Edge of Thorns
Edge of Thorns is Savatage's seventh studio album, released on 6 April 1993 by Atlantic. It marks a change of voice for the band: Zachary Stevens makes his debut as lead vocalist, with Jon Oliva stepping back from singing but still producing and writing songs for the record. It is also the last Savatage album with guitarist Criss Oliva, who died six months after its release.
Producer Paul O'Neill, Jon and Criss wrote "All That I Bleed" and "Miles Away" together for the last time here, and Jon still counts them as his two favourites. Drummer Steve "Doc" Wacholz used electronic drums, which gives the toms a slightly different timbre from earlier records. Gary Smith painted the cover, a contest of good against evil, with Dawn Oliva as the woman pictured. The title track's piano opening later featured in MTV's The Real World: San Francisco.
Edge of Thorns: tracklist, credits and charts
13 tracks · 53:58Tracklist
- 1Edge of ThornsO’Neill, Oliva, Oliva5:57
- 2He Carves His StoneO’Neill, Oliva, Oliva4:11
- 3Lights OutO’Neill, Oliva, Oliva3:12
- 4Skraggy’s TombO’Neill, Oliva, Oliva4:23
- 5LabyrinthsO’Neill, Oliva, Oliva1:30
- 6Follow MeO’Neill, Oliva, Oliva5:12
- 7Exit MusicO’Neill, Oliva, Oliva3:09
- 8Degrees of SanityO’Neill, Oliva, Oliva4:37
- 9Conversation PieceO’Neill, Oliva, Oliva4:11
- 10All That I BleedO’Neill, Oliva, Oliva4:40
- 11DamienO’Neill, Oliva, Oliva3:55
- 12Miles AwayO’Neill, Oliva, Oliva5:07
- 13SleepO’Neill, Oliva, Oliva3:53
- Produced by
- Paul O’Neill, Criss Oliva, Jon Oliva, Jon Oliva, Criss Oliva
- Recorded at
- Morrisound Recording (Tampa, Florida), 321 Studios (New York City)
- Recorded
- 1992–1993
- Engineered by
- Scott Burns, Noah Baron, Tim Hatfield, Jim Morris, Tom Morris, Judd Packer
- Label
- Atlantic
- Length
- 53:58
Line-up
- Johnny Lee Middleton · bass guitar
- Criss Oliva · guitar, guitar family
- Jon Oliva · keyboard, piano
- Steve Wacholz · drums (drum set)
- Zak Stevens · lead vocals
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| German Albums · 2022 | 15 |
From MusicBrainz and Wikipedia. Only what the sources record is shown.
Released the same week
Also released on 6 April
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The best of 1993
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The label →![[Led Zeppelin IV] by Led Zeppelin, album cover](/img/2e61da88-39e9-3473-81d2-c964cb394952/300)
Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 6 April 1993 | |
| Wikipedia infobox | 6 April 1993 | |
| Wikidata | 6 April 1993 | |
| US release | 6 April 1993 | earliest US date |
10 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | CA | Atlantic | 075678248863 | other |
| 1993 | US | Atlantic | other | |
| 6 April 1993 | US | Atlantic | 075678248825 | original |
| 24 May 1995 | JP | Atlantic | 4988029054548 | other |
| 1997 | XE | Concrete | 4009880894927 | other |
| 21 October 1997 | DE | Concrete | 4009880984925 | other |
| 31 May 2002 | DE | Steamhammer | 693723740522 | other |
| 21 May 2010 | — | earMUSIC | 4029759040729 | other |
| 21 May 2010 | DE | earMUSIC | 4029759040729 | remaster |
| 15 July 2022 | XE | earMUSIC | 4029759170525 | other |
Cover art sources
deezer · upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| deezer ✓ | 1200×1200 | upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25) |
| coverartarchive | 1024×1024 | upscaled |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |