Sirens (Savatage album)

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Sirens
Studio album by
Savatage
ReleasedApril 11, 1983
RecordedJanuary 1983
StudioMorrisound (Tampa, Florida)
Genre
Length35:51
LabelPar Records
ProducerDan Johnson
Savatage chronology
City Beneath the Surface
(1982) 		Sirens
(1983) 		The Dungeons Are Calling
(1984)
UK edition cover
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[3]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal10/10[4]
The Metal Crypt[5]
Metal Forces9/10[6]

Sirens is the debut studio album by American heavy metal band Savatage, released on April 11, 1983. The music on this album is heavier than in later Savatage albums, where the band developed their own style of progressive metal.[3] It has also been cited as a key inspiration for the then-burgeoning thrash metal scene.[7][8]

According to frontman Jon Oliva, Sirens and the EP The Dungeons Are Calling were recorded and mixed all in one day. With most of the songs prepared no more than a week before the recording session, the band could only afford one day in the studio. The two albums together were to make Savatage's debut but since vinyl records limited the total running time, they were divided. In 2011, they were remastered and released together on the label Earmusic.

The cover of the English versions published by both Music for Nations and Combat Records in 1985 used the cover of the children's book The Borribles Go for Broke.[9] It was also used by Metal Blade Records for the first edition on CD and other subsequent versions.

Track listing

[edit]
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."Sirens"Jon Oliva, Criss Oliva3:43
2."Holocaust"J. Oliva, C. Oliva4:34
3."I Believe"J. Oliva, C. Oliva5:25
4."Rage"J. Oliva, C. Oliva2:42
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."On the Run"J. Oliva, C. Oliva, Steve Wacholz3:33
6."Twisted Little Sister"J. Oliva, C. Oliva, Keith Collins3:39
7."Living for the Night"J. Oliva, C. Oliva3:20
8."Scream Murder"J. Oliva3:50
9."Out on the Streets"J. Oliva, C. Oliva5:15
Bonus tracks (1994 CD reissue)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
10."Lady in Disguise" (demo)J. Oliva, C. Oliva4:34
11."The Message" (demo)J. Oliva, C. Oliva3:38
Bonus tracks (2002 Metal Blade reissue)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
10."Target" (demo)J. Oliva, C. Oliva4:20
11."Living on the Edge of Time" (demo)J. Oliva, C. Oliva3:53
99."Untitled Acoustic" (hidden track)C. Oliva2:17
Bonus track (2011 EarMusic reissue)
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
16."In the Dream" (acoustic version)J. Oliva, C. Oliva3:34
  • The track "Out on the Streets" was later re-recorded by the band on their 1986 album, Fight for the Rock and an acoustic rendition was recorded by Jon Oliva and included as bonus track in the 2010 Greatest Hits.
  • The track "Lady in Disguise" was also later re-recorded for the 1986 album, Fight for the Rock, but with different arrangements.
  • The track "Scream Murder" was covered on American progressive metal band Vanquishes' album Speed Metal Demon.
  • The track "Holocaust" was covered by American death metal band Six Feet Under and is featured on their cover album Graveyard Classics.

Personnel

[edit]
    • An interesting fact is that in the liner notes for the album, they gave themselves roles instead of listing their instruments.
  • Jon Oliva – Shrieks of Terror (lead vocals)
  • Criss Oliva – Metalaxe (guitars, backing vocals)
  • Keith Collins – The Bottom End (bass, backing vocals)
  • Steve Wacholz – Barbaric Cannons (drums, percussion)

Production

[edit]
  • Dan Johnson – producer
  • Jim Morris – engineer
  • Mike Fuller – mastering
  • Jeffrey S. King – US edition artwork
  • Terry Oakes – UK edition artwork, illustrations
  • Eddy Schreyer – re-mastering

Charts

[edit]
Chart performance for Sirens
Chart (2021) Peak
position
German Albums (Offizielle Top 100)[10] 16

References

[edit]
  1. ^ VV, AA (2012). HM - Il grande libro Heavy Metal (in Italian). Giunti Editore. p. 190. ISBN 978-8-80977-636-4.
  2. ^ Bukszpan, Daniel (2003). The Encyclopedia of Heavy Metal. Barnes & Noble Publishing. p. 218. ISBN 978-0-76074-218-1.
  3. ^ a b Orens, Geoff. "Savatage Sirens review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  4. ^ Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 312. ISBN 978-1894959315.
  5. ^ Turnbull, Bruce (12 December 2010). "Savatage - Sirens". The Metal Crypt. Retrieved 16 April 2013.
  6. ^ Constable, Dave (August 1983). "Savatage - Sirens". Metal Forces. No. 1. p. 21. Retrieved 3 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Still the orchestra plays: Remembering Savatage's Criss Oliva". 28 November 2018.
  8. ^ "Artillery Family Tree". 10 May 2021.
  9. ^ The Borribles Go for Broke (covers). LibraryThing. Retrieved 9 April 2010.
  10. ^ "Offiziellecharts.de – Savatage – Sirens" (in German). GfK Entertainment Charts. Retrieved August 27, 2021.
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