[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7gwr81g5gA[/youtube]
Metal Insider contributor Anthony Maisano is listening to a different metal album that was released on that day every day this year. 29 years ago today, Jon and Criss Oliva brought us Savatage’s second album, Power of the Night.
This is, what I consider to be tied for the worst Savatage album while Criss Oliva was still alive. The other of which is the critically hated Fight for the Rock. It’s a shame, too, because Savatage’s debut, Sirens, as well as their follow-up EP The Dungeons Are Calling are just awesome. This is their second full-length album, and it pales horribly in comparison to the full length and EP that came before it. For the good, Jon Oliva sounds great on the album, and it has a great, pounding energy to it. “Washed Out,” while being the shortest track on the album, is also easily the best in my opinion. The riff is simple, but kicks ass, and Jon Oliva has some pissed off vocals to boot. It’s just a shame that, at barely over two minutes long, the song ends before it even really gets off the ground. Criss Oliva, in general, is an extremely underrated guitarist, and his lead parts are always killer.
This is just an incredibly mediocre release. Once again, it’s an album where, I don’t really have too much that is outright awful about the album, but it’s such a bland release. It’s so boring, both compared to what came before it, and what would come after it (though, they’d need one more awful album before they got back on track with a great one.) In general, Savatage has so many more generally interesting releases.
Favorite Tracks: “Washed Out,” “Fountain of Youth,” “Unusual.”
This isn’t really a Savatage album that is a necessity for people to listen to. It’s not a downright bad album, but it’s certainly one of the more mediocre albums of their discography while Criss Oliva was alive. I could recommend almost any album from this era of Savatage, only hesitating on Fight for the Rock, over this album. It might be worth listening to, especially if you enjoy the Savatage sound in general, but I’d recommend listening to other great Savatage albums before this one.
