Savatage: Sirens (1983)
By the time I was old enough to dig for “precious metals” in record stores, Florida’s Savatage had embarked on the cheesy portion of their career, characterized by watered-down LPs like Power of the Night (‘85) and Fight for the Rock (‘86).
So I never considered buying the group’s ‘83 debut, Sirens -- not least because the reissues I was seeing had replaced the very classy, “schooner in the mist” cover art with some pointy-eared scamps, also seen on the cover of Michael de Larrabeiti’s fantasy novel, The Borribles Go for Broke.
But I was quick to order a copy of this year’s deluxe, criminally overdue vinyl reissue, which helped me realize that, despite their wholly independent status, Savatage was much more confident and accomplished than many other American metal bands making waves as the 1980s got under way.
And with good reason, since brothers Jon (vocals, keyboards) and Criss Oliva (guitar) had sold their souls to heavy metal way back in the late ‘70s (initially as Avatar), before recruiting bassist Keith Collins and drummer Steve Wacholz to complete their initial recording line-up.
By the time they secured some funding from independent Par Records, based in their hometown of Tampa, Florida, Savatage had an album’s worth of originals ready to record at Morrisound Studios, years before it became the fulcrum of the death metal universe.
Of course, Savatage were channeling an earlier generation of heavy metal influences (Sabbath, Priest, Maiden, even Rush!), and doing them quite proud on stellar fare like “Holocaust,” “Living for the Night,” “Scream Murder” (what a cool-ass bass line), and the all-time-classic title track.
But the band could also do Motörhead-inspired speed metal, and did on “Rage” and the breathtaking second half of “I Believe,” as well as down-the-middle hard rock with “On the Run,” “Twisted Little Sister” (the Olivas must have liked Dee Snider’s bunch) and closing power ballad “Out on the Streets.”
Honestly, based on the evidence at hand (Jon’s gravelly melodies and signature shrieks were fully developed, Criss was already a world-class shredder) and the fledgling state of the American heavy metal scene back in 1983, Savatage seemed as well-equipped as any rising band to win BIG in the still young decade.
But when ensuing trends wound up favoring either Sunset Strip hair metal (on the commercial end) or Bay Area thrash (on the underground end), Savatage somehow struggled to find their foothold, just like Seattle’s Queensrÿche, New York’s Virgin Steele, Denver’s Jag Panzer, and fellow Floridians Crimson Glory.
This, my friends, is how an album as precocious and impressive as Sirens ends up totally ignored by a 15-year-old who lived and breathed heavy metal, as I did in 1985 (not yet in ‘83), but was focused on Metallica, Anthrax, and Slayer, instead.
More Savatage: Hall of the Mountain King, Gutter Ballet, Streets: A Rock Opera.
