'TAGE MAHAL

I bought this album because I'm a huge Savatage fan, and particularly a fan of Jon Olivia's vocals. However, since this album resembles neither Savatage's music nor Olivia's traditional vocal style, that led very little to me being able to appreciate this album. Furthermore, there's nothing progressive about this in the true meaning of the word, and there's nothing "prog" about this in the sense we have come to understand that that means. At the very most this can be called prog-related because of Olivia's association with Savatage.

The music is not very far removed from uninventive, bland, mainstream metal. It has a strong melodic edge to it and prominent use of the piano, but besides that it essentially isn't different than Metallica's Black Album. Aside from that, the songs aren't enjoyable. They're incredibly too long with too few variations throughout. The tracks all blend together sounding nearly the same, and the album is monotonous without a change in feel until the lighter closing number.

Vocally Jon Olivia has lost all his appeal. The defining high pitched shrieks of his seminal works with Savatage don't exist. His inexplicable ability to convey emotion has likewise vanished. His does the same thing on every song on the album and hardly resembles the singer he once was. In this case change was a very detrimental thing.

I don't think this album belongs on the site or in the collection of any fan. Prog fans will be disappointed, fans of mainstream metal will be disappointed. But most disappointed will be those diehard fans of Savatage and Olivia looking for some resemblance of that band's greatness. Only buy this if the thought of not having something two members of Savatage played on will leave you sleepless at night.