THE WAKE OF MAGELLAN

I originally got this album through an English teacher who was a big rock fan and was in a band himself and toured for years. At my first listen I thought I was pretty good, but didn't give it much attention and didn't listen to the story. Upon second listen however, I had a new view.

This is good, semi-prog power metal. Yet this does not sound like power metal at all. There are not lyrics about dragons or overly symphonic cheesyness at all. I am a big Dream Theater fan so I was suprised when I found there was not a single keyboard solo. Yet this is not a bad thing at all. Keys are used to add much more mass to the music without making it sound overly symphonic. The band consists of 2 guitarists, a bassist, a keyboardist/ lead vocalist and main lead vocalist. This give the music a lot of mass.

The song starts out with the ocean, a short poppy piano and guitar song. This leads into WELCOME which is also short but is one of my favorites. It starts out with fast and great piano leading into straight guitar chords and powerful vocals. Turns to Me is very good with powerful vocals and great melodies. Next is Morning sun which starts out with acustic guitar and is heavy and powerful. after a few also good songs it goes into Paragons of Innocence, a nice heavy song with Jon Oliva (the keyboardist) on vocals. He is not as good as Jak Stevens but has a good metal voice. The Wake of Megellan is very good with incredible multi-vocal sections. anymore is the ballad of the album and features a choir and strong melodies. The Hourglass is, like most of the songs, a highly melodic song. It also features great multi-vocal sections where a person is singing something different with a different melody than another person. This song, though only 8 minutes long, is the longest of the album.

The story follows the adventure of a man who goes out on the ocean with the intent of killing helself, but "Wakes" and finds good in his life and ultimately survives. The story is told more straight forwardly in a poetic version in the album art section. Though the story is not as strong as the actual lyrics it fits perfectly with the mood of this Album. This album has the PERFECT combination of melodic riffs, symphonic sections, powerful acrobatic vocals, and great guitar solos that I have no choice but to say- This album is essential to fans of prog metal who like great melodies, powerful metal vocals, and fitting piano sections. This is my first Savatage album and is now one of my favorite albums.