Sirens (album)

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Sirens
Studio album by Savatage

Publication
(s)

1983

Label (s) Combat Records

Metal blade

Format (s)

CD, LP

Genre (s)

Power metal

Title (number)

9

running time

35 min 57 s

occupation
  • Keith Collins - bass
  • Steve Wacholz - drums

production

Jim Morris, Dan Johnson

chronology
City beneath the Surface
(Demo, 1982) 		Sirens The Dungeons Are Calling
(EP, 1984)

Sirens is the debut album of the power metal band Savatage from Florida . It was released in 1983 on the music label Combat Records , later re-releases were made by Metal Blade .

Emergence

Dan Johnson had offered the band a year-long record deal on his Combat Records label in 1982 . The demo City Beneath the Surface , which the band released under the name Avatar , preceded the first album in this cooperation . Due to a conflict over naming rights with another band, the band had to rename itself, the suggestion Savatage came from Criss Oliva's girlfriend and later wife Dawn Hopkins. Under the new name, the band initially recorded an untitled demo, which already contained some compositions from the later debut album.

As with the EP, the recordings took place in the Morrisound studios in Tampa , where they were mixed by studio owner Jim Morris. The recordings were completed in 1982, took a total of three days, and cost a mere $ 2,500. The songs from the following EP The Dungeons Are Calling were recorded in the same recording sessions . It was published on November 1, 1983.

On the previous demo EP, Sirens , Twisted Little Sister and Out on the Streets were three songs from the debut album, so that mainly new material was to be found on the album. The remaining songs were released in 1984 on The Dungeons Are Calling EP. All songs were composed by Jon Oliva and Criss Oliva.

Track list

  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

There are various new editions. First came out in 1988 a CD edition of Music for Nations , which combined the album and the subsequent The Dungeons are Calling on one CD. The new editions of Metal Blade from 1994 ( "features lost Savatage tracks" ) and 2002 ( "Silver Anniversary Collectors Edition" ) have found wider distribution . Both editions contained bonus tracks:

Edition from 1994:

  1. Lady in Disguise - 4:36
  2. The Message - 3:38

Silver Edition:

  1. Target - 4:20 (demo for the Gutter Ballet album)
  2. Living on the Edge of Time - 3:55

There is also a hidden track under title number 99.

Meaning of the songs

  • Sirens alludes to the sirens from Greek mythology .
  • Holocaust is about the fear of a war waged with ABC weapons .
  • I Believe tells a science fiction story of aliens who have to leave their doomed planet due to pollution and atmospheric wars and finally land on Earth, which is facing similar problems.
  • Living for the Night addresses music as an identity-creating flight from reality in the face of political powerlessness.

Effect and reception

In retrospect, the German magazine Rock Hard simply called the album "a classic in metal history" ().

In the long term, the title song and “Holocaust” in particular became band classics and were still on the live program decades later; "Sirens" itself was even played on the band's last tour in 2002. In 1986 the song “Out on the Streets” was re-recorded for the album “Fight for the Rock”. On the same album there is another song called "Lady in Disguise" like the bonus track of the 1994 reissue. Oddly enough, it's a completely different piece.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Savatage biography of Rock Hard  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.@1@ 2Template: Toter Link / www.rockhard.de  
  2. ↑ FAQ on the band's website
  3. ^ Savatage Tour History

Web links