"Savage Garden," The Debut Album

Released on March 4, 1997, the album was the Australian pop duo's claim to fame. It shot up the Australian charts and pretty soon was riding high on the Billboard airwaves, before the songs took over the rest of the world. :) In my opinion, this album contained the BEST songs of Savage Garden, as if Darren and Daniel had poured everything they had into this one collection. And it paid off rather well, I must say -- the duo is far from forgotten more that a decade after they came into the spotlight.

Because the album was such a smashing success, there had been more than one release, with different track listings. The US Release -- the more well-known and globally marketed release -- contained the songs "To the Moon & Back" (5:41), "I Want You" (3:52), "Truly Madly Deeply" (4:38), "Tears of Pearls" (3:47), "Universe" (4:20), "Carry on Dancing" (3:45), "Violet" (4:04), "Break Me Shake Me" (3:23), "A Thousand Words" (4:00), "Promises" (3:31), and "Santa Monica" (3:34). The Australian release did not have promises, but it had "Mine" (4:28) -- according to Wikipedia, Sony had that song removed in the US release because the line "crosses and crucifixes" might "alienate" American buyers.

In the second Australian release of the album, it contained one bonus track -- "All Around Me." When the band was slated for an Asian tour, they came with a two-disc release. The first disc was essentially the US release, and the second disc contained "All Around Me" and two other bonus tracks, "Love Can Move You" and "I'll Bet He Was Cool."
Reference: Wikipedia entry on Savage Garden

The Songs

Since I'm familiar only with the US release (as it's the album I own), I'm posting the lyrics of only those songs here.

Awards Received

Australian ARIA Awards (1997)
The album has won "the most awards ever won by a single act in one year," according to the ARIA Awards Website.

  • Best Album
  • Best Debut Album
  • Best Single
  • Highest Selling Single
  • Best Group
  • Song of the Year
  • Best Pop Release
  • Best Independent Release

Source: Wikipedia entry on Savage Garden



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