Written by Irritable Ted on 10.11.2009 at 13:47

Loved Gutter Ballet and Streets with Jon, they were the first Savatage albums I heard. Not too keen on the albums after Jon left, but when he returned Dead Winter Dead and Wake Of Magellen were real epic stuff having 2 vocalists made it like some big musical, shame Poets and Madmen was a bit weak.

Jon Oliva never left Savatage, he gave up singing in favour of Zachary Stevens. When Stevens left, he took vocals duty again, that's all. Jon Oliva is the essential member in Savatage IMO, he was the driving force of this band, i think.

Pretty much finished with obsessively listening to their whole discography. I swear, I don't think I've ever heard a band with such a consistently solid and varied discography with 8+ albums total. They have easily become one of my favorite bands. I LOVE Jon's vocals. Zac was a good replacement, but I hate how sometimes his voice gets in songs like Lights Out and Taunting Cobras... It makes the songs sound REALLY generic (which is a huge problem with him being in such a unique band). He does make up for it with his beautiful vocals in Follow Me and the AWESOME canons in songs like Not What You See. My favorite albums as of now are Streets, Sirens, and Poets & Madmen. And my least favorites being Fight For Rock and Dead Winter Dead.

Zac has such an emotional voice, though, which really carries the stories on albums like Edge of Thorns and Wake of Magellan. I like all their albums, but lean towards the progressive stuff rather than the straight ahead metal of the first few albums. Why this band were not bigger is beyond me, given their ability in playing and arranging -I can understand why Jon is a littly touchy on the subject whe you consider their success versus TSO's.

My favourites are Hall of the mountain king, Gutter ballet and Streets.
Not crazy about followers, though I must admit I never spent hours and hours on them...
For those who have not yet, you can land a hear on his "band" Jon Oliva's Pain. 4 albums released already, personal favourite so far being Maniacal renderings (2006). Last one Festival (2010) seems an improvement over Global Warming (2008) though it was very far from mediocre, so...
Jon Oliva is also encountering massive success with his project Trans-siberian Orchestra in the USA mainly, but I heard too little of it to have any opinion on it.

Written by KryiisKarl on 09.09.2010 at 22:10

Jon Oliva is also encountering massive success with his project Trans-siberian Orchestra in the USA mainly, but I heard too little of it to have any opinion on it.

It's more similar to Dead Winter Dead kinda Savatage than anything else, actually. You probably wouldn't dig their stuff too much if your not a fan of Savatage's later albums.

Written by KryiisKarl on 09.09.2010 at 22:10

My favourites are Hall of the mountain king, Gutter ballet and Streets.

Yes, these are some of the best metal albums ever released.

@ Fat & Sassy : Thanks for comparing so then yes, probably won't put that project among my priorities

@ ForeverDarkWoods : Yep, agree, and I think a good remastering might give them a second youth as I always considering production being Savatage's Achille's heel (same for Jon Oliva's Pain if you ask me).

I know a lot of bands, i like a lot of bands, and don't like a bunch of others. But i must say, i don't known any band with a solid and consistent carrer as savatage have.
Since Hall of the Mountain King they did nothing but grown up, in a musical way.
My favorite album must be Gutter Ballet, followed by Wake of Magellan, Streets, Dead Winter Dead, Handful of Rain, Poets and Madman, Edge of Thorns, HOTMK, Power of the Night, Sirens, Dungeons are Calling and Fight For the Rock.
A shame they are split up... but i dream that they will return, release a ass-kicking full lenght album, with a bombastic concept and the most amazing melodies. And then a perfect triple cd, with the best 30 - 40 songs of the band.
Madness Reigns in the Hall of the Mountain King!

Hall of the Mountain King and Sirens are my two favorite albums by these guys. I'm not too much of a fan of their newer progressive metal stuff, but that stuff's alright too. More of a fan of the early power/heavy Savatage.



The song that got me into these guys, still one of my favorites by them to this day.

And their song "Out on The Streets" helped me through some tough times for sure.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QkLt5kWXTmg&feature=related

"Another sleepless night,concrete paradise"
when we talk about lyrics.......

What an amazing, under-appreciated metal band! Songs like "Holocaust" and "24 Hours Ago" are heavy as all hell! Others like "Strange Wings" and "By the Grace of the Witch" are far more melodic with borderline pop sensibilities. Criss Oliva was really one of the best metal guitarists of his, or any, era. Where would you all rank him amongst the 2nd tier of metal lead guitarists like Kerry King, Andy LaRocque, Dimebag Darrell? Or should he be ranked with the likes of David Murray, Glenn Tipton, Kirk Hammett and Dave Mustaine? My opinion is that he is clearly not as accomplished technically, however he plays with as much or more feeling than anybody out there. His often-raw and unique solo style produces some of the more memorable licks in the metal world.

Well first tier to me is based on skill, that would exclude Kirk Hammett and Dave Mustaine, and Murray from the first tier. It would include Rusty Cooley, Broderick, and other rather extreme shredders. I Think you misunderstand what is "Techincal".

That said Criss was quite a bit more skilled than King, and Darrel.

I love songs like "SIrens", "Holocaust", and "Edge of thorns".

Written by Yasmine on 05.05.2011 at 05:32

Well first tier to me is based on skill, that would exclude Kirk Hammett and Dave Mustaine, and Murray from the first tier. It would include Rusty Cooley, Broderick, and other rather extreme shredders. I Think you misunderstand what is "Techincal".

Yeah, when people talk about musicians in that way, I think along the lines of virtuosos too. But I mean, that doesn't mean I don't think that makes them better musicians either. So in that respect, I think Criss may not be able to "shred" like... say... Paul Gilbert or whoever, but he wrote more memorable riffs and solos than not, something I think virtuosos can have a hard time doing. I would rank Criss up there with the best. He CONSISTENTLY wrote some great catchy heavy metal music, while at the same time keeping his work tasteful and fairly classy (with the help of Jon on keys)... in a sense. Nothing too lame or cheesy (which is tough to avoid when writing ballads, I should add). =3

I agree, ballads can get lost easily lol

Yeah and not to mention that as a band, at least, their music is incredibly diverse across their discography, yet oh so solid. I think most heavy metal fans would at least agree with that, and well... you can't say the same about most "legendary" heavy metal outfits who have released numerous albums.

Absolutely true, they are very very diverse, and I do really like a lot of their work.