Savatage

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Savatage
Savatage at Wacken Open Air 2015
Savatage at Wacken Open Air 2015
General information
Genre (s) Progressive metal , hard rock
founding 1981, 2014
resolution 2007
Website www.savatage.com
Founding members
Jon Oliva
Christopher "Criss" Oliva († 1993)
Steve Wacholz (until 1994)
Keith Collins (until 1986)
Current occupation
Singing, keyboard, piano
 Jon Oliva
singing
 Zachary Stevens (1992–2000, since 2014)
guitar
 Chris Caffery (1988–1990 & since 1995)
guitar
 Al Pitrelli (1995–2000, since 2014)
Drums
 Jeff Plate (since 1994)
bass
 Johnny Lee Middleton (since 1986)
former members
singing
 Damond Jiniya (2001-2002)
guitar
 Alex Skolnick (1994–1995)
Live support
guitar
 Jack Frost (2001-2002)
guitar
 Jeff Waters (2002)
Keyboards
 John Zahner (1991-1992)
Keyboards, guitar
 Wes Garren (1993)
Drums
 Andy James (1993)

Savatage is a power metal band from Tampa , Florida . Her musical style also processed classical , progressive and musical influences on later albums .

Savatage are best known for their extensive and very long concept albums as well as their successful side project Trans-Siberian Orchestra .

meaning

The band existed for more than 20 years with a changing line-up and has gained a large following in the metal scene . Jon Oliva , the former lead singer , still today's bandleader / keyboardist and alongside Paul O'Neill main songwriter , was able to achieve cult status in this scene and is nicknamed Mountain King after the song " Hall Of The Mountain King " among fans .

The guitar playing of Jon Olivas' brother Christopher "Criss" Oliva , who died in 1993, and lead guitarist up to and including the "Edge of Thorns" album, was formative for the band and established a style that clearly set Savatage apart from other bands on the American power metal scene .

Savatage are particularly known for their concept albums, which are stylistically reminiscent of musicals and are also known as rock operas , such as "Streets" (1991), "Dead Winter Dead" (1995) or "The Wake of Magellan" (1997), which often contain elements of classical works ( partly interpreted on modern instruments). For this reason Savatage are sometimes assigned to progressive metal , especially in the USA . Characteristic for Savatage are the textual concepts, whose intellectual father is the producer of Savatage and quasi-band member (without stage presence) Paul O'Neill, among others tour guitarist of the musicals Jesus Christ Superstar and Hair .

The members of Savatage engaged and are involved in the side projects Doctor Butcher , Jon Oliva's Pain and Trans-Siberian Orchestra . Trans-Siberian Orchestra became known in the USA through several Christmas albums and a concept album about Beethoven .

Band history

The early years

In 1981 the brothers Jon and Criss Oliva founded the band Avatar together with the drummer "Doc" Steve Wacholz and the bassist Keith Collins . After the band initially only made a name for themselves in the Florida underground and was able to record two tracks for a local sampler LP, they released the EP "City Beneath The Surface" in 1983, which is now a collector's item. For legal reasons, the band renamed itself to Savatage (according to English Wikipedia a mixture of Savage and Avatar; the name of the Black Sabbath album "Sabotage" was incorporated into the word creation "Savatage") and published their debut album under this name " Sirens ". In 1984 the mini album " The Dungeons Are Calling " was released. Both albums were released on the independent Combat Records label until the band signed with Atlantic Records in 1984 . In 1985 " Power of the Night " followed and the band went on tour for the first time. In 1986 Johnny Lee Middleton took over bass, opening the line-up carousel. In the same year “Fight For The Rock”, recorded under chaotic circumstances in London, was released, a futile attempt by the record company to find a wider commercial audience. Members of the band described the album as a nightmare. With this album, Savatage toured Europe for the first time as the opening act for Motörhead and met the later producer Paul O'Neill .

Growing success

Paul O'Neill became the band's producer at the request of the record company . With his participation, the album " Hall of the Mountain King " was created. The band's first music video was shot for the title track. In 1988 Chris Caffery was hired as rhythm guitarist for the band's live performances and the video for the song "24 Hours Ago" (from the "Hall of the Mountain King" album) was shot. In 1989 Caffery was declared an official member of the band and the album " Gutter Ballet " followed. Although Caffery was now part of the band, it was revealed from unofficial sources that he had not played a single note on this album and that the entire album had been recorded by Criss Oliva. In 1990 there was excessive touring, the videos for "Gutter Ballet" and "When The Crowds Are Gone" were created. Caffery left the band. In 1991 Savatage wrote the concept album " Streets - A Rock Opera " together with her producer O'Neill , some of which had already been worked out as a musical by O'Neill in 1979 . Videos were shot for "Jesus Saves" and "New York City Don't Mean Nothing", but the latter was never released. In 1992 Jon Oliva had to hand over the position of singer to Zachary "Zak" Stevens due to vocal problems. The band played a "farewell concert" for Jon, who then wanted to retire from touring for a certain period of time. This was Jon and Criss Oliva's last show on a stage. It took place in Tampa on June 13th and ex-bassist Keith Collins played along. The 1993 album "Edge Of Thorns" was recorded with Zachary Stevens. More videos were created for the songs "Edge Of Thorns" and "Sleep". In October of that year, Criss Oliva was killed in a car accident through no fault of her own near Tampa.

After Criss Oliva's death

In 1994 the album " Handful of Rain " was released, which is dedicated to the band member who died the year before and was largely recorded by Jon Oliva and Paul O'Neill alone. As a replacement for Criss Oliva, Alex Skolnick was recruited by Testament as a guitarist. The band recorded another video for the title song of the album. Jeff Plate replaced Wacholz on drums on the following tour. A concert in Tokyo is being recorded and will later be released as live video and CD under the title “Japan Live '94”. Jon Oliva and Chris Caffrey are releasing an album of their Doctor Butcher project in Europe , on which Oliva was vocalist for the first time since 1992. In 1995 Skolnick was replaced by guitarists Chris Caffery and Al Pitrelli . With them the band recorded " Dead Winter Dead ", a concept album about the war in Yugoslavia . A video was recorded from the album for the song "One Child". The success of the instrumental piece “Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12-24)” inspired O'Neill and Jon Oliva to found the Trans-Siberian Orchestra ( TSO for short ) in 1996 to record the concept album “Christmas Eve And Other Stories” with many guest musicians , which also contains the track "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12-24)". In 1996 Jon Oliva made a guest appearance with the superstars of the then World Wrestling Federation, now World Wrestling Entertainment, when he was with some of the athletes, e. B. The Undertaker and Paul Bearer, who recorded the song "We're all together now" on the album WWF Full Metal. In 1997 another concept album was released with " The Wake of Magellan ". This album climbed to 11th place in the German album charts. In 2000 Pitrelli and Stevens left the band.

In 2001, Savatage's fourth concept album, “Poets And Madmen”, was released, the recordings of which had attracted repeated attention due to the success of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Since no new singer could be found, Jon Oliva took over this part of necessity, but was added on the following tours by Damond Jiniya , while Jon Oliva still sang most of the songs himself. Live, Jack Frost and Jeff Waters filled the gap left by Al Pitrelli alongside Chris Caffery.

End of the band

In 2003 Zak Stevens released the first album "Watching in Silence" with his new band Circle II Circle , which was created with the enormous help of Jon Oliva and Chris Caffery. In October of that year, Savatage and Circle II Circle performed at a concert marking the tenth anniversary of Criss Oliva's death. In addition, Jon Oliva presented together with the musicians of Circle II Circle solo material, which resulted in the side project Jon Oliva's Pain , which recorded the 2004 album "Tage Mahal". By 2008 the project released two more albums, partly using old recordings by Criss Oliva. Chris Caffery also recorded a double solo album with Jeff Plate entitled " Faces / God Damn War ". 2005 was on " WARPED ", an expanded edition of "God Damn War", also included a song with Jon Oliva as the singer.

Finally, in 2006 Jon Oliva declared the possible end of Savatage in the foreseeable future. In May of that year he announced in an interview that he would break up Savatage in 2007 following a farewell tour for the band's 25th anniversary in order to devote himself fully to his Jon Oliva's Pain project and the very successful Trans-Siberian Orchestra . Paul O'Neil justified the end of Savatage in 2015 with the fact that Jon Oliva was overwhelmed with his work and could finally make a living from one of the two projects.

On December 19, 2007, Jon Oliva officially announced the end of Savatage. A farewell tour did not take place. Due to the enormous size and fame of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra as well as the own project Jon Oliva's Pain there is no time left to look after the former main band. Jon Oliva pointed out one more time that Jon Oliva's Pain was still "his" kind of heavy metal , which is why the band is sometimes considered the legitimate successor of Savatage.

During a press conference on August 2nd, 2014 at the Wacken Open Air it was announced that the band will play a "reunion show" at the 26th Wacken Open Air 2015. Jon Oliva did not rule out further band activities.

Jon Oliva told Metal Hammer magazine in June 2015 that the reunion will be Zachary Stevens, Al Pitrelli, Johnny Lee Middleton, Chris Caffery and Jeff Plate. Furthermore, guest singers are planned. Jon Oliva prepared for the gig with personal trainers to lose weight and get fit. The band will play with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra at the same time and alternately play on both main stages.

The performance finally took place on July 30, 2015. It started with the reunion of Savatage on the left stage (Black Stage), followed by a show by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra on the right stage (True Metal Stage) and ended in a joint show on both stages at the same time. For Savatage the line-up was on stage, which had recorded the albums Dead Winter Dead and The Wake of Magellan.

Discography

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
Fight for the rock
  US 158 06/21/1986 (7 weeks)
Hall of the Mountain King
  US 116 10/10/1987 (23 weeks)
Gutter Ballet
  DE 47 02/12/1990 (12 weeks)
  US 124 February 24, 1990 (12 weeks)
Edge of Thorns
  DE 79 05/17/1993 (7 weeks)
Handful of Rain
  DE 85 10/03/1994 (5 weeks)
Dead Winter Dead
  DE 80 10/16/1995 (3 weeks)
The Wake of Magellan
  DE 11 09/29/1997 (6 weeks)
Poets and Madmen
  DE 7th 03/19/2001 (3 weeks)
  AT 70 03/18/2001 (1 week)
  CH 97 03/18/2001 (1 week)
Still the Orchestra Plays
  DE 67 04/02/2010 (1 week)
Singles
Commissar
  DE 88 02/19/2001 (1 week)

Studio albums

Live albums

Compilations

  • 1995: From the Gutter to the Stage
  • 1997: The Best and the Rest
  • 1998: Believe
  • 2010: Still the Orchestra Plays (Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2)
  • 2015: Return to Wacken

The concept albums

Streets

See main article Streets - A Rock Opera

Dead Winter Dead

See main article Dead Winter Dead

The Wake of Magellan

See main article The Wake of Magellan

Poets and Madmen

In Poets and Madmen , three teenagers break into a former mental hospital and find a forgotten inmate. Through this they find out that he was a war photographer who won the Pulitzer Prize but went crazy about his work. But after the photographer steals from them, they leave the institution. Some time later, the three young people learn that the photographer has committed suicide, but when they visit the institution again, they have doubts about his real fate. The figure of the war photographer refers to the South African photojournalist Kevin Carter .

Web links

Commons : Savatage  - collection of images

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jon Oliva puts SAVATAGE on file for good
  2. ↑ http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/jon-oliva-wants-to-get-in-shape-and-knock-people-out-at-savatage-reunion/
  3. ↑ Metal Hammer, August 2015 edition, page 80 f.
  4. ↑ Chart sources: DE AT CH US