Poets and Madmen is the 11th studio album by American heavy metal band Savatage, released in 2001. It was their last album before their 12-year hiatus, which lasted from 2002 to 2014. The album has a loose concept inspired by the career and death of journalist Kevin Carter, but has much less narrative in the lyrics than the previous two rock operas (Dead Winter Dead and The Wake of Magellan) penned by Paul O'Neill. Everything said in the album is fiction, except with regard to what is sung about Carter. The United States bonus track "Shotgun Innocence" was originally a bonus track on the Japanese release of Edge of Thorns in 1993 and features Zachary Stevens on lead vocals, and the late Criss Oliva on guitar.

The album cover was drawn by Edgar Jerins, who was responsible for the covers of Dead Winter Dead and The Wake of Magellan.

Track listing

Personnel

;Savatage

  • Jon Oliva – lead vocals, keyboards, rhythm guitar, co-producer
  • Chris Caffery – lead guitar, backing vocals
  • Johnny Lee Middleton – bass, backing vocals
  • Jeff Plate – drums, backing vocals

;Additional musicians

  • Bob Kinkel – additional keyboards, backing vocals
  • Al Pitrelli – additional guitars on tracks "Stay with Me Awhile", "Commissar", "Morphine Child" and "The Rumor"
  • John West – backing vocals
  • Zachary Stevens – lead vocals on "Shotgun Innocence"
  • Criss Oliva – guitars on "Shotgun Innocence"

;Production

  • Paul O'Neill – producer
  • Dave Wittman – engineer, mixing
  • Bob Kinkel – additional engineering
  • Darren Rapp, Ed Osbeck – assistant engineers
  • Kevin Hodge – mastering at the Master Cutting Room, New York
  • Jeff Thompson, Chris Rich, Ken Thornhill – studio managers
  • Edgar Jerins – cover art
  • Deborah Lauren – design

Charts

Album

{| class="wikitable"

|-

!Year

!Chart

!Position

|-

|align="center" rowspan="5"|2001

|align="center"|German Albums Chart

|align="center"|7

|-

|align="center"|Billboard Independent Albums (US)

|align="center"|49

|-

|align="center"|Austrian Top 40 Albums

|align="center"|70

|-

|align="center"|Dutch MegaCharts

|align="center"|95

|-

|align="center"|Swiss Albums Top 100

|align="center"|97

|}

Singles

{|class="wikitable"

|-

!Year

!Single

!Chart

!Position

|-

|align="center"|2001

|align="center"|"Commissar"

|align="center"|German Singles Chart

|align="center"|88

|}

References

  • The Story of Poets and Madmen