The World's Greatest Metallica Tribute (album review) ... Compared to this Metallica's 'Lulu' is a thrash classic!

Style: hard rock, heavy metal, trash, industrial, surf, techno, tribute
Label: Tributized
Year: 2004
Home: n/a

Members: Jon Oliva, Eric A.K., Eric Bloom, Billy Milano ~ vocals
Scott Ian, Lemmy Kilmister, Mike Clark, Al Pitrelli ~ guitars
Rob Trujillo, Tony Franklin, Phil Soussan, Bob Balch ~ bass
Dave Lombardo, Aynsley Dunbar, Gregg Bissonette, Vinny Appice ~ drums

Bands include: Agent Orange

Apoptygma Berzerk

Sloppy Seconds

Dee Dee Ramone band

Funker Vogt

Vice Squad

Luciferion

Holocaust

If One Way Street: A Tribute To Aerosmith is producer/guitarist Bob Kulick helming a great tribute album, this is the opposite of the coin & anything but what it's title suggests. Here Kulick takes a couple approaches & none of them work any musical magic creating an album for collectors or diehard fans only. On One Way Street he placed together random rock musicians to do one off recordings. That again occurs here on four of the dozen tracks, while the other tracks are the traditional tribute band approach of bands submitting their cover songs. The success of these will all be dependent on if you like the bands or not. Though, this album is heavily split as the four one off groups have all star line-ups, while the submissions are lesser known bands. While the bands completely take to re-interpreting Metallica versus the one-off line-ups aim more for duplicating or finding a balance between imitation & discovery. This means right next to a heavy metal song is surf or techno synth making a jarring listen. One Way Street is so success because it doesn't do this as all the songs are kept in the same rock mood, all being produced by Kulick. The fact that there's not much of Metallica left in many of these experiments makes it an even more jarring listen. Metallica is a great band whose sound lies on powerful rhythms & a particular mood, but in the hands of others the songs fall apart quickly ... particularly when a band like Apoptygma Berzerk decide to do a dance techno version of "Fade To Black" that makes the song unrecognizable, throws the melody out the window & is pretty much one step away from Erasure but less camp, gay & entertaining. When doing a cover don't kill the recognizable melody line, while replacing a complicated recognizable riff, rhythm or line with something incredibly watered down also should be avoided. If you don't have the skills to at least get the basics of the song than don't fake it. Nor is this approach interesting, as Sloppy Seconds demonstrates with a straight punk take of "Hit The Lights" that dumps anything recognizable about the song. Luciferion also demonstrates with a boring by the book chugging nondescript guitar black/death metal version of "Fight Fire With Me". Agent Orange does a punk-surf version of "Seek & Destroy" which demonstrates that taking the cliched surf riff & putting on a song does not make for something creative or interesting outside of the idea that what would it sound like if Metallica was a surf band. Do surf bands ever get bored playing the same riff over & over again? It all sounds as much alike as Yngwie Malmsteen taking solo after solo. Things get really adventuresome with Funker Vogt who do a goth techno take on "Harvester Of Sorrow" but it's more techno than dark & this is a song that should be more dark than techno. At least it's not Erasure, though not quite Nine Inch Nails. Dee Dee Ramone does a bland "Jump In The Fire". Finally I've found someone who sings like Ronnie Wood of the Rolling Stones/Faces, but worse. Holocaust does an eight minute "Master Of Puppets" that at least ends the album on a good note, but twelve tracks too late. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery & Holocaust prove that with this particular compilation. Well crafted, though too light weight a guitar solo. The best contribution & only one worth listening to is Vice Squad who turn in an upbeat "Enter Sandman" with an industrial edge, think Powerman 5000. The best part is the toy laser gun sounds during the solos. The only thing that makes this album worth getting is the non-submitted four one-off line-up tracks. Maybe it's the fact that these include some star musicians, but someone was smart enough in each line-up to realize what not to dump in the song & how experimental not to be. Though, none of these songs are great & just for the gimmick of hearing a certain musician. "Nothing Else Matters" is anti-climactic gutless ballad with Jon Oliva of Savatage/Jon Oliva's Pain in a lackluster vocal performance only interesting for how much it sounds like James Hetfield, while this is not a good song to show off Lemmy of Motorhead. Also in this is Fu Manchu guitarist Bob Balch & tour/session drummer Gregg Bissonette most famously of the David Lee Roth band. "Battery" is safe & tame, though its hard to ruin this song, with Metallica's third bassist Rob Trujillo playing alongside drummer Dave Lombardo of Slayer, guitarist Mike Clark of Suicidal Tendencies & vocalist Eric A.K. of Flotsam & Jetsam which would feature future Metallica bassist Jason Newsted. "Whiplash" demonstrates that while James Hetfield is an adequate singer he works for the music at hand, but when you hear someone with a harsher voice interpret the songs ... well, Hetfield suddenly sounds a lot better. Sorry Billy Milano of M.O.D.. While listening to the other musician one wonders is Metallica this monotonous with the guitars & this flat sounding? A poor showing from guitarist Scott Ian of Anthrax, bassist Phil Soussan of Ozzy Osbourne & Billy Idol & drummer Vinny Appice of Black Sabbath/Heaven & Hell. "For Whom The Bells Toll" features with Savatage/Trans-Siberian Orchestra guitarist Al Pitrelli in one of his more rare heavy metal moments as his career has been more hard-rock that doesn't always push him with the speed or intensity. A decent show, though you can hear Tony Franklin of the Firm trying to spice up the bass line & mold it to his recognizable fretless bass sound. Eric Bloom of Blue Oyster Cult, who Pitrelli toured with for a month, turns in an adequate vocal showing, while acclaimed 70's session drummer Aynsley Dunbar takes up the beats also in a rare metal moment. This album has also been released under the name Metallic Assault

Morning Wood (aka Tony Harnell & Morning Wood) ~ Morning Wood (aka debut) (album review) ... Rise & shine!

Style: covers, acoustic rock, hard rock
Label: Mercury Japan
Year: 1994
Home: New York (defunct)

Members: Tony Harnell ~ vocals
Al Pitrelli ~ guitars
Danny Miranda ~ bass
Chuck Bonfante ~ drums/keyboards

Additional: Gary Corbitt ~ organ
Paul Orofino ~ guitar


Tony Harnell fans probably know the little one off outing MW, though it also gets credit for being the only primarily acoustic album by guitarist Al Pitrelli & the only joint outing of Harnell, Pitrelli, Danny Miranda & Chuck Bonfante, though the quartet would play together in various formations with other bands. If you don't know who these guys they include the vocalist for European hard rockers TNT, the guitarist of Megadeth, Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Asia, Alice Cooper, & many more, the bassist of Blue Oyster Cult, Meat Loaf & Queen + Paul Rodgers & the drummer of Saraya, one of the few female fronted 80's rock bands. It's an all star outing with a humble start as a group of guys that met each other through various means & enjoyed playing together & found themselves with some downtime able to play what they wanted & how they wanted. The result is a Japan produced album, released in Europe a few years later, that has found many fans with due cause, along with becoming a minor collector's item for all involved. Recorded live in the studio over a couple weeks except for some overdubbed guitar leads & keyboards it's a very high energy, tight & unpretentious affair helped by the fact that the band had been playing together in regional gigs long before hitting the studio. Like the Doors, Grateful Dead & many other bands the stage came first & the sound of the band was crafted in front of an audience not in rehearsal studios. The studio recorded a short term gig for posterity, never meant for anything long term, that would have been lost to but memory. The album saved MW from being anything but a legend, let alone would bring new listeners long after the gig was over. Lead electric lines are tucked in the mix for texture, not to distract, keeping the essence of how the band originally started - acoustic. The songs are a mix of mostly covers of classic rock hits with a few originals. Though, I would have preferred an all covers album, as the originals are a bit weak in comparison. The 80's rock overly emotive & over-produced ballads don't always sit well beside the folksy slimmed down classics, feeling straight laced & by the book compared to Crosby, Stills & Nash. Even the one 80's cover, "Tonight I'm Falling", originally by TNT, seems a bit out of place next to the 70's grooves. In a different setting the originals would have been more interesting. Of historical note "More Now Than Ever" is one of the few songs on record with lyrics & music penned solely by Pitrelli, or at least all the credit is given to him. It's a sad love song heavy on keyboards with a soaring lead Pitrelli has become known for so well. But, outside of the originals, MW shows melodic rock at its best with interpretations that keep the spirit & the vibe of the originals but have their own touch. MW gives a scaled down more rock oriented kick to many of the covers. Chorus vocals, such as in "Love The One You're With", are now handed completely over to Harnell to sing, thus changing the focus of the songs. It's also great hearing Pitrelli in a mostly acoustic environment throwing out some delightful acoustic leads that fuse well known licks with his own famed style. At this point in his career hearing him with an acoustic guitar didn't happen enough. Listening to the originals & then the covers is a fun way to flesh out the MW experience, though they are all different enough to not need to be compared. Though, Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" in a rock context does sound a bit lifeless compared to the funky heavily textured original ... a reason not to compare & just enjoy.

Attention Deficit ~ The Idiot King (album review) ... Alex Skolnick strikes again from left field!

Style: instrumental, funk-rock, jazz-rock
Label: Magna Carta
Year: 2001
Home: n/a (disbanded)

Members: Alex Skolnick ~ guitars
Michael Manring ~ bass
Tim "Herb" Alexander ~ drums

While the outcomes don't always interest me as sometimes I feel they careen out of focus & are often one-off affairs that need more developing, I do greatly respect former Testament/Savatage guitarist Alex Skolnick who not not just refuses to sit in any box but destroy it completely more times then not ... oh, he's also a nice guy too having met him once. How many thrash guitarists do you know who have checked themselves into jazz guitar college courses? Well, there's been a few, but none have pursued a degree like Skolnick & none have gone on to make as many non-thrash albums albums as thrash ones. Though, like I said, I loved to see him develop a few more facets of his sound out over time versus a bunch of one-off 'here's a funk album, here's a jazz album.' AD is one of his many instrumental projects that brings together jazz funk & rock in a weird quasi-rock mix that might just be the highlight of Skolnick's non-thrash career. It's also one of the few developed ones, the trio having done three albums together, & while it may dip in the focus at times it gels musically in a way that makes up for that far more than Skolnick's other projects. AD includes experimental drummer Tim "Herb" Alexander formerly of Primus & master jazz bassist Michael Manring, on 10 string bass, who studied with Jaco Pastorius & has becomes the top session man for Windham Hill Records. They've done two albums together, this is their more focused second, & Alexander & Skolnick where on Manring's solo album Thonk & Manring & Skolnick where together in the cop-themed funk band Skol-Patrol. The time together shows. The problem I have with some of Skolnick's forays is that its ultimately about a lot of shredding & riffing, but in different styles, here he might lay back more than he ever has for his truest fusion jazz release turning in major quasi-rock riffs alongside light turns of phrase & giving the other boys lots of time. The outcome is a true group effort. Perhaps intentionally or not, it hearkens a bit of a slow moody Primus though this is because of Manring not Alexander. Alexander turns in atmospheric jazz drumming, I think of the late Paul Motion of the Bill Evans Trio, versus straight rock drumming. Alexander rides the wave of the beat instead of forcing it & cluttering it. Manring actually has one of those thick gritty sounds, perhaps Tony Levin might be a comparison for rockers & certainly Jaco's influence comes through, that's everything but what one expects to hear from a bass & you'll be shocked from his first notes. He creates this thick wall of sound that's often as upfront as Skolnick. Both AD albums are masterpieces of experimental jazz-funk-rock. Lots of space between the notes just the way I like them & certainly not anything you've come to expect from Skolnick, so two bonuses, plus AD introduced me to a new bass player so three bonuses. Folks listening will also be amazed by Manring & Alexander to the point where Skolnick is the least of your focus at time, as I said, true group effort. This is the album Skolnick went to school to make without a doubt. Sometimes soft & atmospheric, sometimes fast & furious, sometimes a bit rock, sometimes a bit jazz or funk. Skolnick fans shouldn't miss this for anything. Both albums are great, but I prefer this second one as it feels more group-cohesive & less experimental.

Savatage ~ Fight For The Rock (album review) ... Don't fight over this album!

Style: hard rock
Label: Atlantic
Year: 1986
Home: Florida

Members: Criss Oliva ~ guitar/b. vocals
Jon Oliva ~ vocals/piano
Johnny Lee Middleton ~ bass/b. vocals
Steve Wacholz ~ drums

Additional: Brent Daniels ~ b. vocals

 

Fight For The Rock is an interesting album. It's reputation often proceeding it into the room & doing more harm than good. Much of this reputation has spun off of not necessarily the music itself, but the history of the making of the album & the feelings of the band itself. But, I don't subscribe to the belief that whatever a band says about the album is the same opinion the listener should have of the album. So, while I may agree with some of the reputation I also believe it's given the album an unfair advantage that it can surely pull out from under if given a second chance. The general agreement is that Fight For The Rock is the worst album by Savatage - all agree: fans, critics & the band, who disown the album as much as they can, while none of the songs were performed live. The album would nearly destroy the band's reputation, let alone drive frontman Jon Oliva into alcoholism & leaving the band, while leading to producer/songwriter Paul O'Neill being brought in to rescue the struggling rockers. The main problem is that Oliva was hired as a songwriter for Atlantic records & when the previous Savatage album failed to earn enough money, the label forced Savatage to record his newest songs. Not having much control over their career, they acquiesced. Oliva in turns has decried the existence of the album ... though, he's done that since before the album was even recorded, & as so much of the animosity for the album comes from him in the long-term, though its not the best album its no monster, one must recognize his bias in judging it ... as much as mine as a fan & band biographer in wanting to try to give it a second chance before blanket agreeing with him. But, thus, Savatage ends up recording songs meant for other bands. But, there's something here that gets lost in translation by critics & Olivia himself - if Oliva was hired as a songwriter, a rare move by a label, that says something about the quality of his work. He's certainly not going to pen horrible songs for other bands. He's out to make a reputation, it's ironic the tide turned. So, essentially, these songs are actually not as bad as reputation says, but just not being interpreted by the right band. The result is like an album of cover tunes by bands that never covered the tunes. Sometimes this works & a band has success with a song written for someone else, but here it's mixed. The faults of the album domino effect making the result weaker than it might really be. It's not going to win any awards, but it may not deserve the complete demonizing that it gets. Certainly, if the band endorsed the album its legacy would be different. One problem is that Savatage had changed so much musically since their debut that at this point in time what is the Savatage sound? They may not even have known & thus are unable to put a strong enough stamp on the songs taking them away from the bands they were written for & making them a Savatage product. That's the real problem here. The late Criss Oliva was a great Randy Rhoads-eque guitarist, raw & over-playing at times. Here, he's turned into Bon Jovi light. The irony is that if one looks at his playing from the beginning this album stands out because of this change. He grew so much as a guitarist in a few short years. He's far from raw & unfocused here. Further, unlike earlier albums there's no general mood or feeling that permeates the whole album. Since the songs where written for others & Savatage hasn't stamped them enough the result feels like a compilation of songs taken from different record sessions. It's like a B-Sides collection, back when such things existed. As for being B-Sides ... it's not Oliva's worst collection of songs but it's not his strongest. At his best Oliva crafted dark songs of a personal flavor, such as "The Dungeons Are Calling", but he also had more than his fair share of bland love songs & shake your fist rock'n'roll songs. Here, half the songs are of the bland flavor. So, it's a collection of the weaker side of Savatage, not necessarily bad, just weak. Probably half the album is salvageable & worth a relisten ... a lot of peers of the time could only be so lucky. The dark story "Hyde" might be as close as he gets to a new "The Dungeons Are Calling", though the spoken opening is a good idea but poorly executed & the bad production the album suffers from pulls the song down into imitative realms. The dark undertones "Crying For Love" & "Lady In Disguise" are similar, but are moments of glimmering. If the entire album was like these tracks history would be very different for the boys. The magic with Savatage is that earlier albums featured bland songs but the mood & playing made up for it. Here even the intricate textures that are lost in the personality crisis that laces the album. It's interesting that a remake of "Out On The Streets" is included, originally on their debut Sirens. It's far more polished & over a minute shorter. It's not so bad, but the bland lyrics come through while on the Sirens original it doesn't sound so bland. Covers of Badfinger's "Day After Day" & Free's "Wishing Well" are good, but returns to my earlier thought about this being like a collection of songs previously released from different albums ... these are culled from tribute albums. Good songs but strange filler for such a prolific composer. They aren't standout singles so what's the point of their inclusion? Also of note, is that this is the debut of bassist Johnny Lee Middleton, the only member to appear on every forthcoming Savatage album, who gets a few writing credits right off the bat. If anything, the album begs some questions: How far could have Criss gone as a guitarist? If Savatage hadn't done this what album would have come in its place? If it hadn't been a failure what would have happened instead & would Criss still be alive, being in a different place at a different time? Would Paul O'Neill have come into the picture if it had been successful? The ground-breaking Hall Of The Mountain King followed, changing their career path & sound, but would that just be another Grieg song if things had been different for Fight For The Rock? Savatage is a band of what if's. Fight For The Rock proves that point.

Savatage ~ Gutter Ballet (album review) ... I dare you to choreograph this ballet!

Style: prog-rock, heavy metal
Label: Atlantic
Year: 1989
Home: Florida

Members: Jon Oliva ~ vocals/piano
Criss Oliva ~ guitars
Steve Wacholz ~ drums
Johnny Lee Middleton ~ bass

Additional: Bob Kinkel ~ keyboards

 

  Gutter Ballet is often touted as the moment Savatage went from a heavy metal band to a prog-rock band with epic inclinations. But, this isn't really true. With a good listen of their earlier albums one can hear the pieces were being laid down since day one. Founder Jon Oliva always wanted something that was more than ordinary metal band. But, one has to get out the door, build a reputation, move from a small recording budget to a large one, develop out a sound. It's a process. Also, Paul O'Neill was introduced as producer who dovetailed Oliva's weaknesses, while able to stand back from the music. But, the real difference here is that Oliva was driven. The previous album Fight For The Rock, often called the lowest point of Savatage's output, was a collection of songs Oliva had written for others & was forced to record by the label. Oliva now was feeling desperate & was ripe for a spark of inspiration. That inspiration came through watching the Broadway show Phantom Of The Opera. Oliva could now present an example of the feeling he wanted to achieve to his guitar playing brother, Criss, & O'Neill. It makes all the difference, as before Savatage might have sounded like a take on Meat Loaf meets Randy Rhoads, the band now introduced complicated arrangements & epics. The instrumental classical interpretations are still in the mix (i.e. "Temptation Revelation"), having been introduced in the earlier release Hall Of The Mountain King, not yet a cliched & worn out feature as they would become with Trans-Siberian Orchestra. While Oliva still churns out dark lyrics, but now he pushes his vocals to the max in every direction. Criss Oliva still churns out metal riffs that deserve more credit than he's given, but the range is more than ever including an acoustic instrumental (i.e. "Silk & Steel") & not always being the top most instrument in the mix. Gutter Ballet is a band wanting to make a statement. Such songs as the title track & the under-rated "Hounds" & "When The Crowds Are Gone" are indeed statements. There's even an inclusion of a story stretched over the final three songs (i.e. "The Unholy", "Summer's Rain", "Thorazine Shuffle"). But, Gutter Ballet not the grand statement it sets out to be. It's certainly a highlight of the Criss Oliva era, not that Savatage ever really did anything embarrassing or clichéd, but it's only the beginning. There are a few weak tracks that sound like they were composed in pre-Phantom writing sessions & give the album a bit of a bumpy ride as it sounds like two bands, one with a piano as its foremost instrument a la Queen (i.e. "Gutter Ballet", "Temptation Revelation", "When The Crowds Are Gone") & one with typical driven guitar riffs (i.e. "Of Rage & War", "Silk & Steel", "She's In Love", "Hounds"). Oliva pushes his vocals into the direction that would stay with him but sometimes he reaches the peak of his range to a painful listen (i.e. "When The Crowds Are Gone", "Of Rage & War"). The final three song suite, from now on Savatage would make a point of doing concept albums, is not a strong suite as the songs sound too much alike & fall into the riffing style that Savatage would move away from on some level. While in the download era one is not likely to be able to tell just from the lyrics that the songs go together. But, Savatage was giving it their all & more & on that's what's required to eventually find the comfort zone. Later albums such as Streets: A Rock Opera & the Al Pitrelli era of albums would smooth out the hurdles & ironically retire the band in the process as it morphed into the very different Trans-Siberian Orchestra. On later tours the title track would be turned into a vocal duet between Oliva & baritone Zak Stevens & later tenor Damond Jiniya. The change is minor but it completely turns the song into a monster & shows what might have been if the band had pursued such vocals on later albums. It's also the video I share with anyone when they ask why I like heavy metal - it has everything. It's strange that not even Trans-Siberian Orchestra has pursued the duel vocal approach given its array of strong singers, perhaps they will as they are currently re-recording Gutter Ballet.

Backhill Project ~ Tribute To Savatage (EP) (album review) ... Savatage ballet!

Style: tribute, prog-metal, hard rock
Label: self-released
Year: 2010
Home: Finland

Members: Kimmo Peramaki ~ vocals/guitars/keyboards/drum programming
Mikael Kontolampi ~ bass

This tribute to Florida prog-metal legends Savatage by the BP is not as bad as the Return Of The Mountain King compilation by an array of European underground prog-metal bands or the one copycat album by the Trans-Sylvanian Orchestra ... it also isn't the best, but getting far closer than probably any tribute before it. Albeit, really, nobody can do a Savatage song quite right with the same spirit ... even including off-shoots Jon Oliva's Pain, Circle II Circle & Savatage's later incarnation as Trans-Siberian Orchestra ... & that's why no Savatage tribute is a spotless affair. Criss Oliva was raw & rough with his Randy Rhoads licks flying, so raw it hurt at times, while later guitarists Alex Skolnick & Al Pitrelli had a long background of session & lead guitar work spanning the musical range that is hard to duplicate by a young player. Nobody has brother Jon Oliva's theatrical voice & few Zak Stevens deep nuanced deep croon. Then there's producer Paul O'Neill who brought prog-rock & classical music together in a fusion not heard by Dream Theater, Rainbow or Yngwie Malmsteen, ELP or any other classically infused musician. Maybe someone can imitate part of the equation, but there's so many variables that makes Savatage an enigmatic entity that it's impossible to truly imitate. One can get the notes right but the spirit lacks. While the songs loose everything when disassembled to become a new entity & so far no band has tried that approach. The problem is that imitation over recreation is a fine line to walk, whoever the band being imitated or doing the imitating. BP is the solo work of guitarist/vocalist Kimmo Peramaki of Finland's Masquerage plus bassist Mikael Kontolampi. Imitating Savatage puts a lot on Kimmo's shoulders & its a bit too much. It's not that he doesn't turn out four great songs, the problem is he falls under the weight. The songs are interesting, but don't quite hit the same emotional highs as the originals. He hits the notes, but doesn't get the soul inside the songs. It seems that the best tributes are when a band just does a song or two on an album, which has seen lots of successful outcomes, versus giving over an entire album to a single band. The biggest problem is that Kimmo is not the vocalist of either Oliva or Stevens. While Savatage is a prog-metal with not a hint of L.A. hair metal but in Kimmo's fingers it sounds like a hair metal band. There's a poseur show-off quality typical of that genre. But, it should be said in Kimmo's defense he knows the challenge of copying his favorite band. As he writes in the linear notes notes: "[Savatage's] music is not only energy, it's pure art! ... In my opinion, nobody can learn & play the guitar solos like Criss did." The album is offered free so there's no reason not to look for it & draw your own conclusion, but largely only fans of Savatage, BP or Masquerage will be interested. If nothing else its just nice seeing someone give tribute to Savatage, who greatly deserve more than they've received. Songs covered include: "Gutter Ballet", "Power Of The Night", "Edge Of Thorns" & "Strange Wings".

Savatage ~ Live Japan '94 (aka Live In Japan) (DVD review) ... The rising sun of Savatage!

Style: prog-rock, heavy metal
Label: SPV
Year: 1994
Home: Florida/New York

Concert location: Club Citta Kawasaki, Tokyo, Japan
Year Recorded: November 1994
Length: 95 minutes
Bonus Features: none

Members: Jon Oliva ~ lead vocals/piano/rhythm guitar
Zak Stevens ~ lead vocals
Alex Skolnick ~ guitar
Johnny Lee Middleton ~ bass
Jeff Plate ~ drums

Kicking off with the fierce "Taunting Cobras" followed by "Edge Of Thorns", from the albums Handful Of Rain & Edge Of Thorns respectively ... with those two songs one should not anymore wonder why Savatage is my favorite band. These two songs pretty much set out everything that is great about Savatage at this point in their career: non-typical lyrics that you can sing-along with, neo-classical prog-metal arrangements with not a whiff of hairspray pretentiousness, great guitar playing & strong singing that isn't the usual 80's screaming & an array of studio albums churning out cult hit after cult hit. At this point in their career Savatage had tragically lost their founding guitarist Criss Oliva in a car accident, his heart-broken brother Jon had handed over the reigns of the band to producer Paul O'Neil who turned it into a progressive rock opera beast, while all other original members had moved on to be replaced with very different rockers including a singer with the voice of Thor & a famed thrash guitarist. This concert finds the band on the last night of touring Handful Of Rain that features Savatage in their second or third era depending on how one wants to count transitions. Fronting the ensemble is still rookie singer Zak Stevens, who'd later form Circle II Circle. He sings with amazing vocal chops that are deep & powerful, yet nuanced, without following into any of the rock clichés of growls or screams. Original drummer Steve Wacholz was on the album but replaced before the tour by Jeff Plate. The rhythm section is rounded out by second bassist Johnny Lee Middleton. Both of these guys would follow Savatage's morph into the less venomous but more profitable Trans-Siberian Orchestra ... the metal band for grandparents & kids alike. On the album Oliva only contributes some keyboards & is the omni-present co-songwriter, having left in a alcoholic stupor & working on his Romanov opera & Doctor Butcher with former Savatage rhythm guitarist Chris Caffery. Oliva is not even given a photo in the linear notes & with him gone its hard to call this Savatage anymore as there's few obvious similiarities with the group that turned out the proto-black metal treasures Sirens & The Dungeons Are Calling. Though, really, what the band became, as can be seen on this tour in some of the classically-tinged piano interludes, with Paul O'Neill writing & producing is the vision Oliva had in the beginning but was unable to reach on his own ... it's just a shame that it had to happen through tragedy. Oliva returned for this tour, even singing lead vocals with Stevens after a 2 years absence from the role. Replacing the late Criss Oliva for the album & tour was top-notch thrash guitarist Alex Skolnick who'd recently left Testament. After this tour he'd move on, replaced by Al Pitrelli, though would return for Trans-Siberian Orchestra where his second hat as a jazz guitarist had a better fit. Here Skolnick is playing both his creations & those of Criss Oliva, but gives all of them his own touch. Criss was very much in the mold of Randy Rhoads with a bit too much energy, while Skolnick is more of a prog-metal guy & the distinction is obvious. But, Skolnick is nothing but a worthy successor & there is no disappointment. Because his time with Savatage was so brief Handful Of Rain sometimes gets lost in the shuffle between the multi-year terms of Oliva & Pitrelli. But, this might be their last in your face album & certainly their most progressive before going full on classical & commercial with the follow-up Dead Winter Dead. All but three songs from the album (i.e. "Visions", "Symmetry" & "Alone You Breathe") appear on this concert making this a great introduction to the brief Skolnick days that should be anything but the footnote it has become. One can only wonder what would have happened if he'd stayed & been given the chance to create an album with a more active Oliva plus Chris Caffery on rhythm. This video is the first official video release by Savatage ... it would also prove to be their only video release, ironically featuring a band that was essentially in line-up flux, & it is by the grace of bootleggers that the rest of Savatage's days have been preserved. It's a shame that this is their only official video as it's an outstanding performance. Though, honestly, this is not the most visually exciting band preferring the stand & sing approach over the go crazy & scream tactic. But, then, it's no different than Megadeth, Metallica or any thrash band, all who Savatage had opened for many times. L.A. hair metal gave standing still a bad name. But, one doesn't need physical distractions as the music is heavy, the band tight & the arrangements sounding amazing transferred to the stage, which isn't always the case. The only bad part is that Oliva, grown quite heavy, wanders the edge of the stage playing piano with but bad fingering & playing rhythm guitar on an upside down right handed guitar. He's a shadow of the man that was given the name the Mountain King & once strutted the stage like Meat Loaf meets Ozzy. But, Oliva only returned because Atlantic Records wouldn't support his new project Doctor Butcher & Savatage at the same time. As he's said repeatedly, with the death of his brother came the death of Savatage in anything but name only so there is a sense that he is a sideman in his own band. But, he gets a moment to shine with "Gutter Ballet" now turned into a duet, which would remain that way for ensuing tours featuring Damond Jinya taking over the lead role. The new arrangement far exceeds Oliva's sole vocals on the original & makes one wonder what if it had been like if more duets had been proposed. It's surprising that the band has never seen the magic in this set-up even through Trans-Siberian Orchestra where the array of great, if not as distinctive as Oliva, vocalists make this even more potentially powerful. No bonus features as it this released only on VHS, with the label sold before a re-released on DVD could happen. It would take a decade to be available on DVD & then as a bonus disc on the greatest hits compilation Still The Orchestra Plays: Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2 

Savatage ~ Power Of The Night (album review) ... Breaking out from the dungeons!

Style: heavy metal, prog-rock
Label: Atlantic
Year: 1985 Home: Florida

Members: Jon Oliva ~ vocals/keyboards
Criss Oliva ~ guitars
Keith Collins ~ bass
Steve Wacholz ~ drums

Power Of The Night is the third album by legendary prog-metallers Savatage, though in some ways the second as both Sirens & The Dungeons Are Calling are from the same exhaustive three day session. This is also the final with the original line-up. Being that the first two Savatage albums are from the same session there's no growth in the music, so its here that we first see the band move a step forward ... & a slight step back. That step forward is most obvious in the slick commercial polish that graces the album via a bigger budget & more time in the studio courtesy of their new label Atlantic, though the Randy Rhoads-esque riffing & Dio-esque rock opera singing are still there courtesy of brothers Jon & the late Criss Oliva. Jon gives all his trademark growls, screams, force & power unlike few other singers on the scene then, attempting to do more than just sing but create vocal magic & move heavy metal into the realm of prog-rock. There's also a step forward in that guitar riffs are now more focused & tighter showing the development of Criss's playing. But, with the slick polish & tighter playing comes with the removal of any overall feeling & mood, while the roughness that made the previous releases feel like a climb out of the Florida swamp is washed away. It's still a dark & gloomy band, but not dark, gloomy & wild man raw. Further, the lyrics are much weaker than what came before. Insted of creating more songs like the fantastic epic "The Dungeons Are Calling", a song actually about drug addiction, songwriter Jon Oliva has taken more to songs of fist raising poser rock'n'roll & sex. There were some of these on Sirens & are the weakest tracks, so its a shame he goes in that direction more than not here. He's one of the most under-rated wordsmiths in heavy metal ... with Power Of The Night not helping his reputation much. Though, "Unusual" is a haunting love ballad of a strange woman that would fit perfectly on MTV if given the chance, let alone opens the door to discovering Jon's lyrical talents, making up where some of the others songs fail. As for those failures it's like he didn't really have anything to sing about or he was trying to blend in more with the surrounding music scene, while what would eventually make him a cult legend was his not blending in. In terms of not blending in there are some hints of where Savatage would later go. Original bassist Keith Collins has said that Jon Olivia always wanted the rock opera outcome that would later transform Savatage into the enigmatic Trans-Siberian Orchestra but was unable to get there on his own terms. This vision makes itself first known here, as hindsight displays. Check out the dramatic keyboard break on "Warriors", while "Fantasy Of Youth" has the same feeling that would come to dominate the ballads in the years ahead. The final track "In The Dream" ends the album on a tremendous high with the biggest ballad yet created by Savatage & its nothing but early Trans-Siberian Orchestra. It's not to be missed. If all one hears are these few cited songs one will certainly walk away inspired. Savatage is a band that does inspire & that's what keeps it alive fifteen years after its death while so many other bands lie forgotten. Given its the original line-up there's also a different feeling in the rhythm section. Keith Collins, though he's quoted as saying he's not the player his successor Johnny Lee Middleton is, has a style that's more driving in a Geezer Butler style, versus Middleton who shadows more & throws in flourishes. The difference might be indiscernible to non-musicians. Collins would actually have some of his parts overdubbed by Criss Oliva when the brothers weren't happy with the result. This was a fact Collins wouldn't discover until 2011 from a note I wrote to him. In an interesting footnote the producer of the album is the same that would go on to do Megadeth's classic groundbreaking Countdown To Extinction. "Hard For Love" & "Skull Session" earned a parental advisory sticker for the album increasing sales, a technique employed on the follow-up Fight For The Rock. 

Savatage ~ The Dungeons Are Calling (EP) (album review) ... The crypt keeper awaits!

Style: heavy metal, black metal, thrash, speed metal
Label: Metal Blade
Year: 1985
Home: Florida

Members: ~ Jon Oliva ~ vocals
Criss Oliva ~ guitars/b. vocals
Keith Collins ~ bass/b. vocals
Steve Wacholz ~ drums

The first two Savatage albums, Sirens & its follow-up two years later The Dungeons Are Calling, were actually recorded in the same three day marathon session. Although the music is essentially the same on the two releases the choice in what songs were given to what album makes a big difference. The both have a few weak tracks but due to its shorter length of only six songs Dungeons has a tighter focus, feels heavier because of it, is less experimental & has the added appeal of seemingly being thematically arranged around dark topics such as torture, witches, hell. It's lyrically black metal, though the songs don't fall into the typical approach as frontman/composer Jon Oliva is actually a storyteller in disguise lacing tales that feel like they come out of his own life, with the witches & dungeons only literary devices to discuss things like drug addiction, with his equally enchanting Alice Cooper-esque vocalizing. Some have called Sirens one of the earliest examples of death metal, which by association includes this album since they are both from the same session. But, really it's a combination of many of the metal forms that were floating around & a desire to just play fast, furious & venomous like no one had before. It can only be blamed on marketing & distribution that Savatage didn't become bigger than Metallica, who were going for similar sounds, or other early speed metal bands. For those familiar with the later prog-metal Savatage ... or the Savatage after the death of guitarist Criss Oliva & the introduction of composer/producer Paul O'Neill & would include guitarists Chris Caffery, Alice Cooper's Al Pitrelli & Testament's Alex Skolnick ... this is really a completely different band. Some might even call this the true Savatage as it's the Savatage as helmed by Jon Oliva with his & the vision of his guitar playing brother to guide him, sink or swim. Though, surely it would be swim as one listen will belay that Criss Oliva very well could have been the next Randy Rhoads if given the big break & a little time to polish up his playing. He's raw & wild in a way that wasn't dominating the hair metal charts at the time culling from Accept, Judas Priest & Venom. For those who are curious about early Savatage if you are familiar with the Oliva/Caffery side project Doctor Butcher or Jon Oliva's Pain this is a short leap. For those who know Savatage via its current incarnation as Trans-Siberian Orchestra, in which Oliva doesn't perform with the band, The Dungeons Are Calling has a similar sense of vocal theatrics but this is the heavy metal that TSO just poses as without ever actually pushing itself to fist-pumping levels. There's a few weaker tracks such as probably the most sex-laden song Savatage ever did "The Whip", but this is due to more to the shallow lyrical topic than anything else as it actually contains some great guitar slinging that current metal fans would fall in love with immediately ... if Savatage was still a viable entity in the current metal community. The later Special Edition release includes remastered songs & bonus tracks making it worth getting.

Trans-Siberian Orchestra ~ Christmas Eve & Other Stories (album review) ... Bosnian war stories!

Style: holiday, heavy metal, instrumental, hard rock
Label: Atlantic
Year: 1996
Home: n/a

Members: Bob Kinkel ~ keyboards
Al Pitrelli ~ guitars/bass
Paul O'Neill ~ rhythm guitars
Johnny Lee Middleton ~ bass
Jon Oliva ~ keyboards/bass
Jeff Plate ~ drums
Tommy Farese, John Margolis, Marlene Danielle, Michael Fawcette, Ken Williams, Babi Floyd ~ lead vocals

Additional: Mary Wooten ~ cello
John Clark ~ french horn
Chris Caffery ~ rhythm guitar
Zak Stevens, Nancy Jackson, Peggy Harley, Latasha Spencer, Danielle Lander, Jeffrey Stackhouse, Timonty Carosi, Peter Valentine ~ b. vocals
Joseph Murray, Adrian Ross, Nigel Tangredi, Warren Wilson, Beth Butler, Cabiria Jacobson, Rachel Rosenfield, Caroline Ross ~ children's choir

In the 80's if anyone had said that the struggling Florida metal band Savatage would eventually become one of the most popular, let alone physically largest bands in music with two independent groups on the road, everyone probably would have laughed including the band itself. But, it's one of the more unique histories, transformations & successes in the rock archives, let alone spawning one of the most popular Christmas rock albums a musician could hope for. Briefly, with new New York guitarist Al Pitrelli, who would later spend two years kicking it the thrash way with Megadeth, Savatage recorded the excellent concept album Dead Winter Dead based upon the Bosnian War, which Atlantic Records largely considered the last chance for the band to break into needed commercial heights. The instrumental "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)", musically representing a brave lone celloist in the middle of a battlefield, gave a modern metal edge to the traditional holiday song "Carol of the Bells". This wasn't the first time the band had given traditional &/or classical music metal flourishes, let alone the tradition extended back to Led Zeppelin, Yes, Emerson, Lake & Palmer & others. The single became the success the band was looking for ... sort of. It's climb up the charts was marred by the band's metal sounding name that frightened radio DJs. TSO was created to boost the single past preconceived notions, though it was actually the same line-up but with rotating vocalists, a slightly less venomous stage act & a prominent composing role for Savatage session keyboards Bob Kinkel. "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)" was reissued & given a new story about an angel looking for something done on Christmas Day that represents everything good. At one point he flies over Bosnia & hears a lone celloist. Christmas Eve & Other Stories pushed everything Savatage had tried before to a new level - a complex storyline as always courtesy of Paul O'Neill, a positive moral message of a strong Christian nature, radio friendly metal, operatic vocals & well-known classical/traditional songs given a metal twist. The jury has remained out, despite numerous albums later both holiday themed & not, on what exactly TSO is. Many metal fans don't consider it's heavily choreographed light show & radio friendly tunes true metal, while purist classical fans cry sacrilege ... albeit, honestly, it doesn't take much for either group to cry out in discontent. As for everyone else listening the band has been praised to the highest & what is undeniable is that TSO appeals to the widest age bracket that any band could ever hope for, from children to grandparents, creating something for everyone ... even the purists if they give it a chance. Christmas Eve & Other Stories was focused on re-releasing "Sarajevo" a second year & hoping it would be a chart success again, but was essentially a one-off project working alongside Savatage. As much as Savatage wouldn't have been able to predict the creation of TSO, none of them would have predicted that Savatage would also eventually completely morph into TSO. But, there's no Christmas album like this & it remains a favorite holiday album over a decade later & the highlight of the TSO catalog, let alone one of the best Christmas rock albums made ... so it's really no surprise that TSO would eclipse its root band. The lyrics are sometimes a bit maudlin & cliched & the storyline takes itself too serious, but there's no questioning the widest range of musical styles any metal band could ever experiment with on a single album, let alone the high caliber of playing & singing across the board. The biggest loss, though, is Savatage vocalist Zak Stevens relegated to the chorus, as he's one of the most under-rated powerhouses in rock & his operatic vocals are perfect for this project. But, luckily, he's found new success in Circle II Circle where he also gets more time in the spotlight. Speaking of lyrics, the biggest hurdle with the album is that the 2 page synopsis in the linear notes often puts emphasis on events that get only a passing reference in song, if not skipped at all, while the songs often focus heavily on events passed over in the synopsis, which also suffers from stilted writing. The story can't be fully understood via music along, but this is a problem shared with all the Savatage/TSO albums finding a climax with Savatage's "The Wake Of Magellan" where the songs were written & then a story put over it afterwards. On later albums & on future tours TSO would eventually flesh out its ranks before expanding into two bands to bring the show to as many cities as possible in their short touring season, but on this debut it was still a small band. You don't have to wonder who is playing guitar or piano on what track as would be the case later. TSO is still a small musical unit plodding forward with joy but also not yet sure of how far they can go with their new experiment. It's quite a contrast to 2009's double album Night Castle with 26 musicians, strings & a large choir. But, that being said, for Christmas albums this is an undoubtable highlight because it has just enough solos for the rockers but is melodic enough for everyone else, while everyone wants to sing along.