SAVATAGE — Edge Of Thorns (review)

Album · 1993 · Heavy Metal

4.5/5 · 2011-01-24
Stephen

I just had a spectacular evening after revisiting Savatage's finest moment. With only the intention of some nostalgic spin to listen to the title track and "Sleep", I uncovered a lot of sensational tracks inside which I already forgot since the disc was inside the player probably five or six years ago.

Concentrating to listen to all the guitar works, I also just realized that the death of Criss Oliva is a big loss to the metal community, what an astonishing player and a very diverse and prominent guitarist he was, and he's only 30. The whole album is basically a brilliant crafting of progressive edge, classic heavy metal, and some commercial hard rock touch. With Jon stepping off the lead vocal duty to stay at the background and replaced by Zachary Stevens, it's interesting to see how the new guy perform, which in my opinion, he nailed it well.

Some of my fave tracks inside are the title track which resembles Dream Theater's "Wait For Sleep" piano intro at first before evolving to a chugging rhythm and dense chorus. This is where Criss Oliva came out shining with his remarkable tense solos; "Lights Out", an uptempo heavy metal with Skid Row-esque attitude; "Follow Me", a superb hard rock based track with another monstrous guitar delivery; "Conversation Piece" is heavy yet slightly commercial, a balance track; "All That I Bleed" and "Sleep" are simply genius, huge ballad that helped boosting their name to the sky. Some other good tracks are "He Carves His Stone" and "Damien", and perhaps only "Skraggy's Tomb" and "Miles Away" are decent.

"Edge of Thorns" is Savatage's top hill, their ultimate achievement, and if anyone ever want to start listening to their catalogue, this one is definitely should be their number one pick before wandering to the prior releases. So long Criss, thanks for the great music, and yes, after that spectacular evening, I'll make a promise to my own that this disc undoubtedly deserved a more frequent spin later on.

more than 2 years ago
Permalink
Report #231108

Share this review

Review Comments

Post a public comment below | Send private message to the reviewer

Please login to post a shout

Stephen wrote:

more than 2 years ago

hi Pelata, great comment there, and you should write your own review to this great album as well. Many songs are wonderful !

Pelata wrote:

more than 2 years ago

All things considered, this is my favorite Savatage album. Zakk Stevens has never sounded better, Criss Oliva's playing is amazing and the songs are just top shelf!

Of all the Sava-records with Zakk, this one finds him letting loose (or being allowed to let loose) a little more. The subsequent albums, IMO, find him a bit more controlled (sounds like he's got the O'Neill bit in his mouth)...it sounds like he's being made to conform to a more rigid, theatrical performance than being allowed to let loose and let the Metal flow.

To this day, I think "Miles Away" and "Edge Of Thorns" are two of the best songs Savatage ever did.