Hall of the Mountain King (album)

Hall of the Mountain King is the fourth studio album by American heavy metal band Savatage, released in 1987 under the direction of producer Paul O'Neill. It is their first album produced by O'Neill, who was assigned to the band after the tour in support of Fight for the Rock. This album shows the beginning of Savatage's exploration of progressive metal, in their search for new forms of musical expression. Many fans consider this album the original turning point in their musical identity, distinguishing between the old and new Savatage. It is not a concept album, but it has a constant tone (of darkness, in this case) and is more complex than their previous albums, with two entirely instrumental tracks that go beyond simple guitar riffs and solos, namely "Prelude to Madness" and "Last Dawn". Through Paul O'Neill's connections, he brought in Ray Gillen of Badlands fame (credited as Ray Gillian), then briefly fronting Black Sabbath, to perform a vocal duet at the end of "Strange Wings".

Hall of the Mountain King
Studio album by
Savatage
ReleasedSeptember 28, 1987
StudioRecord Plant, New York City
Genre
Length40:07
LabelAtlantic
Producer
Savatage chronology
Fight for the Rock
(1986)		 Hall of the Mountain King
(1987)		 Gutter Ballet
(1989)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic[1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal9/10[2]
Metal Hammer (GER)7/7[3]
Rock Hard8.5/10[4]

"Prelude to Madness" is an arrangement of Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from the Peer Gynt suite. Oddly, Grieg is not credited for this song, but for the following title track - which is an original song. The intro of "Prelude to Madness" features keyboards and guitar playing "Mars, the Bringer of War" from Gustav Holst's suite, The Planets.

"This Is Where You Should Be", recorded during the studio sessions for this album, was not included; years later it was released on compilations and album reissues.

This was the first album to feature the album cover drawn by artist Gary Smith, who was responsible for lead guitarist Criss Oliva's airbrushed guitars at the time. Hall of the Mountain King reached position No. 116 in the US Billboard 200 albums chart.[5]

Track listing
Side one
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
1."24 Hrs. Ago"Jon Oliva, Criss Oliva, Johnny Lee Middleton, Paul O'Neill4:56
2."Beyond the Doors of the Dark"J. Oliva5:07
3."Legions"C. Oliva, J. Oliva4:57
4."Strange Wings"C. Oliva, J. Oliva, O'Neill3:45
Side two
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
5."Prelude to Madness" (instrumental)Edvard Grieg, C. Oliva, O'Neill3:13
6."Hall of the Mountain King"C. Oliva, J. Oliva, Middleton, O'Neill5:35
7."The Price You Pay"C. Oliva, J. Oliva, Steve Wacholz3:51
8."White Witch"C. Oliva, J. Oliva3:21
9."Last Dawn" (instrumental)C. Oliva1:07
10."Devastation"C. Oliva, J. Oliva3:37
1997 Edel Music CD reissue
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Stay"C. Oliva, J. Oliva, O'Neill2:48
2002 SPV CD reissue
No.TitleLength
11."Hall of the Mountain King" (live)6:00
12."Devastation" (live)3:36
2011 EarMusic CD reissue
No.TitleWriter(s)Length
11."Castles Burning" (acoustic version)J. Oliva, O'Neill4:04
12."Somewhere in Time / Alone You Breathe" (acoustic version)C. Oliva, J. Oliva, O'Neill4:30

Personnel

In the liner notes for the album, the band gave themselves roles instead of listing their instruments.

Savatage
Additional musicians
Production
  • Paul O'Neill – producer, arrangements with Savatage
  • James A. Ball – engineer
  • Joe Henahan – assistant engineer
  • Jack Skinner – mastering at Sterling Sound, New York

Charts
Year Chart Position
1987 Billboard 200 (US)[5] 116

References
  1. Orens, Geoff. "Savatage - Hall of the Mountain King review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2013-05-11.
  2. Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 313. ISBN 978-1894959315.
  3. Kühnemund, Götz (October 1987). "Savatage - Hall of the Mountain King LP-Tip des Monats". Metal Hammer (in German). Retrieved 2018-05-08.
  4. Trojan, Frank (1987). "Review Album: Savatage - Hall of the Mountain King". Rock Hard (in German). No. 23. Retrieved 2018-04-03.
  5. "Savatage Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved 2018-04-03.
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