Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Savatage
Label: Atlantic Records
Release: 1997
Running time: 60:06
Rating: 5/5
»The Wake of Magellan« was yet another conceptual metal opera from cult American prog/power metallers Savatage, and in terms of arrangements, concept and atmosphere it was even their most polished work (so far). Since »Hall of the Mountain King« (1987), it was the first studio album featuring the same lineup that recorded its predecessor, the likewise conceptual »Dead Winter Dead« (1995). The band’s head honcho, charismatic singer and keyboardist Jon Oliva, was slowly rebuilding his vocal strength, so on this record he handled lead vocals on »Another Way« and »Paragons Of Innocence«, while his vocal “stand-in” Zachary Stevens turned in what may well be the best singing performance of his entire career.
The thrilling guitar duo of Chris Caffery and Al Pitrelli was by this point running like a well-oiled machine, complementing each other brilliantly. Caffery had made astonishing technical progress by then and was stylistically becoming an ever more worthy and justifiable replacement for the late Criss Oliva. Old bass-guitar tomcat Johnny Lee Middleton clicked perfectly with Jeff Plate, so he missed his former drumming buddy Steve Wacholz a whole lot less. With these names on board, artistic success was practically guaranteed, even though after the transatlantic hit »Christmas Eve Sarajevo 12/24« nobody was really counting on any commercial wins anymore.
As usual, the final say on the concept and lyrics belonged to longtime producer Paul O’Neill, the guy who, besides the Oliva brothers, deserves the most credit for Savatage climbing out of the eighties as a heartfelt but obscure band, wrestling with countless problems from the start, to become one of the most unique names in progressive metal. For the concept of »The Wake of Magellan«, O’Neill used two current and rather tragic events of the time, i.e. the mid-nineties of the last century, as his foundation. The first was connected to an incident on the cargo ship Maersk Dubai, where the ship’s captain ordered three stowaways, Romanian immigrants, to be thrown overboard. A fourth one followed them, and was selflessly saved by a member of the ship’s crew who risked his own life to do it. The second real-life event woven into the »The Wake of Magellan« concept is the story of Irish journalist Veronica Guerin, who passionately investigated the sharp rise of illegal drugs among Irish youth and was ultimately killed for being too curious. Two films were later made about her.
O’Neill, who is strongly religious and was deeply moved by both tragedies, poured them into a fictional story about an aging Spanish sailor, Hector Del-Fuego Magellan, who claims to be a descendant of the legendary Portuguese seafarer Ferdinand Magellan, the first man to sail around the world (actually, after Ferdinand’s death in 1921 on the Molucca Islands (today’s Philippines), it was his crew who pulled that off), though nobody believes the old man. Tired of watching the world he once knew slowly fall apart before his eyes, and left completely alone on top of that, the old sailor decides to end his life. He sets out onto the open sea in a small boat, hoping to meet death in an epic “Viking style”. Right in the middle of his rough voyage, a storm suddenly breaks out. While the old man waits for a quick end amid the raging of nature, he suddenly spots a drowning man in the water.
At the sight, he instantly forgets about suicide and decides to help the drowning wretch, which he somehow manages despite his age, and both survive in the end. After this traumatic experience he forgets his original plan and resolves to celebrate every moment of life he has left from now on. Back on shore, he notices that someone has repaired his old hourglass, which gives even more meaning to his newly found faith in life. Plenty of people will find the concept a bit too American-naive and religious, but O’Neill had already delivered similar messages, where “an individual overcomes darkness and death with the help of newfound faith or love”, on earlier conceptual metal operas, namely »Streets« (1991) and »Dead Winter Dead«.
Every track on »The Wake of Magellan« is a piece of the conceptual mosaic. It starts coming together with the opening piano-driven instrumental »The Ocean«, backed by a resolute guitar phrase in the background. »Welcome« is a classic Savatage opener in the most pompous symphonic-operetta style imaginable, with Stevens’ tenor shown off in the best possible light, leading the listener through sawing guitar passages and grand symphonic arrangements into the heart of the story about an aging Spanish sailor setting off on his last voyage. »Turns To Me« has all the best Savatage sonic elements. The subtle opening of this mighty track, which tells of the sailor’s lost love from his youth, is soon cut off by scorching guitar passages as the rhythm quickly shifts into faster territory. Stevens once again proves himself an outstanding vocal acrobat, switching between subtlety and aggression with feather-light ease. The heavy moments, reminiscent of the early heavy metal “Sava” years, are tastefully fused with grand symphonic arrangements, and the end result is a distinctly epic mood that dominates the whole album. Most importantly, while listening you can easily picture the last journey of the old Magellan descendant.
»Morning Sun« is a striking contrast, full of an optimistic, even cheerful atmosphere, especially in the opening acoustic guitar melody. Soon the punchy part kicks in, where Stevens’ vocals turn furious over fierce guitar passages. Here the old man is still looking back, realizing how all his youthful ideals fell through and that he ended up becoming the kind of man he never wanted to be. The guitar “duel” between Caffery and Pitrelli is a feast for the ears of all guitar-hero fans, while the shorter three-part harmonies that follow are impressive too. On »Another Way« the lead vocals go to a “legend with problems”, namely Jon Oliva. No need to waste words: this is one of the album’s best moments, where two different eras of this cult band, the early heavy metal one and the later symphonic/prog metal one, come together successfully. Jon’s gritty baritone creates a stunning contrast between mighty guitar passages and epic symphonic arrangements.
On »Blackjack Guillotine«, which tells of the consequences of hard drug abuse, the vocal baton passes back to a furious Stevens. The relatively brutal opening, ruled by scorching guitar passages and merciless drum pounding, eventually gives way to a spirited instrumental section full of witty guitar variations between Caffery and Pitrelli. »Paragons Of Innocence«, which opens with rumbling bass lines, is likewise among the album’s better moments. Jon Oliva effectively grabs the vocal scepter again and delivers one of his best singing performances since coming back from vocal “retirement”, sounding like in his glory days in the role of an enraged monster. Even the unusual experiment with a short “rap” bit amid blistering guitar passages and Plate’s brutal drum fills comes off surprisingly well. »Complaint In The System (Veronica Guerin)«, which tells the tragic story of Veronica Guerin, is one of their best socially critical songs and deserves special praise for that alone. Stevens’ vocals are backed by backing vocals deliberately run through a vocoder to sound as robotic as possible, in line with the gloomy atmosphere that is in perfect harmony with the dystopian lyrics about the triumph of “Big Brother”.
The atmosphere of a raging storm at sea is successfully created on »Underture«, an excellent “Queen-esque” instrumental with grand orchestral elements, which can be seen as the intro to the best track on the album, and some of the best stuff Savatage created in the Stevens era. That’s the epic title track, »The Wake of Magellan«, the ambient and conceptual peak of the whole album, where the old sailor, caught in the middle of the ocean during the storm and still burdened by memories of the past, wavers before a fateful decision. This magnum opus has one hell of an effective epic chorus, into which Stevens pours his deepest emotions, while melodramatic symphonic passages and agitated guitar variations trade places like the waves of a turbulent sea. The big finale comes courtesy of “Queen-esque” multi-part harmonies that lift the dramatic mood second by second until the final eruption.
The optimistic power ballad »Anymore« is a solemn, almost religious moment, when the old man, after saving the drowning man, chooses life. Here too, amid fiery guitar passages, mighty symphonic piano arrangements rule, while Stevens once again “narrates” with remarkable feeling how the old sailor wakes up from his emotional numbness. The lyrics do come off a little tasteless this time, a touch too American-style “sugarcoated”; a happy ending for a soul wandering in the dark who has finally found his “god” and become a new man – a sort of classic recipe for treating American alcoholics (and other addicts), who later all too often turn into religious fanatics (Jon Oliva surely knows that story very well from personal experience).
»The Storm« is another piano-driven instrumental that soon takes on melodramatic dimensions, especially thanks to the mighty guitar solos from both guitarists. Pitrelli was always an outstanding technical guitar master, as fans of Alice Cooper and Asia already knew well by then. His technique had a very positive influence on Caffery, who, after returning to Savatage, finally matured into a fitting successor to Criss Oliva. »The Hourglass«, which somehow fuses into one sonic collage the key elements that marked most of the previous tracks, is a magnificent closer to the album, with numerous dramatic guitar variations. With his passionate vocal performance, Stevens lays the final piece into the mosaic with the “tale” of the old man’s return to shore, where he finds his old hourglass and realizes someone has repaired it. Evidently Hector Del-Fuego Magellan is no longer alone in this world, but has a new friend.
The 2002 reissue includes two bonus tracks, which are stylistically rather unnecessary additions to the regular program. The splendid power ballad »This Is Where You Should Be« was written back when »Hall of the Mountain King« was coming together, which you can feel stylistically at every turn, besides the fact that Jon Oliva’s vocals here were much “fresher”. »Desiree« is an acoustic, piano-based love ballad with an almost devotional undertone; a solid effort, but nothing special compared to their best ballads.
»The Wake of Magellan« is, in every respect, the artistic peak of one of the most unique metal bands of all time. Compared to »Dead Winter Dead«, which for some listeners was not only too dark and even a bit depressing but also overly orchestral, »The Wake of Magellan« is stylistically the most balanced and epic Savatage achievement of their prog metal era. Sadly, it was the last Savatage album with Stevens in the lineup, as he left in 2000 for rather banal family reasons, so in the end the mic spot went back to “good old” Jon Oliva.
Stevens’ departure is even harder to understand from today’s perspective, given that in the following years he made music with his band Circle II Circle that was very similar to his Savatage legacy. Pitrelli’s move to Megadeth in 2000, on the other hand, was not shocking and didn’t leave such dramatic consequences, since Savatage had worked with a single guitarist for most of their career. While carrying on with the orchestral, neoclassical side project Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Oliva, Caffery, Middleton and Plate found the strength in the following years for one more, as it later turned out, (very likely) last Savatage studio album, »Poets and Madmen« (2001), which proved to be a more than worthy farewell.
Lineup
Zak Stevens – vocals
Chris Caffery – guitar, backing vocals
Al Pitrelli – guitar, backing vocals
Johnny Lee Middleton – bass guitar, vocals
Jon Oliva – keyboards, backing vocals, vocals (tracks 5 and 7)
Jeff Plate – drums
Production
Paul O’Neill
Track list
1. The Ocean (Instrumental) (1:33)
2. Welcome (2:11)
3. Turns To Me (6:01)
4. Morning Sun (5:49)
5. Another Way (4:35)
6. Blackjack Guillotine (4:33)
7. Paragons Of Innocence (5:33)
8. Complaint In The System (Veronica Guerin) (2:37)
9. Underture (Instrumental) (3:52)
10. The Wake Of Magellan (6:10)
11. Anymore (5:16)
12. The Storm (Instrumental) (3:45)
13. The Hourglass (8:05)
