Editing Edge of Thorns

{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2018}}
{{Infobox album
| name       = Edge of Thorns
| type       = studio
| artist     = [[Savatage]]
| cover      = EdgeofThorns.jpg
| alt        =
| released   = {{start date|1993|04|06}}<ref>{{Cite web |title=Savatage - Edge Of Thorns |url=https://metalstorm.net/bands/album.php?album_id=1017&band_id=146&bandname=Savatage |access-date=June 27, 2023 |website=Metal Storm |language=en}}</ref>
| recorded   = 1992–1993
| venue      =
| studio     = [[Morrisound Recording]] (Tampa, Florida)<br /> 321 Studios (New York City)
| genre      = [[Heavy metal music|Heavy metal]],<ref name="allmusic"/> [[power metal]]<ref name="rockhard"/>
| length     = 59:54
| label      = [[Atlantic Records|Atlantic]]
| producer   = [[Paul O'Neill (rock producer)|Paul O'Neill]], [[Jon Oliva]], [[Criss Oliva]]
| prev_title = [[Streets: A Rock Opera]]
| prev_year  = 1991
| next_title = [[Handful of Rain]]
| next_year  = 1994
}}

'''''Edge of Thorns''''' is the seventh studio album by the American [[Heavy metal music|heavy metal]] band [[Savatage]], released on April 6, 1993, by [[Atlantic Records]]. It was the last Savatage album to feature guitarist [[Criss Oliva]], who died six months after its release, and their first release with [[Zachary Stevens]] on lead vocals, following the departure of [[Jon Oliva]] from his role as singer in Savatage, although he did produce and write songs for the album.

The drums on this album sound different from other Savatage records, as [[Steve "Doc" Wacholz]] decided to use electronic drums. Although most of the drum kits sound authentic, a difference in the timbre of the toms can be heard.<ref name="SavaFAQ">{{cite web |url=http://www.savatage.com/bandinfo/faq2.html |title=Savatage FAQ: Section 2 - The Albums Part1 |publisher=Savatage Official Website |accessdate=April 7, 2018 }}</ref>

"All That I Bleed" and "Miles Away" were the last songs Jon Oliva, Criss Oliva and the producer [[Paul O'Neill (rock producer)|Paul O'Neill]] wrote together. For that, they are still Jon Oliva's two favorites on the album.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ear-music.net/en/artists/releases/details/savatage/edge-of-thorns/ |title=Savatage - Edge of Thorns |publisher=[[Edel AG]] |date=2010 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141022005437/http://www.ear-music.net/en/artists/releases/details/savatage/edge-of-thorns/ |archivedate=October 22, 2014 |accessdate=April 9, 2018 }}</ref>

The woman in the picture of the album art is Dawn Oliva, Criss Oliva's wife.{{Citation needed|date=October 2022}} Gary Smith, who also did the front and back covers for ''[[Hall of the Mountain King (album)|Hall of the Mountain King]]'', the front cover for ''[[Gutter Ballet]]'', the back cover for ''[[Streets: A Rock Opera|Streets]]'', and all of Criss Oliva's airbrushed guitars, painted the cover. The face in the trees is supposed to be Jon Oliva, though producer O'Neill disputes that despite its publication in a Criss Oliva interview from 1993. The cover is supposed to represent good (the woman) vs. evil (the face in the trees). According to Criss Oliva in a 1993 interview, "The girl is surrounded by fear and innocence. But the face in the trees is evil. Everything around her is evil. It's about good and evil. The songs on the CD reflect this, too."<ref name="SavaFAQ" />

The opening piano riff to the title track was used extensively in the [[MTV]] reality series ''[[The Real World: San Francisco]]'' during scenes involving the hospitalization of [[Pedro Zamora]].

==Reception==
{{Music ratings
| rev1 = [[AllMusic]]
| rev1Score = {{Rating|4|5}}<ref name="allmusic">{{cite web | url = https://www.allmusic.com/album/edge-of-thorns-mw0000095723 | title = Savatage - Edge of Thorns review | accessdate = April 8, 2018 | last = Orens | first = Geoff | work = [[AllMusic]] | publisher = [[Rovi Corporation]]}}</ref>
| rev2 =''[[Martin Popoff|Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal]]''
| rev2Score = 7/10<ref name="martin" >{{cite book | last1 = Popoff | first1 = Martin | authorlink1 = Martin Popoff | title = The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties | publisher = [[Collector's Guide Publishing]] | date = August 1, 2007 | location = [[Burlington, Ontario]], [[Canada]] |  page=383 |isbn = 978-1-894959-62-9}}</ref>
|rev3 = ''[[Metal Hammer]]'' (GER)
|rev3score = 7/7<ref>{{cite magazine |url=https://www.metal-hammer.de/reviews/savatage-edge-of-thorns/ |title= Savatage – Edge of Thorns |language=German |last=Nieradzik |first=Andrea |magazine=[[Metal Hammer]] |date=May 1993 |accessdate=2018-05-08 }}</ref>
|rev4 = ''[[Rock Hard (magazine)|Rock Hard]]'' 
|rev4score = 9.5/10<ref name="rockhard">{{cite magazine|last=Breusch|first=Matthias|title=Review Album Des Monats: Savatage - Edge of Thorns|url=https://www.rockhard.de/reviews/savatage-edge-of-thorns|issue=71|year = 1993| magazine = [[Rock Hard (magazine)|Rock Hard]] |accessdate=April 8, 2018 | language=German}}</ref> 
}}
In a contemporary review for ''[[Rock Hard (magazine)|Rock Hard]]'' magazine, where ''Edge of Thorns'' had been elected Album of the Month, Matthias Breusch wrote that Savatage had "not lost a pinch of their compositional potential and energy" and praised Criss Oliva's guitar playing; he complimented new singer Zak Stevens' "powerful, energetic voice", which was "cleverly adapted to the melodic lines" of the new songs, although he missed Jon Oliva's "crazy screams".<ref name="rockhard"/>

Modern reviews are generally positive. [[AllMusic]] Geoff Orens praised Savatage's continuous experimentation of new sounds and wrote that ''Edge of Thorns'' moved away from the [[progressive metal]] of the two previous albums, being a "leaner, more understated guitar-driven record", with the majority of the songs consisting "of stripped-down metal anthems, recorded with less flashy guitar work and production" than before. In his opinion, the new material fits well the "less bombastic delivery" of new singer Stevens, who does "not have the emotional range that Oliva showed on ''Gutter Ballet'' and ''Streets''".<ref name="allmusic"/> Canadian journalist [[Martin Popoff]] remarked how ''Edge of Thorns'' was "a raucous return to old Savatage vein", with "mountains of thirsty power riffs" and "an odd adherence to a goth past", mostly out of fashion in the [[alternative metal]] scene of the time. He was more critical of "the band's mellow tendencies" and the murky long intros to the songs.<ref name="martin" />

==Track listing==
All music composed by [[Criss Oliva]], [[Jon Oliva]] and [[Paul O'Neill (rock producer)|Paul O'Neill]]. All lyrics written by Paul O'Neill and Jon Oliva.
{{Track listing
| title1 = [[Edge of Thorns (song)|Edge of Thorns]]
| length1 = 5:54
| title2 = He Carves His Stone
| length2 = 4:14
| title3 = Lights Out
| length3 = 3:10
| title4 = Skraggy's Tomb
| length4 = 4:22
| title5 = Labyrinths
| note5 = instrumental
| length5 = 1:29
| title6 = Follow Me
| length6 = 5:08
| title7 = Exit Music
| note7 = instrumental
| length7 = 3:05
| title8 = Degrees of Sanity
| length8 = 4:36
| title9 = Conversation Piece
| length9 = 4:10
| title10 = All That I Bleed
| length10 = 4:41
| title11 = Damien
| length11 = 3:53
| title12 = Miles Away
| length12 = 5:06
| title13 = Sleep
| length13 = 3:52
}}
{{track listing
| headline = Original Japanese bonus tracks
| title14 = Forever After
| length14 = 4:20
| title15 = Shotgun Innocence
| length15 = 3:30
}}
{{track listing
| headline = 1997 [[Edel Music]] CD reissue
| title14 = Believe
| note14 = Acoustic version
| length14 = 3:52
}}
{{track listing
| headline = 2002 [[SPV GmbH|SPV]] CD reissue
| title14 = Forever After
| length14 = 4:18
| title15 = Conversation Piece
| note15 = Rehearsal 9/24/94
| length15 = 4:19
}}
{{track listing
| headline = 2010 EarMusic CD reissue bonus tracks
| title14 = All That I Bleed
| note14 = Acoustic version
| length14 = 4:34
| title15 = If I Go Away
| note15 = Acoustic version
| length15 = 3:49
}}

==Personnel==
;Savatage
*[[Zachary Stevens]]&nbsp;– lead vocals
*[[Criss Oliva]]&nbsp;– guitars, co-producer
*[[Johnny Lee Middleton]]&nbsp;– bass
*[[Steve "Doc" Wacholz]]&nbsp;– drums (electronic drums, studio only)

;Additional musicians
*[[Jon Oliva]]&nbsp;– [[piano]], [[Keyboard instrument|keyboards]], drums on tracks "He Carves His Stone" and "Degrees of Sanity" (studio only),<ref name="SavaFAQ" /> co-producer
*Andy James&nbsp;– drums (touring member only)
*[[Wes Styles|Wes Garren]]&nbsp;– rhythm guitar and keyboards (touring member only)

;Production
*[[Paul O'Neill (rock producer)|Paul O'Neill]]&nbsp;– producer
*Jim Morris, Tom Morris&nbsp;– engineers at Morrisound Studios
*Joe Daley, Mark Prator&nbsp;– assistant engineers at Morrisound Studios
*[[Scott Burns (record producer)|Scott Burns]], Judd Packer, Noah Baron, Tim Hatfield&nbsp;– additional engineering in New York
*Brian Benscoter, Brian Malone, Claire Iwahashi, Dave Wehner, Jeff McDonald, Joe Davi, Martin Yee, Rick Miller, Shawn Malone, Steve Heritage&nbsp;– assistant engineers in New York
*[[Greg Calbi]]&nbsp;– mastering at [[Sterling Sound]], New York

==Charts==
{{col-begin}} 
{{col-break}}

===Album===
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Year
!Chart
!Position
|-
|align="center" rowspan="3"|1993
|align="center"|[[Top Heatseekers|''Billboard'' Heatseekers Albums]] (US)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/savatage/chart-history/heatseekers-albums |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180524203439/https://www.billboard.com/music/savatage/chart-history/heatseekers-albums |url-status=dead |archive-date=May 24, 2018 |title=Savatage Chart History: Heatseekers Albums |work=Billboard.com |publisher=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |accessdate=April 22, 2018 }}</ref>
|align="center"|23
|-
|align="center" |[[Oricon|Japanese Albums Chart]]<ref>{{cite book |last=AA.VV. |title=Album Chart-Book Complete Edition 1970~2005 |location=Tokyo, Japan |publisher=[[Oricon]] |date=25 April 2006 |isbn=978-487-1-31077-2 }}</ref>
|align="center" |52
|- 
|align="center"|[[GfK Entertainment Charts|German Albums Chart]]<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.offiziellecharts.de/album-details-31363| title = Album – Savatage, Edge of Thorns | accessdate = April 22, 2018 | work = Charts.de | publisher = [[Media Control Charts]] |language=German}}</ref>
|align="center"|79
|-
|align="center"|2010
|align="center"|Greek Albums Chart<ref>{{cite web |url=http://greekcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Savatage&titel=Edge+Of+Thorns&cat=a |title=Savatage - Edge of Thorns (Album) |work=Greekcharts.com |publisher=[[Media Control Charts]] |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315162017/http://greekcharts.com/showitem.asp?interpret=Savatage&titel=Edge+Of+Thorns&cat=a |archivedate=March 15, 2012 |accessdate=May 1, 2018 }}</ref>
|align="center"|28
|}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ 2022 chart performance for ''Edge of Thorns''
! scope="col"| Chart (2022)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
{{album chart|Germany4|15|id=31363|artist=Savatage|album=Edge of Thorns|rowheader=true|access-date=July 22, 2022}}
|}
{{col-break}}

===Songs===
{|class="wikitable"
|-
!Year
!Single
!Chart
!Position
|-
|align="center"|1993
|align="center"|"Edge of Thorns"
|align="center"|[[Mainstream Rock (chart)|Mainstream Rock Tracks]] (US)<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/savatage/chart-history/hot-mainstream-rock-tracks|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180519165725/https://www.billboard.com/music/savatage/chart-history/hot-mainstream-rock-tracks|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 19, 2018|title=Savatage Chart History: Mainstream Rock |work=Billboard.com |publisher=[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]] |accessdate=April 22, 2018 }}</ref>
|align="center"|26
|}
{{col-end}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Savatage}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:1993 albums]]
[[Category:Savatage albums]]
[[Category:Atlantic Records albums]]
[[Category:Albums produced by Paul O'Neill (rock producer)]]
[[Category:Albums recorded at Morrisound Recording]]