The album that led me to becoming a Savatage fan was Edge Of
Thorns. It was the first of their albums I heard, and it
struck me straight away what a great band they were. They
had the songs, musical talent and in Zak Stevens they had an
amazing singer whose voice caught your attention and made
the songs that bit more special. After Savatage, Stevens
went on to form Circle II Circle and it is hard to believe
that Delusions Of Grandeur is their fourth album, matching
the number he accomplished with Savatage.
So what does the bravely titled Delusions Of Grandeur hold?
While there are no real surprises to the album, with it
being full of mid tempo power rock songs with some of the
tracks leaning more towards ballads, the album does have a
heavier edge to it.
First song, ‘Fatal Warning’, sounds like a continuation of
their last album Burden Of Truth, and the band do not appear
to change much for the first few songs. It is with ‘Echoes’
and ‘Waiting’ that they start to shine. ‘Echoes’ is more of
a ballad, and of course it is good, Stevens’ distinguishable
voice over a piano will always help make an amazing song.
‘Waiting’ feels more like the Watching In Silence album, it
packs some oomph, it’s faster, heavier and stands out as one
of the best tracks on the album; in one song they really
manage to sum up everything that makes CIIC a great band.
From here on they manage to keep things rolling, ‘Soul
Breaker’ gives great riffs and has a lot in common with
‘Waiting’, even the cheesy way they sing soul breaker,
almost Firewind in style, works to good effect. ‘Seclusion’
starts more slowly with an acoustic led introduction before
everything kicks in and ‘So Many Reasons’ feels more like a
classic hard rock song, it is catchy and helps to
demonstrate the quality of Steven’s voice.
With the last song on the album, first single ‘Every Last
Thing’, I can finally mention how something really sounds
like Savatage. From it’s piano opening through the guitar
sound and the way the vocals overlap in the style of songs
like ‘Chance’; this is a great way to bring the album to an
end.
Like Burden Of Truth it has taken several listens to be
fully appreciated, but once there Delusions Of Grandeur
proves to be a really good album and is certainly a must for
any fans of their previous work.
Darren Brushneen
