Hey edgeofthorns........

[Jasonic]

I figured turnabout is fair play.....

You have checked out a lot of music based on my recommendations.


Therefore, I was out on eBay today, and picked up SAVATAGE'S - Ghost in the Ruins....

This one has most of my fav Savatage tracks.

Did I just make your day??????????

 

[edgeofthorns]

I figured turnabout is fair play.....

You have checked out a lot of music based on my recommendations.


Therefore, I was out on eBay today, and picked up SAVATAGE'S - Ghost in the Ruins....

This one has most of my fav Savatage tracks.

Did I just make your day??????????

It's about time you broke down and bought some Savatage! The new compilation that's coming out soon will be a great buy for you as well, considering it has the 94' Live Japan DVD with it.

~Brian~

 

[Jasonic]

I have had various Savatage albums, tapes, and even CDs throughout the years. It's just been a VERY long time.

I liked the collection of tracks on this one.

I really didn't think the track listing was very solid on the new collection coming out.

 

[SavaVIDude]

I figured turnabout is fair play.....

You have checked out a lot of music based on my recommendations.


Therefore, I was out on eBay today, and picked up SAVATAGE'S - Ghost in the Ruins....

This one has most of my fav Savatage tracks.

Did I just make your day??????????

I thought his new name was "SavaStroker"!!

Whenever I want to demonsrate Criss' prowess on the guitar, I just play the solo off that CD. In 1:30, he does so much shit on the guitar, it leaves most folks saying, "WTF"??? Usually followed by "How come I never heard of him?".

Chris

 

[edgeofthorns]

I have had various Savatage albums, tapes, and even CDs throughout the years. It's just been a VERY long time.

I liked the collection of tracks on this one.

I really didn't think the track listing was very solid on the new collection coming out.

Well, you can't go wrong with your purchase.

I thought his new name was "SavaStroker"!!

Chris

Yeah, I believe I'll create myself a new screen name under that moniker! Hell, I don't even have a tattoo of Criss' guitar either!

~Brian~

 

[SavaVIDude]

Hell, I don't even have a tattoo of Criss' guitar either!

~Brian~

I do.

Chris

 

[edgeofthorns]

I do.

Chris

I know that you do, that's why I said that! You showed it to me one time down at ProgPower, but you probably don't remember. It stood out to me, because they're aren't too many people with those tats.

~Brian~

 

[Jasonic]

You showed it to me one time down at ProgPower

 

[Jasonic]

I suppose this thread deserves a follow up.

I did finally get my copy of GHOST IN THE RUINS.

This is how a LIVE album should sound, esp where the songs are all from different shows. Man, maybe Paul O'Neil truly IS the genious everyone claims him to be.

This sounds like one complete show, where the songs flow perfectly into each other.

Great hearing some of my fav Sava-tunes that I probably haven't heard in god knows how long, like Sirens, Gutter Ballet, Strange Wings, etc.

Ok, here is my one criticism, which I know is NOT going to be popular, esp with this crowd.
From this live collection, to be quite blunt, I would say Jon's vocals are the weakest link.

Maybe this is partially why they got Zach as the years went on.

I have seen some clips of Zach doing Gutter Ballet, etc.

How are the Zach fronted albums?

 

[nomisofsiman]

I suppose this thread deserves a follow up.

I did finally get my copy of GHOST IN THE RUINS.

This is how a LIVE album should sound, esp where the songs are all from different shows. Man, maybe Paul O'Neil truly IS the genious everyone claims him to be.

This sounds like one complete show, where the songs flow perfectly into each other.

Great hearing some of my fav Sava-tunes that I probably haven't heard in god knows how long, like Sirens, Gutter Ballet, Strange Wings, etc.

Ok, here is my one criticism, which I know is NOT going to be popular, esp with this crowd.
From this live collection, to be quite blunt, I would say Jon's vocals are the weakest link.

Maybe this is partially why they got Zach as the years went on.

I have seen some clips of Zach doing Gutter Ballet, etc.

How are the Zach fronted albums?

I haven't heard that one, so I can't say and am not arguing with you. I would have to say though that I prefer Jon's to Zak's. Not that Zak is a bad singer. He's great, but what I like about Jon is no one sounds like him. NO ONE!!!! And no one can sound as maniacal as he can either. That's one quality I definitely like in singers is ones that stand out who if you heard a song, you knew exactly who it was even if you did not know the song.

 

[Jasonic]

Jon certainly stands out.
I am not dogging him.
Back in the day, albums like Sirens and Hall of the Mountain King got heavy rotation (on cassette) by me (Never cared too much for Fight for Rock / Power of the Night).

Just saying that on these live performances, where Criss Oliva was owning the world BIG time, Jon seemed like he was straining to keep up. Just an observation. The only reason I even mention it is I wonder if he or the band realized it, and chose to bring in a different lead vocalist.

I have seen YOUTUBE clips of Jon with JOP doing some of the Sava-classics, and he sounds pretty good.

 

[nomisofsiman]

Jon certainly stands out.
I am not dogging him.
Back in the day, albums like Sirens and Hall of the Mountain King got heavy rotation (on cassette) by me (Never cared too much for Fight for Rock / Power of the Night).

Just saying that on these live performances, where Criss Oliva was owning the world BIG time, Jon seemed like he was straining to keep up. Just an observation. The only reason I even mention it is I wonder if he or the band realized it, and chose to bring in a different lead vocalist.

I have seen YOUTUBE clips of Jon with JOP doing some of the Sava-classics, and he sounds pretty good.

Didn't say you were. As far as Fight for the Rock goes, pretty much everyone hates that album including Jon himself.

 

[killingfield]

I love Fight for the Rock

As for the Savatage material with Jon, I would say start with Edge of Thorns, Handful of Rain, Dead Winter Dead, and Wake of Magellan. I actually started with Dead Winter Dead, but I find that people who are not familiar with Savatage or Zak material tend to prefer the albums in that order.

 

[batmura]

As for the Savatage material with Jon, I would say start with Edge of Thorns, Handful of Rain, Dead Winter Dead, and Wake of Magellan.

These are primarily Zak albums. Jon only sings two on DWD and a few on TWOM. Zak does everything else.

 

[Cheiron]

If you want Jon, you start with Streets and Gutter Ballet. And then you go get the Doctor Butcher stuff. And then the first two JOP, and then you go back to the first 2 Savatage albums, which are good, but dirty.

 

[edgeofthorns]

I suppose this thread deserves a follow up.

I did finally get my copy of GHOST IN THE RUINS.

This is how a LIVE album should sound, esp where the songs are all from different shows. Man, maybe Paul O'Neil truly IS the genious everyone claims him to be.

This sounds like one complete show, where the songs flow perfectly into each other.

Great hearing some of my fav Sava-tunes that I probably haven't heard in god knows how long, like Sirens, Gutter Ballet, Strange Wings, etc.

Ok, here is my one criticism, which I know is NOT going to be popular, esp with this crowd.
From this live collection, to be quite blunt, I would say Jon's vocals are the weakest link.

Maybe this is partially why they got Zach as the years went on.

I have seen some clips of Zach doing Gutter Ballet, etc.

How are the Zach fronted albums?

Jason, I'm happy to hear that you're diggin' the live album. To be honest, I think Jon sounds better these days than he did back then. I think he'd even own up and admit to not exactly taking precautions to take care of his voice back then. Plus, Savatage toured heavily during that era.

Zak Stevens was brought in during the EOT era, because Jon blew his voice out during the Streets tour. He still wanted to be involved so he played and wrote most of the music, along with O'Neill and Criss.

After Criss' death, Handful of Rain was recorded, pretty much entirely by Jon himself. Jon played every instrument on that album, with the exception of the guitar solos, which were taken care of by Alex Skolnick. Zak was brought in to the studio to sing vocals after the music had been laid down by Jon. Basically, Handful of Rain is a Jon Oliva solo project under the Savatage moniker.

As far as Zak era albums, they're fantastic! You can't go wrong with Edge of Thorns, Handful of Rain, Dead Winter Dead, or Wake of Magellan. Dead Winter Dead is my absolute favorite...actually it's godly!

By the way, I'll echo what Cherion said, get the Doctor Butcher two discs edition...it's brutal! Jon is so pissed off on that stuff!

~Brian~

 

[batmura]

Handful of Rain is easily the darkest and most overlooked Savatage album. Songs like "Watching You Fall", "Symmetry", "Chance", "Stare into the Sun" and of course the godly "Alone You Breathe" are simply incredible. This album may be Zak at his most expressive.

 

[batmura]

Oh, and Streets is the best album in the history of music. So if you wanna hear some Jon-era Tage, get Streets first. Then get Gutter Ballet as well.

 

[nomisofsiman]

By the way, I'll echo what Cherion said, get the Doctor Butcher two discs edition...it's brutal! Jon is so pissed off on that stuff!

~Brian~

Whoa! I had never heard of Doctor Butcher and then I heard some samples on Amazon. Some killer stuff.

 

[Dolamite S. Biffle]

Whoa! I had never heard of Doctor Butcher and then I heard some samples on Amazon. Some killer stuff.

Doctor Butcher is one of Jon's finest efforts, a personal fave of mine