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Edguy - The Savage Poetry review



Reviewer:
7.0

240 users:
7.95
Band: Edguy
Album: The Savage Poetry
Release date: June 2000


01. Hallowed
02. Misguiding Your Life
03. Keys To My Fate
04. Sands Of Time
05. Sacred Hell
06. Eyes Of The Tyrant
07. Frozen Candles
08. Roses To Noone
09. Power And Majesty

After the release of "Theater Of Salvation", Edguy's main man Tobias Sammet was working hard on his side-project Avantasia. In the meantime, he had to find a way in order to keep the name of Edguy on everyone's lips. The solution appeared to be this album, "The Savage Poetry", which is a very interesting concept for a double CD.

The first CD is the original recording of Edguy's first album, "Savage Poetry", although it had never been produced in 1995 simply because no record company was interested at that time. That self-produced album was sold by the musicians themselves after their concerts. The funny thing about it is that they actually composed this album when they were 16 or 17! But let's face it from the beginning, the original release sucks. You might be surprised by these compositions, which sound mature even at that time. However, the musicians weren't yet those we know nowadays [of course, they were 16!]. The major bad mark is that the famous voice of Tobias Sammet has not yet emerged and the vocals sound uninspired, almost mechanic. Then, it's a self-produced effort, and one can tell. The lineup was also slightly different back then: Tobias Sammet [vocals, bass, keyboards, piano], Jens Ludwig [guitars] and Dirk Sauer [guitars] were already the core of the band but the fourth musician was Dominik Storch [drums], who left the band after their second recording, "Kingdom Of Madness".

So far, this first CD has nothing really attractive but its rareness. But then, you listen to the second CD, which is the 2000 recording of the same songs. First, as Tobias said himself in the booklet, that's more than a new recording. A few changes have been made in the songs [and even in the lyrics!] . However, from the first note that's obvious, THIS is Edguy! Tobias got his voice back and everything sounds a lot better. So, the main purpose of that original recording is to show you how good these guys have become! That's really a good idea and I have no knowledge of such a weird thing from another band [I mean putting both original and new recording in the same album..].

All of that is nice, but what about the songs themselves? You have the right to ask. Well, we have several kind of compositions: powerful anthems such as the opener 'Hallowed', 'Misguiding Your Life', 'Sacred Hell' and 'Power And Majesty'; emotional ballads such as 'Sands Of Time' and 'Roses To No One'; and then, the really interesting material.

But first a few comments about the aforementioned tracks. Number one, the powerful songs are efficient, nevertheless, they are not truly groundbreaking nor even original. Well, on the other side, the guitar lines are harsh but melodic and the solos rocks [courtesy of Dirk and Jens]. Number two, the ballads sound almost like fillers on that album. At least 'Sands Of Time' does. I must say that 'Roses To No One' has something interesting in its structure.

So, back to interesting stuff, track number 10, 'Eyes Of The Tyrant' is an epic song clocking around 10 minutes full of creativity. No need to precise that this is my favorite one on this album. Tobias Exxel [bass] really makes a tremendous job on that one while Felix Bohnke provides the strong rhythmic background for such a song. Ever-changing melody, mind-blowing duo Jens Ludwig/Dirk Sauer on guitars and, of course, Tobias Sammet at his best level. And I must say, even better than an "Theater Of Salvation".

The second real highlight on "The Savage Poetry" is 'Key To My Fate', with its heavy rhythm and its catchy chorus. If a single had to be chosen, that would be the one. The keyboards add a lot to that track, enhancing every single note of it. Just listen to the solos mixed with these keys, I think that was a great idea.

As a conclusion, I could say that "The Savage Poetry" was an original concept and it contains good material, two songs being on top of that. It's also the first album in which you can hear the improved voice of Tobias Sammet [less vibratos, wider range] compared to "Theater Of Salvation". It's almost like a before/after commercial!

This album shouldn't appeal to everybody but should definitely appeal to all Edguy's fans. And that was the purpose of that album. So once again, Mr. Tobias: "Mission accomplished"!


Rating breakdown
Performance: 8
Songwriting: 7
Originality: 9
Production: 8





Written on 03.10.2003 by Bringing you reviews of quality music and interesting questions such as:

"A picture is worth a thousand words. How many words is a song worth?"

I have only got so much patience and skills, you do the math.


Comments

Comments: 3   Visited by: 83 users
07.05.2009 - 08:49
Uirapuru
Liver Failure
I liked this album No much to complain, catchy songs, beautiful melodies. I didn't hear the first release of this album, but I guess is the same but with a lower quality production.
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member of the true crusade against old school heavy metal, early 80s thrash, NWOBHM, traditional doom, first and second wave black metal, old school death metal, US power metal, 70s prog rock and atmospheric doomsludgestoner. o/
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25.09.2009 - 12:24
Ellrohir
Heaven Knight
I have to remind myself this album soon...i have recently realized, i like older Edguy's stuff quite a lot
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My rest seems now calm and deep
Finally I got my dead man sleep


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24.02.2017 - 00:43
Bad English
Tage Westerlund
I gonna say this Avantasia is or old Edguy after this oen somehow band died, was not so old school PM, epic PM, after it turn to cheese PM
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Life is to short for LOVE, there is many great things to do online !!!

Stormtroopers of Death - ''Speak English or Die''
apos;'
[image]
I better die, because I never will learn speek english, so I choose dieing
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