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Savatage
Savatage () was an American heavy metal band founded by brothers Jon and Criss Oliva in 1979 in Tarpon Springs, Florida. The band was first called Avatar, but, shortly before the release of their debut album ''Sirens'' (1983), they changed their name to Savatage, as Avatar was already taken by another band. Savatage is considered a significant member of the American heavy metal movement of the early-to-mid-1980s and has been cited as a key influence on many genres, such as power metal, progressive metal, speed metal, thrash metal, death metal and symphonic metal. Savatage has released eleven studio albums, two live albums, four compilations and three EPs. The band first reached substantial commercial success with its third studio album ''Fight for the Rock'' (1986), which peaked at number 158 on the ''Billboard'' 200. Its next four albums—'' Hall of the Mountain King'' (1987), ''Gutter Ballet'' (1989), '' Streets: A Rock Opera'' (1991) and ''Edge of Thorns'' (1993)—were als ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jon Oliva
John Nicholas "Jon" Oliva (born July 22, 1959) is an American singer and musician. He is best known as the co-founder, keyboardist and lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Savatage, which he co-founded with his younger brother Criss Oliva. Since 1996 he has also been a songwriter, musician and vocalist in Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Producer Paul O'Neill (rock producer), Paul O'Neill referred to Oliva in numerous interviews as the single greatest vocalist/musician he has ever worked with. Biography Early life The Oliva family moved around a lot when Jon and Criss were young, living in California for four years until moving to Florida in 1976. Much like his brother Criss, Jon found music his calling during the family's time in California. Starting off with his father's piano, Jon dabbled in guitars, pianos and drums before buying "a really ugly bass". Jon and Criss continued their musical exploits and played a block party, playing Kiss (band), Kiss, Deep Purple and ZZ Top cove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Chris Caffery
Christopher Caffery (born September 9, 1967) is an American musician, best known for his work as a member of Savatage and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Recently, Chris has been pursuing a solo career, releasing four albums since 2004. Biography Raised in Mahwah, New Jersey, Chris began playing guitar at age 11, but some of his earliest memories include performing the Beatles song ''Help!'' for a show and tell in kindergarten. Chris' favorite bands growing up included the Beatles, Kiss, Black Sabbath, Judas Priest and Rush among others. He has cited guitarists such as Ted Nugent, Rik Emmett, Ace Frehley, Randy Rhoads, Michael Schenker as influences throughout the years as well. After only 13 months, Chris grew bored with guitar lessons and decided to teach himself. He was part of a band called ''"Blitzkrieg"'' in middle school and played a few shows, the first of which was at a bar in Ridgewood, New Jersey when Chris was only 13. At the age of 14, Chris and his brother formed a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Johnny Lee Middleton
Johnny Lee Middleton (born May 7, 1963) is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the bass guitar player for Savatage and Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Musical beginnings Middleton was born in St. Petersburg, Florida. His first experience as a performing musician was as first-chair trumpet in the sixth-grade orchestra. The band director provided early encouragement. "I'd get free lessons from him, so I learned how to play the saxophone, the clarinet, [and] the oboe. He kind of gave me an ear for music." As a bass player, however, Middleton is largely self-taught. At age 14, he joined the high-school jazz band. With the bass rig behind him, he quickly discovered "the way the bass moves the earth" – and just as quickly realized "you could get more girls by playing bass instead of trumpet." He invested $35 in his first bass, locked himself in his bedroom with REO Speedwagon, Cheap Trick, and Black Sabbath records, and learned to play along. Among his influences, M ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Criss Oliva
Christopher Michael Oliva (April 3, 1963 – October 17, 1993) was an American musician who was the lead guitarist and co-founder of the heavy metal band Savatage. During his lifetime, he released seven studio albums and one EP with the band. Biography Early life Oliva's family moved around the country during his childhood, stopping off in California before making Florida their home. It was in California that Oliva found music and considered it his calling, and he continued his musical interests when he moved to Florida. His main influences as a guitarist were Ritchie Blackmore, Tony Iommi, Uli Jon Roth and Michael Schenker. He spent countless hours figuring out his favorite songs on records, and when he found it difficult to figure out a part on the record he just made up his own licks. This would later help him in his songwriting. Savatage Oliva and his brother Jon formed their first band together, Avatar, in 1978, from the ashes of their former bands Tower and Alien ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gutter Ballet
''Gutter Ballet'' is the fifth full-length album produced by the American progressive metal band Savatage. This was the second album created under the direction of producer Paul O'Neill and was initially released in December 1, 1989. Overview This album was a true turning point for the band, as the sound transitioned from a heavy metal to experiment with a more progressive sound, which is reflected in songs such as "When the Crowds Are Gone" and "Gutter Ballet". During the final recording sessions while Criss was tracking guitar solos, Paul O'Neil gave Jon Oliva tickets to see Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical ''The Phantom of the Opera'' on Broadway. Jon was so inspired that immediately following the performance, he went back to the studio and wrote the music for the title track. ''Gutter Ballet'' is not a concept album, but the final three songs ("Mentally Yours", "Summer's Rain", "Thorazine Shuffle") are a conceptual suite dealing with a single character as revealed by the band ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zachary Stevens
Zachary Trussell (born March 5, 1966), known professionally as Zachary "Zak" Stevens, is an American singer, best known as the second lead vocalist of the heavy metal band Savatage. He currently performs with the heavy metal band Circle II Circle. Stevens also has a degree in psychology but is not, as is often reported, a licensed, practicing psychologist. Career Stevens first achieved fame singing for a band called Wicked Witch. However, after Savatage co-founder Jon Oliva stepped down from the fore of the band at the conclusion of their tour in support of '' Streets: A Rock Opera'' in 1992 to concentrate on other projects, namely his other band Doctor Butcher and a Broadway-bound musical entitled ''Romanov'', Savatage required a replacement. Oliva hand-picked his replacement, who was discovered and introduced to the band by Criss Oliva's best friend and guitar technician Savatage's lead guitarist, and their long-time producer Paul O'Neill heard demos of Stevens and wanted him ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Trans-Siberian Orchestra (TSO) is an American rock band founded in 1996 by producer, composer, and lyricist Paul O'Neill, who brought together Jon Oliva and Al Pitrelli (both members of Savatage) and keyboardist and co-producer Robert Kinkel to form the core of the creative team. The band gained in popularity when they began touring in 1999 after completing their second album, ''The Christmas Attic'', the year previous. In 2007, the ''Washington Post'' referred to them as "an arena-rock juggernaut" and described their music as "Pink Floyd meets Yes and the Who at Radio City Music Hall." TSO has sold more than 10 million concert tickets and over 10 million albums. The band has released a series of rock operas: ''Christmas Eve and Other Stories'', ''The Christmas Attic'', ''Beethoven's Last Night'', ''The Lost Christmas Eve'', their two-disc ''Night Castle'' and '' Letters From the Labyrinth''. Trans-Siberian Orchestra is also known for their extensive charity work and elaborate c ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Hall Of The Mountain King (album)
''Hall of the Mountain King'' is the fourth studio album by the American heavy metal band Savatage, released in 1987 under the direction of producer Paul O'Neill. It is their first album produced by O'Neill, who was assigned to the band after the tour in support of ''Fight for the Rock''. O'Neill's influence pushed Savatage to adopt a conceptual progressive metal style beginning with this album. "Prelude to Madness" is an arrangement of Grieg's "In the Hall of the Mountain King" from the ''Peer Gynt'' suite. Oddly, Grieg is not credited for this song, but for the following title track - which is an original song. The intro of "Prelude to Madness" features keyboards and guitar playing "Mars, the Bringer of War" from Gustav Holst's suite, ''The Planets''. The song would be re-recorded by Trans-Siberian Orchestra in 2009 under the title of "The Mountain", appearing on that group's fifth studio album, ''Night Castle''. "This Is Where You Should Be", recorded during the studio sessi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sirens (Savatage Album)
''Sirens'' is the debut album by American heavy metal band Savatage, released in 1983. The music on this album is heavier than in later Savatage albums, where the band developed their own style of progressive metal. According to frontman Jon Oliva, ''Sirens'' and the long EP ''The Dungeons Are Calling'' were recorded and mixed all in one day. With most of the songs prepared no more than a week before the recording session, the band could only afford one day in the studio. The two albums together were to make Savatage's debut but since vinyl records limited the total running time, they were divided. In 2011, they were remastered and released together on the label Earmusic. The cover of the English versions published by both Music for Nations and Combat Records in 1985 used the cover of the children's book '' The Borribles Go for Broke''. It was also used by Metal Blade Records for the first edition on CD and other subsequent versions. Track listing *The track "Out on the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Doctor Butcher
Doctor Butcher was a side project involving Jon Oliva and Chris Caffery of Savatage which released one major self-titled studio album in 1994. The original album title, ''A Living Hell'', was changed at the last minute. The project was born when Oliva left Savatage at the conclusion of their 1991 tour in support of their album '' Streets: A Rock Opera''. Caffery was invited to play with the band on tour, like he did in the support of their 1989 album ''Gutter Ballet'', but this was not possible because of issues within Atlantic Records. After Caffery heard of Oliva's departure from the fore of the band, he called him, and "over ten bottles of Jack Daniels", Doctor Butcher was born. Zachary Stevens replaced Oliva as lead vocalist for Savatage in 1993, but Jon continued to work with his brother Criss on the record which would eventually become ''Edge of Thorns''. Caffery was again asked to re-join the band, but he stayed loyal to Jon and Doctor Butcher. Some initial demos were rec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
List Of Savatage Band Members
''Savatage'' has known several lineups during its active periods from 1979 to 1993, 1994 to 2002 and currently from 2014. The band was founded by brothers Jon (vocals, keys) and Criss Oliva (guitar) in the late 1970s, and the band's first stable line-up in the early eighties also included drummer Steve "Doc" Wacholz, and Keith Collins on bass. During the second half of eighties Collins was replaced by Johnny Lee Middleton, and the line-up was expanded to include second guitarist Chris Caffery. The nineties began with the band again down to four after Caffery's departure, and in 1992 Jon Oliva stepped down as frontman though he remained involved in songwriting. He was replaced by vocalist Zachary Stevens, but the band dissolved when guitarist Criss Oliva died in a car accident in 1993. Jon Oliva reformed Savatage in 1994. The band again saw many members come and go during this second period, but had a solid lineup from 1995 to 2000 featuring the return of Middleton (bass), Stevens ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fight For The Rock
''Fight for the Rock'' is the third full-length album by the American heavy metal band Savatage. It is their first album with new bass player Johnny Lee Middleton. Released in 1986, it is largely regarded as the band's worst release by both fans and band members, with the band referring to it as "Fight for the Nightmare". Jon Oliva said in October 1994, "I've never really been fond of that album. WE'VE never been fond of that album". The band said that they were driven to make the record by their label, Atlantic Records; particularly Oliva began writing pop-rock songs for other artists on the label such as John Waite. However, the label eventually turned around and told the band to record the music that Oliva had written for other artists themselves. This destroyed the band's credibility in the eyes of the press and reviews were not kind to the band. It not only destroyed the band's image, but the negative critical reaction has been cited as a cause of Oliva's bout of drug and al ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
