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SAVATAGE
1983 - Sirens.
1987 - Hall Of The Moutain King.
1989 - Gutter Ballet.
1991 - Streets: A Rock Opera.
1993 - Edge Of Thorns.
1994 - Handful Of Rain.
more SAVATAGE.
way more Helter Skelter.

April 11, 1983 - 2023: 40 years of: Sirens.

The genesis of American powermetal.

Down in the Sunshine State, almost a decade before the deathmetal assault, dwelled the NWOBHM attack of AVATAR. Influenced by the new 1980-81-82 Eurometal explosion, this unit would morph and approach the calling of the wild, with a progressive outlook. Heavymetal world, please welcome to the arena of pleasure: SAVATAGE.

The crush is imminent, the arenarock vocals are imminent as the "Sirens" wailed high above the scene. Powerful powermetal makes a stand on "Holocaust", the EXCITER-type fast-cut "Rage", while both "Living For The Night" and "By The Grace Of The Witch" are top-quality high excitement heavymetal roller-coasters.

No decibel-limits are applied on "Midas Knight" and the tyrannical thrashmetal tangent of "City Beneath The Surface". Hello from the gutter, all aboard children of the night: this is mean-metal.

Released on independent-label Par Records, the Sirens LP's track-listing has been edited due to the long-player's available running-time so the remaining tracks were later released on 1984's The Dungeons Are Calling EP. Yet all 15 songs were written in the same mindset and recorded during the same sessions.

Created by both Oliva brothers, this band was hitting hard and it was about time American acts incorporated Euro / gothic influences in their hardrock / heavymetal diet ...SAVATAGE IS THE CURE !

More metal and more might, now under major-label Atlantic Records, would surface on Max Norman's 1985 produced fistful of metal Power Of The Night LP.

*
Sirens = full LP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vhx9LK_LNrY&list=OLAK5uy_ndCYOydl7nC3wAWnARQrpzFnTUed1xxPQ
The Dungeons Are Calling = full EP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSAkM9ypKOk&list=OLAK5uy_lQQxFvrnNnYPLQrgUCpfWxdTOEK8-F0rc

September 28, 1987 - 2022: 35 years of: Hall Of The Mountain King.

The birth of American melodicrock.

In a sea of glamrock Hollywoodians, the Floridian SAVATAGE broke far away from the trend. After the lukewarm appeal of 1986's Fight For The Rock LP, re-focused and re-metalized they would now ...enter the Hall.

Barely "24 Hrs. Ago" between the then SAVATAGE, to the now SAVATAGE. Overdriven and biting back, this new revitalized entity means serious business. Explore epicmetal as we walk through the journey of "Beyond The Doors Of The Dark" and the strong arenarock aggressions of "Devastation".

The electrified hard-edged "Hall Of The Mountain King" leading title-track punches the hair-scene with a solid left knock-out, while more dark metal vibes oozes on "The Price You Pay" and the fast powermetal RPMs of "White Witch".

The lavish incorporation of Gustav Holst's futuristic 1914 "The Planets" morphed into Edvard Grieg's 1875 classical masterpiece "In The Hall Of The Mountain King" in the hardrocked "Prelude To Madness" instru-metal piece, is orchestral wizardry at best: melodicrock is born.

The Hall Of The Mountain King LP is a percussive statement from SAVATAGE, the first full fledge collaboration with visionary writer / producer Paul O'Neill ...Jon and Criss had found their match. The Hall Of The Mountain King LP is the band's turning-point into their very own brand-signature of melodic / symphonic hardrock. A long-term brand that will further bloom into the stratosphere with 1989's grandiose theater-metal mammoth: the Gutter Ballet LP.

Welcome back into the rock arena:
-The Grit
-The Crunch
-The Cannons &
-The Thunder

*
Hall Of The Mountain King = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOKoLiOkWWQ
Hall Of The Mountain King = full LP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rkR6CMvtWs0&list=OLAK5uy_lDyGlg5RyQ3UDbcuE0pYFzWd8M7RYjjG8
Interview in 1987
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYuWPGJN3i8
Live in Detroit in 1987
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sATF44mNrho

December 1, 1989 - 2024: 35 years of: Gutter Ballet.

A mix of melodicrock, infused by prog-power, packaged in a theatrical-rock set ...guess the band ?

Alice Cooper ? QUEENSRŸCHE ? KING DIAMOND ? ...SAVATAGE is the answer. 1989: creative pinnacle for hardrock and thrashmetal, yet the Floridian-boys strayed far away from both scenes, crafting and perfecting a unique sound of their own.

While 1987's Hall Of The Mountain King LP is the first awakening of the SAVATAGE signature-sound, it is also the first of many LPs to feature producer / writer / fifth member Paul O'Neill. This union would catapult the band into epicrock with their eight-album collaboration and later furthermore with the multi-Platinum heavyweight supergroup TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA. Rock-fighters of the night, SAVATAGE now features exquisite piano and rich progressive melodies, all of these where fully bloomed on 1989's tour-de-force rock masterpiece: Gutter Ballet.

The opener "Of Rage And War" is a blazing metal rage that bites down hard. Balls-to-the-wall riffing of "She's In love" is another old-school cut that leaves us all in awe, while "The Unholy" wipes the floor with some more slick metal-riffs.

The instrumental "Temptation Revelation" interlude showcases quality musicianship by guitarist Criss and eerie atmospheric keyboard landscapes. The tearful "When The Crowds Are Gone" should've been a Top 40 FM-hit, as this one is a Meat Loaf-type emotion filled power-rock mid-paced number.

And now ...the pièce-de-résistance:

Epicness takes a stand on top of the hardrock-Everest and reaches Biblical proportions on the glorious title-track show-stopper. Inspired by 1986's blockbuster musical "The Phantom Of The Opera", "Gutter Ballet" is hardrock's strongest powerballad ever written and performed. The grandiose piece starts-off with a 1:23sec silky piano-intro and then all hells breaks loose. Fist-pumping heavymetal rhythms in a monumental start-stop riff and Jon's angelic / demonic voice. The progressive guitars builds-up to the ultimate climax as the lead-guitar machine-guns away at the 3:54sec mark. Magic and majestic ...a metal "Bohemian Rhapsody" of pure symphonic heaviness, geniusly wrapped in piano and string orchestration. One of the greatest heavymetal powerballads ever, simply: un-touch-a-ble. There was nothing like it before and nothing like it ever since.

While 1989's metal-arena wasn't ready for intricate melodicrock, the Gutter Ballet LP left a massive footprint into the rock / metal saturated-market of the era ...a decade before Europeans took over and re-electrified the genre with acts like RHAPSODY, SONATA ARTICA and NIGHTWISH. SAVATAGE ...purveyor of fine top-class US melodic-powermetal.

Caught between Mozart and madness, the mature band would push the progressive-elements from the back-alleys to the limelight, with 1991's Streets: A Rock Opera CD.

*
Gutter Ballet = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubmft9_LeE8
When The Crowds Are Gone = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mv82_BvKjw0
Gutter Ballet = full LP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6drDNcX6drc&list=OLAK5uy_mrPeSo2IENt6Gga1EdjEXrDa3_3xKHghc
MuchMusic interview in 1990
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-0n7BHVGN4
Live in Anaheim in 1990
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVJlxw-LYlM
some band
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHhkXeFUrk4

October 4, 1991 - 2021: 30 years of: Streets: A Rock Opera.

Leave the hall, thru the gutter and you'll end up on the streets ...De-Tox welcomes you downtown.

While 1991 shall be remembered in the history-books as a crossroad of heavymetal downfall and alternative revolution. It should also be noted that SAVATAGE held the melodicrock fort, standing strong and tall, even throughout the turbulent hip 90s.

Epic intro-entrance of the massive "Streets" title-cut, is where all of the elements of metal and classicrock clashes into a beautiful supernova ala "24 Hrs Ago". Followed by the holy-rockin' "Jesus Saves" where we learn a little bit more about the record's main-character: D.T. Jesus.

The concept-album's story-line continues on the mid-paced "Tonight He Grins Again" and the crunchy-madness of "Can You Hear Me Now". Diametrically, piano-driven ballads like "A Little Too Far" and the even more epic "St. Patrick's" paints a different mood. More headbanging rockers sets the stage afire with "You're Alive" + "Sammy And Tex", the riff-raff of "Agony And Ecstasy" and then with the build-up of the monumental "New-York City Don't Mean Nothing".

The finally released 2013 fully narrated CD-version, displays a different angle on this rock-adventure, AKA the complete-story. Co-written with genius producer Paul O'Neill, with a Broadway play in mind, these extra interlude-segments have been kept under wraps for 20+ years.

Out of the gutter and left into the chaotic trash-littered inner-city streets, this seventh record is yet still somewhat ignored by mainstream-metal, way out of the limelights of commercial L.A.-rock. Written by poets and madmen, Streets is a challenging testament to SAVATAGE's superior musicianship.

Later, singer Jon Oliva would take a back-seat as the dungeons where calling and welcomed new frontman Zak Stevens, on the melodic 1993 Edge Of Thorns CD.

*
Jesus Saves = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiHyP3wHae8
Streets: A Rock Opera = full CD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oSGzAib-ZEk&list=PL59E543D934DA1E96
Interview in 1991
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FuWDDq_8jeA
Live in Holland in 1991
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvv0AugwVyA

April 6, 1993 - 2023: 30 years of: Edge Of Thorns.

The fine shiny diamond of 1993.

Past beyond the alternative tidalwave, look above the hype and the smelly trends. Yes the downfall of hardrock was a tough event to swallow, but some bands have kept the magic alive and some even went above and beyond the call of duty. From the farthest away from Seattle, comes another tour-de-force from Tampa veterans SAVATAGE. And this time, there's a new kid behind the mike: Zachary Stevens.

Beautiful piano opens-up as crunchy-guitars rips the mood in half. The mid-heavy "Edge Of Thorns" displays controlled rage and focused energy that no other band could master. Unison breakdown-leads and operatic-vocal lines, this 5:56sec is all the top quality elements of perfect melodicrock, in a single cut. 1993's best hardrock piece, bar-none !

Some headbanging fun is found on "He Carves His Stone", the high-stamina "Lights Out" and the face-stomper "Damien" ...from majestic melodies to maniacal-metal.

The "Labyrinths" interlude is another epic Oliva + Oliva + O'Neill signature that drives into the "Follow Me" rock rollercoaster, where Stevens shines high. The Japan-only bonustrack "Shotgun Innocence" might be the band's heaviest heavymetal cut to date ...true power of the night.

After 1991's highly audacious-concept Streets: A Rock Opera CD, the SAVA-guys takes us down for another ride through the gutter of melodic-rock heaven. The Edge Of Thorns CD is a shiny diamond on the American hardrock landscape, from a band that surpassed all of their peers ...from firing fury to fantastic finesse.

Sadly, one normal evening would turn into a fateful night in October. Instant catastrophe, as a drunk-driver stroke Criss Oliva's vehicle and took him away, one of the scene's best guitar-player. In tears and commitment, his brother Jon would vow to continue the band and spread the music, to keep Criss's spirit alive. The comeback would arise with 1994's emotionally charged Handful Of Rain CD, with Alex Skolnick on guitars.

RIP Criss Oliva (1963-1993)

*
Edge Of Thorns = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHNVK9NY4JE
Sleep = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHqTVt5DiN8
Edge Of Thorns = full CD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3be9Wl-d654&list=OLAK5uy_k67RQ8To8CF863GuX5VA-5me65xEejd_k
Interview in Berlin in 1993
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68eCkZRGXAY
Live in Chicago in 1993
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gn1fjAE98lg
some band
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQb6j5pjm6c

August 15, 1994 - 2024: 30 years of: Handful Of Rain.

Gotta keep going.

After 1993's Edge Of Thorns CD and tour-cycle, a catastrophe hit the SAVATAGE-camp. In mourning and grief, following Criss Oliva's tragic death, the crew would enlist the help of departed TESTAMENT-guitarist Alex Skolnick to provide some of his magic to the fold. The SAVATAGE heart and soul keeps rocking.

The full metal-roar viciously attacks on both "Taunting Cobras" and "Nothing's Going On", some of the band's meanest ...two tracks featuring Criss's final writing. The grit is afire, as the mid-paced "Castles Burning" and gigantic title-track for "Handful Of Rain" hammers down the competition.

A melodic-interlude, another one of his "Visions", another snippet into O'Neill's northern orchestra, as the piano-led cornucopia "Alone You Breathe" crescendos into an arenarock powerballad.

The bluesy vibed "Stare Into The Sun" sends us a curve-ball, while the monumental 7:50sec "Chance" is where serious unisons and harmonious operarock criss-crosses are benched-pressed to perfection. A one of a kind adventure, standing tall and proudly facing the mainstream-storms.

Eventhough, the new alternative-scene was the flavor of the early 90s, high-quality music-fans from the far East all gathered at the Altar for the Japan Live '94 CD. Initially planned as a Jon Oliva solo-release, the Handful Of Rain CD stands strong in the band's posh catalog, as it officialized their will to go on with the legacy. The sirens shall wail on 1995's Dead Winter Dead CD.

*
Handful Of Rain = video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5PjKUjZWxA
Handful Of Rain = full CD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41VQTKh0tp4&list=OLAK5uy_mi65JFZPWJuiS8JlmgujSRjVBGMY2nxjg
MTV interview in 1994
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c6LNPY4kJW4
Japan Live '94 = full CD
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=whVDK8fR4Bs&list=OLAK5uy_l_sogfJAXvuweyTkNnrfN9Fb22oUuF2yk
Japan Live '94 = full VHS
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_ILs7I91FU
some guys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwBE9hAIkaQ

more SAVATAGE:

Frères métalliques
&

TRANS-SIBERIAN ORCHESTRA (T.S.O.)