Once again, my brother is the Savatage collector in the family; for a long time all I owned was "Sirens/The Dungeons Are Calling", but then suddenly I filled up my collection in one fell swoop. :) (Except Fight for the Rock, their weakest Oliva-era album, and of course everything after Streets, where the band hired a shitty lead singer and hasn't been worth crap since.)

"Sirens/The Dungeons Are Calling"

1. "Sirens" (3:40)
2. "Holocaust" (4:36)
3. "I Believe" (5:28)
4. "Rage" (2:40)
5. "On the Run" (3:31)
6. "Twisted Little Sister" (3:38)
7. "Living for the Night" (3:20)
8. "Scream Murder" (3:50)
9. "Out on the Streets" (5:11)
10. "The Dungeons Are Calling" (4:53)
11. "By the Grace of the Witch" (3:14)
12. "Visions" (3:02)
13. "Midas Knight" (4:23)
14. "City Beneath the Surface" (5:51)
15. "The Whip" (3:27)

I was PISSED when my friend got a CD that contained The Dungeons Are Calling and Sirens on a single CD, so I held out a long time to find that compilation (both CDs were in print, but why pay twice as much?) Then, I found out that both had bonus tracks on them (at least Sirens did) -- but guess what, they SUCK! Finally, I found the 2-in-1 CD, to keep the classic shit and dispose of the trash.

Sirens (tracks 1-9) is easily the band's best work ever, especially "Twisted Little Sister" and "I Believe". Dungeons (tracks 10-15) is great as well, and also the only album with pseudo-Satanic overtones (though I don't know how seriously you can take a song that starts with, "HI! Welcome to hell!")

"Power of the Night" (import w/bonus track)

1. "Power of the Night" (5:14)
2. "Unusual" (4:27)
3. "Warriors" (4:03)
4. "Necrophilia" (3:36)
5. "Washed Out" (2:15)
6. "Hard for Love" (3:59)
7. "Fountain of Youth" (4:30)
8. "Skull Session" (3:21)
9. "Stuck on You" (3:09)
10. "In the Dream" (4:16)
11. "Sleep" (4:16)

No more songs about sirens and dungeons, as the guys from 'Tage put forth this stripped-down offering of straightforward power metal. Good stuff all around, even the flirtation with hair-metal on "Hard for Love". This import contains an "accoustic" bonus track -- yep, that's how they spelled it. Geez.

The title track was covered by Tad Morose on A Black Mark Tribute.

"Fight for the Rock"

1. "Fight for the Rock" (3:57)
2. "Out on the Streets" (3:59)
3. "Crying for Love" (3:24)
4. "Day after Day" (3:40)
5. "The Edge of Midnight" (4:48)
6. "Hyde" (3:56)
7. "Lady in Disguise" (3:20)
8. "She's Only Rock 'n Roll" (3:24)
9. "Wishing Well" (3:21)
10. "Red Light Paradise" (4:00)

Ok, the record company is totally to blame for this one. Determined to make a "hit" album, Atlantic decided that the band should record an album of cheesy midtempo power rock tunes, cheesy ballads, and a couple cover songs. Why do greedy record companies do this? It never works. The title track is a decent number, but the other rock tunes are completely generic and have no power whatsoever; as for the ballads, there's a lame rerecording of "Out on the Streets" and an even lamer cover of Badfinger's "Day After Day" (the original is quite good, though,) They rock a bit harder on Free's "Wishing Well", but it still sucks. Surprisingly, "Lady in Disguise" was a bonus track on the reissue of Sirens, but this one's a TOTALLY different song, and actually quite good! Still, overall, this CD is a collection-filler, nothing more.

"Hall of the Mountain King"

1. "24 Hrs. Ago" (4:55)
2. "Beyond the Doors of the Dark" (5:08)
3. "Legions" (4:50)
4. "Strange Wings" (3:45)
5. "Prelude to Madness"--instrumental (3:13)
6. "Hall of the Mountain King" (5:33)
7. "The Price You Pay" (3:51)
8. "White Witch" (3:21)
9. "Last Dawn"--instrumental (1:08)
10. "Devastation" (3:37)

Ah, their Dungeons & Dragons masterpiece. :) The quintessential Savatage album, serving up thick, juicy servings of fantasy-tinged power metal. This one got them onto eMpTv's Headbanger's Ball which is where I heard "Strange Wings" for the first time. "Prelude to Madness" is adapted from Grieg's "Hall of the Mountain King" (surprise, surprise) -- easily the most ripped-off classical movement ever.

"Gutter Ballet"

1. "Of Rage and War" (4:46)
2. "Gutter Ballet" (6:20)
3. "Temptation Revelation"--instrumental (2:56)
4. "When the Crowds Are Gone" (5:46)
5. "Silk and Steel"--instrumental (2:58)
6. "She's in Love" (3:51)
7. "Hounds" (6:28)
8. "The Unholy" (4:37)
9. "Mentally Yours" (5:20)
10. "Summer's Rain" (4:33)
11. "Thorazine Shuffle" (4:43)

The band's first attempt at progressive metal, this one's a little hard to swallow at first (which is probably why I sold it the first time...) Some interesting songs, but on the whole it sounds like the band is still honing out its new sound. Still not my favorite.

"Streets: A Rock Opera"

1. "Streets" (6:50)
2. "Jesus Saves" (5:13)
3. "Tonight He Grins Again" (3:29)
4. "Strange Reality" (4:58)
5. "A Little Too Far" (3:26)
6. "You're Alive" (1:51)
7. "Sammy and Tex" (3:08)
8. "St. Patrick's" (4:18)
9. "Can You Hear Me Now" (5:11)
10. "New York City Don't Mean Nothing" (4:02)
11. "Ghost in the Ruins" (5:33)
12. "If I Go Away" (5:17)
13. "Agony and Ecstasy" (3:34)
14. "Heal my Soul" (2:36)
15. "Somewhere in Time" (3:17)
16. "Believe" (5:42)

The last album to feature Jon Oliva on vocals (and therefore the last REAL Savatage CD, in my opinion!) This concept album is simply awesome; the story involves some homeless guy named "D.T. Jesus" who becomes a rock star, then becomes homeless again (or something like that...once again, I'm too lazy to read the lyrics to see what's really going on.) Some incredible tunes here, with wonderful hooks in the songs "Strange Reality", "You're Alive", and "Agony and Ecstasy". Perhaps too many slow songs, but it's a "rock opera", what else did you expect?? Easily the best CD of the Oliva era, and one I was damn lucky to get for a mere $3.99 (and I almost passed it up, too...that would have been a GRIEVOUS error on my part...)

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