Disco de Edguy: “Savage Poetry”

To my friend, music fan from Costa Rica, I guess you forgot to read the explanatory notes on the sleeve, and therefore were unable to realize that this was a re-recording of their first demo they sent to the record companies in germany. And it shows. The songwriting is average (who said that fast was better?), the musicianship is tight and Sammet's vocals sometimes can be annoying, but those moments are few. Don't get me wrong, I have their previous two and they are excellent albums, but If you're just getting started with this band, I strongly suggest you get the previous two releases which are a more better portrait of what this band is all about. If you already have them, get this, just to add it to your collection. The album sounds good, but you'll find yourself crawling back to VGO for the real deal.

Don't get me wrong, Edguy is a fantastic band, just check out the epic feeling of "Theatre of Salvation" or their breakthrough crossing of Helloween, Blind Guardian and the triumphant pompousness of Virgin Steele, "Vain Glory Opera". But "The Savage Poetry" is simply a remake of their very first recording called "Savage Poetry", who's release was limited and very hard to come by. Since newfound fans of Edguy were clamoring to hear their very beginnings, the band decided to re-release the album. but simply re-releasing the original recordings were not good enough for them since they felt they had grown past the tinny production and simplisticness of "Savage Poetry". So into the studio they went, rearranging and often rewriting the songs, adding choirs and other flourishes, and re-recorded the whole mess. Yes, the writing suffers a little, but these newer versions are absolutely lightyears beyond the originals. Upon my first listen at these new versions I just gasped from shock, in the brilliant ways they took the songs in new directions. Most notable is "Key to My Fate" which had alot of promise in its original form but here is taken to new heights that even I had not dreamed about! Then there's the glorious ballad "Roses For No One" which had been passingly pretty, and depressingly lonesome, has now been raised a hundred notches and brought up to the same level as their smashing ballad from "VGO", "The Scarlet Rose".

Those that have heard the original recording of Savage Poetry will be blown away, you will TREASURE this reworking of it, guaranteed. However, those that are not totally into Edguy will view this as a stepdown from the higher writing skills that have been accomplished on their past two releases. "Savage Poetry"-once the missing link in the Edguy chain has been restored, bigger and better than it ever was, and now is able to stand toe to toe with their past material. Edguy fans - get this now.

The re-recorded version of Savage Poetry, released in 2000, is the best Edguy Album. The demo-version of Savage Poetry recorded in the mid-nineties shows a promising young band with horrible production. Get the 2000 version of the album, where these German rockers redo their first LP and turn it into a modern Power Metal epic.

Hallowed starts off quiet, but then blows you away with a monster riff, and keeps going with amazing vocals from arguably the greatest frontman in the world. This album was recorded in between Theatre of Salvation, and Mandrake, when Edguy was delivering their best work, so re-recording this came out great. It has the operatic mood of Theater of Salvation, and all the power, and energy of Mandrake, not to mention a touch of eighties hair metal, like on Vain Glory Opera, and their newer albums. Misguiding Your Life, and Key to My Fate just add to the Hellacious vibe already established with Hallowed. All three of the songs contain great classic Power Metal vocals, along with the phenomenally catchy and melodic guitars, and remarkable drumming, due to Felix Bohnke, one of the best drummers in the world.

Sands Of Time is one of the best ballads ever recorded, regardless of the genre. Eerie, and touching piano forms a very memorable melody, and Tobias Sammet sings into your soul, with lyrics that penetrate, and an amazing quality, peircing with his tone, leading to the crescendo at the end, where he could easily have made this song a number one single in the eighties, or early nineties.

Eyes Of a Tyrant is maybe the best epic song Edguy has recorded, and at just over ten minutes, it almost ends to early. Frozen Candles also has an epic feel, and rocks hard. Roses To No One is a classic eighties metal ballad, and while not as good as Sands of Time, it still dispenses lighter flames in the air. Power and Majesty completes the album in grand fashion.

I wish oldschool bands like Def Leppard or Motley Crue would give these guys a shot at opening for them here in America, because I really think this country would embrace an already great rock band like this, if we could just be exposed to them. They're already fairly big in Europe and Japan, and South America, but the fascist American music industry does nothing to help foreign artists make it here. They only expose us to Disney pop and American idol singers. Thank God for the internet, where fans of rock, and metal, can find bands we will actually enjoy listening to, if we just search.

So make sure you get the 2000, re-recorded version of Savage Poetry, not the original demo version. It's a great Power metal classic, or European hard rock classic, even a modern hair metal classic. It is the best Edguy CD without question.

Don't get me wrong, Edguy is a fantastic band, just check out the epic feeling of "Theatre of Salvation" or their breakthrough crossing of Helloween, Blind Guardian and the triumphant pompousness of Virgin Steele, "Vain Glory Opera". But "The Savage Poetry" is simply a remake of their very first recording called "Savage Poetry", who's release was limited and very hard to come by. Since newfound fans of Edguy were clamoring to hear their very beginnings, the band decided to re-release the album. but simply re-releasing the original recordings were not good enough for them since they felt they had grown past the tinny production and simplisticness of "Savage Poetry". So into the studio they went, rearranging and often rewriting the songs, adding choirs and other flourishes, and re-recorded the whole mess. Yes, the writing suffers a little, but these newer versions are absolutely lightyears beyond the originals. Upon my first listen at these new versions I just gasped from shock, in the brilliant ways they took the songs in new directions. Most notable is "Key to My Fate" which had alot of promise in its original form but here is taken to new heights that even I had not dreamed about! Then there's the glorious ballad "Roses For No One" which had been passingly pretty, and depressingly lonesome, has now been raised a hundred notches and brought up to the same level as their smashing ballad from "VGO", "The Scarlet Rose".

Those that have heard the original recording of Savage Poetry will be blown away, you will TREASURE this reworking of it, guaranteed. However, those that are not totally into Edguy will view this as a stepdown from the higher writing skills that have been accomplished on their past two releases. "Savage Poetry"-once the missing link in the Edguy chain has been restored, bigger and better than it ever was, and now is able to stand toe to toe with their past material. Edguy fans - get this now.

This version contains four tracks from the original "Savage Poetry" where you can HEAR the difference yourself and not just take my words on it. There is really NO comparision between the old and the new, but even the older version of "Roses to No One" and "Sands of Time" have enough merit to listen to as they are. With these four extras to compare the new stuff to, it makes it even more essential just to see how far Edguy has come in just five short years!