Savatage - 'Hall of the Mountain King'

Savatage rules. Really, I've got no other statement stronger than that to say about such an underrated band. I've never seen Savatage or Trans-Siberian Orchestra live, but I've heard that both are absolutely amazing.

What's your favorite Savatage song? Here's one of my faves: "Hall of the Mountain King"

Comments

[steve]

ghost in the ruins. fucking great song!

[Jack]

Chance is awesome, love the counter-point vocal part. not the only song they do this on (became pretty much a staple afterward), but the first and probably best.

I was lucky enuff to see them a few times, and even luckier to see them a couple w/Criss before he died.

[Bryon]

I really liked Gutter Ballet back in the day. But in general I never got too into them -- a little too prog-rock for my liking.

[Gary]

Gutter Ballet for me.
Ally, do yourself a favor and make it a point to go see TSO this year. I'll bet every dollar I have you won't be sorry, and that you WILL be blown away by the stage show and incredible musicianship.They took the roof of the place both times I saw them...

[Gteg]

What Gary said. I agree on both statements.

[Bob]

to the poster who thinks that Savotage is a little too prog rock, do yourself a favor and check out their first couple albums: Sirens and the dungeons are Calling. those are still my favorites -- really heavy power metal with a slight hint of thrashy snarl. they started to veer away from that sound with the Fight for The Rock album, and by the Hall of the Mountain King record they had fully traded that snarl for more technical flash. I saw them open up for Megadeth in about 1988 or 1989 and they were awesome. As for my favorite Savotage song?...hands down...the Dungeons are Calling! Everything about that song is pure metal brilliance!

[The Great Southern Brainfart]

Jesus Saves is up there as one of my all time fave Savatage songs. I'm really diggine Jon Oliva's band Pain. Those guys are the real fucking deal!

[Roy]

Sorry Cant do it. Its hard to pick "ONE" song. Edge of Thorns, Jesus Saves, Hall of the Mountain King, etc..I was lucky enough to see them a couple of times in the Central New York area.

[JAT]

Edge of Thorns rules! I Also like Hall of the Mountain King!

[Tommy]

I've always favored "When The Crowds Are Gone" , but ya , get to TSO as close as possible, for Alex Skolnick if nothing else

[Metalboy!]

Here's a weird way of looking at it (natch!)...

I never really got into these guys but there's no denying, they are incredible. I saw 'em and they blew me away. But they're still not my cup o' tea, though I can appreciate 'em.

They really did meld Hair Metal and Prog Rock together like no one else in that era except maybe Helloween.

My ex-lead guitarist always loved 'em and he's the one that convinced me to go see 'em up at this place called Network in Pasadena, MD, just outside of Baltimore.

This is real "Kix Kountry", where I'm talkin' about. Child's Play used to play there a lot, too!

And here came Savatage. I remember they had two midgets for stagehands, too, which was so hysterical. The lead singer kept chasin' the midgets off the stage every time they finished bringing out a different BC Rich guitar or something. All while the band were totally blowing the doors off the joint.

And I mean, LITERALLY blowin' the doors off the place. I had never seen any band up there, before or after, with so much equipment... And I'm talking Kix, Quiet Riot, Lizzy Borden, L.A. Guns, Child's Play (who were practically the place's house band, I saw 'em there so many times, both singers), The Ramones, etc., etc... Yep, even louder than The Ramones, who were known for their high decibel levels. Savatage had like three times the amount of equipment as anyone else I'd ever seen there! I really thought some of the stuff was gonna fall off the stage they had so much squeezed on it.

Network, formerly The Seagull Inn, was a small venue, with a fairly small stage and I swear over half of it was taken over by the drummer with his Tommy Lee styled double sized set of drums.

Savatage's show was full of theatre, humor, intelligence, wit, irony, etc. The songwriting, the riffs, hooks, licks, you name it, they had it all. And FLAWLESSLY executed. You can see how they could go on to do something as bombastic as Trans Siberian Orchestra. I remember "Gutter Ballet" and "The Hall Of The Mountain King", of course, as the standouts.

We were standing completely point blank at the foot of the stage with no one in front of us and the place was packed.

It was a totally killer show!!!

In fact, OVERKILLER!

(And remember, I'm not that into 'em and I'm saying that!)

[Gil]

Savatage is awesome. Too bad they will never perform live again. I saw them once near the end of their run.
TSO is a good alternative with lots of Savatage elements, but it's not really the same.

All That I Bleed is my fav Savatage song. I really love all of their stuff and rediscover the old albums from time to time.