
12. "The Storm" (Instrumental) Jon Oliva, Paul O'Neill 3:45
13. "The Hourglass" Paul O'Neill, Jon Oliva, Al Pitrelli 8:05
All lyrics and poetry by Paul O'Neill
Band Lineup:
Zachary Stevens – lead vocals
Jon Oliva – lead vocals (featured on "Another Way" and "Paragons of Innocence"), keyboards
Chris Caffery – guitars, backing vocals
Al Pitrelli – guitars, backing vocals
Johnny Lee Middleton – bass guitar, backing vocals
Jeff Plate – drums
In the aftermath of
Dead Winter Dead, Savatage found themselves in a very odd position. Overseas, particularly in Europe, their popularity had grown by leaps and bounds, and the band was rapidly becoming one of the most highly respected metal acts among the global metal community. Conversely, their success in America had been middling at best, due to the vicissitudes of popular taste in the States and the inability of the band to capitalize on “Christmas Eve Sarajevo (12/24)” as a hit single in 1995. Savatage's lack of success in their home country was offset somewhat by using “Christmas Eve Sarajevo (12/24)” to launch a new side project, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, in 1996, with the debut album eventually going triple platinum in the USA alone. This success, however, had largely come at the expense of supporting Savatage in the States. Not only would “Christmas Eve Sarajevo (12/24)” become more strongly associated with TSO then Savatage, thus depriving the band of one of their biggest radio hits, but Savatage had neglected to tour America in order to record TSO's first album. With TSO selling millions of records, and with a Savatage song no less, it seemed the band's days as Savatage were numbered.
Despite all this, Jon and Paul had no intention of laying Savatage to rest. TSO was as of yet a studio only project, and a seasonal one at that. There was no guarantee that anyone would be interested in seeing TSO perform live, or hearing anything other than Christmas music from the group. Above all else, there was no way of knowing how long the success of “Christmas Eve Sarajevo (12/24)” would last; the song could ultimately prove to be a fluke; TSO could be a one-hit-wonder. If Savatage had been mothballed in 1997 and TSO had failed, the band would have been left with no alternative. At least for the moment, it appeared prudent to keep Savatage active, and continue to support the band's budding popularity worldwide. This decision was questioned by many, including the label heads at Atlantic, who were impatient for TSO's follow-up record, and eagerly wanted that project's momentum to continue. Oliva and O'Neill would find their relationship with Atlantic increasingly strained as the label proved reluctant to allocate further resources to Savatage when the promise of a new TSO album loomed on the horizon.
For the album that was to follow
Dead Winter Dead, the band elected to remain within much the same musical territory they had established on the previous record. The new album would be another sweeping rock opera, with complex vocal arrangements and majestic orchestration throughout. Paul O'Neill had written another concept, this time about a Spanish sailor reflecting upon a rough lifetime at sea. The concept would cover a wide range of themes such as life and death and the moral choices one is forced to make in extreme situations, and would be based in part on real life events such as the Maresk Dubai incident. The story for the new record was exceedingly intricate and convoluted, so much so that none of the actual band members proved capable of providing an adequate summary.
Musically, the album that became
The Wake of Magellan would not deviate far from the style of
Dead Winter Dead. In fact, the only significant difference between the two would be an overall warmer tone for
The Wake of Magellan, as opposed the appropriate coolness of
Dead Winter Dead, and a somewhat more guitar-oriented sound. On the whole, however, the similarities between the two far outweighed the differences.
The Wake of Magellan could in many ways be considered a musical counterpart to
Dead Winter Dead, occupying the same musical ground, but offering it's own distinct flavour and perspective on the rock opera format. The album's overall structure closely followed that of the previous album, and the record that became
The Wake of Magellan was in many ways the twin of
Dead Winter Dead. The homogeneity between
Dead Winter Dead and
The Wake of Magellan was doubtlessly in part a result of the fact that, for the first time since
The Dungeons are Calling, a Savatage record would feature the same line-up, producer, and record label as it's predecessor, thus providing Savatage at long last with a degree of stability.
A perfect example of this “same, but different” approach is apparent in the album's first three tracks. The opener, “The Ocean”, starts with the gentle sound of waves to set the mood before being joined by a delicate piano melody and, eventually, a driving guitar, bass and drum rhythm. This ethereal introductory track is a stark contrast to the bombastic “Overture” from the previous album. While
The Wake of Magellan opens on a comparatively mellow note, the bombast is brought forth on the second track, “Welcome”, this album's equivalent of the storyteller's introduction “Sarajevo” from
Dead Winter Dead. Whereas “Sarajevo” had been the softer track on
Dead Winter Dead, “Welcome” is grand and epic, with big power chords and choral vocals fronted by Zak's majestic leads. And while the first proper song from
Dead Winter Dead, “This is the Time (1990)”, had been a ballad, the first proper song on
The Wake of Magellan is an upbeat symphonic rocker. “Turns To Me” starts out softly enough, but before long it explodes into an orchestral metal onslaught. Zak beautifully segues from the heavier to lighter parts of the song with a deft grace while the band drives the listener forward with intense riffage. The melding of rock guitars and orchestra is very regal as Savatage approaches their symphonic metal transcendence.
The next track, “Morning Sun”, alternates between a relaxed, laid back acoustic guitar melody with Zak gently crooning overhead for the verses, and a hard hitting, metal assault for the chorus. Incredibly catchy, “Morning Sun” is easily one of the album's more memorable tracks, the juxtaposing of lighter and heaver parts never jarring, but expertly woven together to form a cohesive whole. The ultra-symphonic metal chords that underlay the guitar solo section add a considerable amount of regal power, the enormous sound that Savatage had so perfected on the last album very much utilized here, and with great effect. As with
Dead Winter Dead, the first half of
The Wake of Magellan features two tracks sung by Jon Oliva. The first, “Another Way”, is one of the albums more metal songs, with an intricate riff and some rather aggressive vocal work by the Mountain King himself, and also adds some old school Hammond organ to Savatage's distinctive flavour of symphonic metal.
The album's ballsier section continues on full tilt on the following track, “Blackjack Guillotine”. Sung by Zak, “Blackjack Guillotine” is in many ways a musical continuation of “Another Way”. A mean riff accompanied by epic orchestration serves as a bed for some of Zak's most aggressive vocals as he delivers a broadside of rapid-fire lyricism. The track's highlight, however, is the complete shredfest that makes up it's rideout, with Caffery and Pitrelli splitting guitar duties on a fast riff and some virtuosic soloing. A swinging piano leads into a groovy bass and guitar riff for the next track “Paragons of Innocence”. The second track fronted by Jon Oliva on
The Wake of Magellan, “Paragons of Innocence” utilizes a considerable degree of Jon's vocal prowess. The Mountain King slides back and forth between Alice Cooper-esque smoother parts in the lower registers, and some rather aggressive metal sections that allow Jon to really bring forth the spit and grit of his metal side, particularly in the rapidly repeating lines of the middle section, with Jon Oliva proving just how well his vocal stamina has recovered since the
Streets era. One odd little curiosity on the album is a new piano driven section that fades out this track. Sounding like the beginning of an entirely new song, the brief melody merely serves as the coda of “Paragons of Innocence” and closes out the first half of the album.
At the midway point in the record, some rather atonal piano introduces the listener to one of the more unique Savatage songs. “Complaint in the System (Veronica Guerin)”. With its offbeat riffage, Zak's near rapping vocals and some very strange mechanical effects, this is easily one of the more bizarre songs in the Savatage discography. The song is oddly catchy, but far from everyone's taste. Impressively for a band who throughout their careers broke down many musical barriers, “Complaint in the System (Veronica Guerin)” could very well be the most experimental thing Savatage have ever done. Whether or not the experienced Savatage fan will like it is another matter entirely.
Far more traditional is the instrumental on the record, “Underture”. Beginning with some signature Jon Oliva piano set to the sounds of ocean waves,
The Wake of Magellan's equivalent of “Mozart and Madness” soon gives way to epic symphonic metal. The rising and falling of the guitars and orchestra very much mimics the roiling of the seas as metal band and orchestra play back and forth in a musical storm. The track serves and an introduction to one of the standout songs on the album, the title track. Over a very groovy syncopated bass and drum beat, Zak delivers some of Paul's most poignant lyricism with a majestic grace. After the second regal chorus, the song explodes into one of Savatage's best post-Criss Oliva solo sections, the interplay between Caffery, Pitrelli and orchestra full of all the pomp and bombast Savatage can muster. The third chorus to “The Wake of Magellan” sets up the album's first counterpoint vocal section. The sheer density of lyricism here is mind-boggling, made all the more impressive the breathtaking amount of vocal lines layered one atop the other in a massive wall of sound. Certainly one of the record's most memorable tracks, “The Wake of Magellan” would go on to become the album's signature song, and would remain a fixture of Savatage setlists in their twilight years. It has remained a constant in the setlists for Zak Steven's Circle II Circle ever since.
Thus far,
The Wake of Magellan has proven to be much more of a metal album then its ballad heavy predecessor. In the aftermath of the epic title track, Savatage brings forth the records’, first, and only, ballad. “Anymore” provides the listener a moment to take a break from the bombast, although the song still has all the Broadway pomp one has come to expect from Savatage by this point, and is very reminiscent of a TSO track. “Anymore” picks up a bit toward the end, reprising some of the grandiose symphonic metal melodies from “Underture” before quietly drawing to a conclusion. “Anymore” is followed by the album's third instrumental, and one of Savatage's best. Filling the daunting shoes of the legendary “Christmas Eve Sarajevo (12/24)”, “The Storm” quite respectably rises to the challenge. One of the most emotional instrumentals of the band's career, “The Strom” sees Pitrelli cutting loose with some of the best shred to be found on a later era Savatage album.
At long last, the album reaches the grand finale. Clocking in a eight minutes in length, “The Hourglass” is by far the most epic track Savatage had made up to 1997. The band throws in all they have into this one track, and every trick Savatage has up their sleeves is brought to bear in “The Hourglass”. The vocals and orchestration is this song are by far the most ambitious Savatage have attempted to date, and proves just how much the band can accomplish with an only six member band. Once again a broadside of vocal cannons are laid upon the listener as Savatage rises to giddy heights of Broadway-tinged symphonic metal rock opera magnificence. The song builds and builds to it's inevitable, majestic climax before ending on a softer note, Zak's gentle vocals and Jon's delicate piano closing out Savatage's eleventh album in understated style.
Of interest to the hardcore Savatage fans is the track “Voyage”. An acoustic guitar instrumental somewhat similar to “Silk and Steel”, it was written by Al Pitrelli during
The Wake of Magellan era, but was unused on the album, finally appearing on the Japanese compilation
The Best and the Rest. Masterfully crafted, the track would have served as a nice post script to The Wake of Magellan had it been included on the album proper.
Savatage opted not to record a music video for
The Wake of Magellan, making it the first album since the band had joined forces with Paul O'Neill back in 1987 to not be promoted by an accompanying video. This decision was most likely made due to the difficulties Savatage had experienced in getting MTM to play the videos for “Handful of Rain” and “One Child”. “Turns to Me” was ultimately selected as the lead single to promote the album, but the days of Savatage music videos had apparently reached their end.
Even moreso then
Dead Winter Dead, The Wake of Magellan would draw a great dividing line through the Savatage fanbase. For the band's younger and more progressively inclined fans, as well as their European and other audiences overseas,
The Wake of Magellan would mark an apotheosis for Savatage as their popularity soared to unimaginable heights and the band could now command the respect reserved for heavy metal's most elite. But for Savatage's older and more metal fans,
The Wake of Magellan would be the last straw. Their patience stretched to the limit by rock operas and symphonic dabblings, the metal purists among the Savatage faithful had finally reached their breaking point. Savatage had grown so far beyond their roots, they were now completely unrecognizable. The band found themselves in the uncomfortable position of have to choose between whether to cater to their older, more metal oriented fans or their newer fans of symphonic metal opera.
Nowhere was this problem more pronounced then in America, where
The Wake of Magellan had failed to make even the modest impact of
Dead Winter Dead. The record's miserable performance in their home country was in part a result of the band having neglected the American market during the
Dead Winter Dead tour, in part a result of Atlantic's loss of interest in Savatage in the wake of TSO's success, in part a result of
The Wake of Magellan's American release being pushed back a full seven months after its initial debut in Japan (with many American fans opting to buy the import rather than wait for a domestic release), and in part a result of the division between the older and newer fans. Savatage now found themselves in a most precarious position. Their overseas support was strong, but their domestic fanbase was wavering, and their fans have become sharply divided. And all the while, the greater success of TSO beckoned...
The Wake of Magellan would be the final Savatage album released by Atlantic Records. With Savatage struggling in America while TSO was selling millions, the label proved unwilling to provide the new album with the adequate amount of promotional support as they waited for the second TSO record. This state of affairs particularly upset Jon Oliva, who expressed his displeasure at the lack of effort Atlantic had put into promoting the record. While Savatage technically owed one more album to Atlantic on their ten record deal, the band was able to negotiate a release from their contract on the condition that Atlantic keep TSO. For their twelfth record, Savatage would be seeking greener pastures elsewhere.
While doing promotional interviews for
The Wake of Magellan, the band was asked what fans could expect of Savatage in the future. Jon Oliva and Chris Caffery replied that Savatage was content with their current musical direction and lineup, and that fans could expect more rock operas, more dual vocals, and more symphonic instrumentals on the next album. After years of constant stylistic evolutions and rotating lineups, Savatage finally appeared to have reached a state of stability. But appearances were deceptive. The stability the band had enjoyed in the mid and late 1990's was not to last. As TSO jumped from strength to strength with each successive album, Savatage was about to undergo a new round of roster changes which would fatally undermine the band's sense of camaraderie. Consequently, the musical blueprint established on
Dead Winter Dead and
The Wake of Magellan that had proven so popular with overseas fans could not be maintained. The next album, while not a complete departure from previous records, would nevertheless deviate quite far from what fans had come to expect of Savatage by 2001, and the process of making the album would prove the band’s greatest trial since
Handful of Rain. When the dust had cleared, Jon Oliva would be left exhausted and disillusioned, and ready to leave Savatage limbo for over a decade as he rediscovered himself as a songwriter under his own name...
Topic: The Savatage Discography - Result and cause... (Read 37350 times)
