Savatage has always been a band I loved, despite not having the best grasp on their discography. Part of this is that the floor and the ceiling for what Savatage were capable of is quite a bit apart and that the band never quite figured out what their identity should be. Almost all Savatage albums contain raging US Power Metal that is as rough around the edges as it is engaging, but are at the same time filled with balladry, pseudo-symphonic theatrics and an unusual amount of cheese.
From interacting with the band’s history and doing research, it is clear that Savatage suffered from this identity crisis for mainly two reasons. First, I believe that producers were at time pushing for a more mainstream sound. Producer Paul O’Neill, who produced the band starting from their magnum opus, 1987’s Hall of The Mountain King, clearly believed that the band had that kind of success in them. In his work, O’Neill‘s goal to amalgamate his influences into a single style is rather evident and when successful, he bridges neoclassical mannerisms with pop rock cheese and the aggression that a band like Savatage demands. Hall of The Mountain King, their first collaboration, is considered their classic for a reason. Riff focused bangers like the opener “24 Hours Ago” feel as natural and powerful as the corny ballad “Strange Wings” — also a particularly good example for singer John Oliva‘s strange lyricism, which often better paints a vague emotional image rather than something concrete. The fact that Hall of the Mountain King also contains the bands greatest hit, the title track “Hall of the Mountain King” which comes complete with a quote from classical music, often overshadows how tight the album is and how deservedly it sits in the 80s metal pantheon.
The second reason for Savatage pulling in different directions seems to be that the two brothers who are center stage in the band, Jon and Criss Oliva, seem to have differing ideas for what the band should be. Criss seems more interested in the rock oriented side of the band, while Jon would later fully embrace the cheese and the symphonic elements that would lead to side projects, rock operas, and heaps of cocaine. The early albums of the band show the two brothers being on the same page, albeit not quite knowing their artistic focus yet. Debut Sirens — and to a lesser degree subsequent EP The Dungeons Are Calling — are very much a blueprint for Hall of the Mountain King but without producer Paul O’Neill supplying the production value to make them a true home run. At the same time, these albums are the ones where the band slots the cleanest into an ongoing musical scene, with how close the band sounds to other US Power Metal bands. It is certainly no surprise that the albums lyrical themes are more fantasy focused, as fantasy themes have always been a staple of USPM, especially the inspiration these types of bands tend to take from the pulpiest fantasy had to offer at the time — this is not Tolkien. Its not even Robert E. Howard. This is Deathstalker II. With Savatage, I am not quite sure how attached the band is to these themes, however. While bands like Omen or Cirith Ungol seem to enjoy the darker aspects of pulpy fantasy novels, Savatage seem to approach fantasy in a way that is more akin to how European Power Metal bands approach it — big scope, little grit, and cleaner presentation. However, I would reiterate that Oliva‘s lyrics are rarely concrete enough in this era of the band to serve a narrative that spans a whole album or longer.
The two brothers came from a background that was more or less working class, and they spent their early years moving cities a lot, eventually ending up in Florida, which wasn’t a bad place to be for a metal musician at the time. Jon in particular struggled in school, being suspended from high school and eventually focusing on music instead. Savatage became a classic underground success story, playing in literal parking lots and earning a record deal the hard way. The traction the band had gained from their debut Sirens and constant performances led to a deal at Atlantic Records, who helped release their sophomore record Power of the Night — an enjoyable record, mostly held back by comparisons to the band’s stronger, later work. While most fans consider the work after that, Fight for the Rock, to be their worst record and their commercial sell-out album, forced onto the band by a label eager to find the next big 80s rock act, I believe that the responsibility for the “sellout” is not only in the label’s hands. Power of the Night is a good record overall with some decent songs and good overall album flow, but it is undeniably more rock-oriented than the debut and some of the band’s growing rock star attitudes are on full display. Butt rock anthems like “Hard for Love” or “Stuck on You” don’t feel entirely forced, even if utterly replaceable by a myriad of other acts of the time. These tendencies are heightened on Fight for the Rock, as Oliva had begun ghost writing tracks for pop rock artists on the label which then got used as tracks for the newest Savatage record instead.
The band has often voiced that they were not happy with that record, and I fully believe it — any of the heavier tendencies the band had were gone, and where Power of the Night had some glam tendencies, Fight for the Rock goes far beyond that. It is only fitting that material never written for a band in a style that neither suits Savatage nor occurred organically flopped as hard as it did, which led to both fan and critical dissatisfaction and skepticism. Hall of the Mountain King, as we all know, turned it all around and earned Savatage more cred than ever. The fame and extensive touring life led to a developing drug habit and to seeds of self-doubt among John Oliva. Follow-up album Gutter Ballet deals with his experiences in rehab and broadly the life of a rock star and what damaging effects it can have. Ballet is not the home run that Mountain King was and I believe that an album like that is unrepeatable. Part of what made Hall of the Mountain King so effective was the perfect mixture of elements. On Gutter Ballet, O’Neill continued his influence on the band and the band would try to chase more of a progressive rock sound, ultimately causing the band to be less heavy and less riff-oriented — or at least performing that way on fewer tracks. Gutter Ballet has a few very good cuts nonetheless, and even though I just complained about the increase in lactose, the title track hasn’t left me since my latest relisten.
1991’s Streets: A Rock Opera doesn’t manage as much. Despite its big scope and ambitions, I find Streets to be mostly bland and unmemorable. This is probably due to the album being mostly motivated by the producer, being based on an old play of his. As far as rock operas go, Streets is rather formulaic with the typical cast of characters and the story of a rise and fall of a rock star. Savatage has many times denied that the material is based on frontman Oliva‘s persona and personal history, but it’s undeniable that there are parallels, and it is likely that the band gravitated to O’Neill‘s suggestions because of said parallels. Unfortunately, knowing the history doesn’t really enhance the listening experience, particularly because the story is so generic and feels utterly disposable.
Oliva‘s frustrations with himself and touring life led him to pick vocalist Zachary Stevens as his own replacement for the next record, Edge of Thorns, which is a good opportunity now to talk about Oliva as a singer. Oliva is not the best singer on a technical level and the fact that he is self-taught is evident, often shooting for high-pitched shrieks and having developed a certain cartoony quality to his singing. What makes him a good singer is how committed he is to his own style and how unique he sounds at the end of the day. This is a thing that a lot of US power metal singers at the time had, even if Oliva is less of an acquired taste than most. Stevens, however, seems like a focus-grouped version of Jon Oliva. While his voice is maybe a bit lower in pitch and more robust in its timbre, he is good at affecting mannerisms and stylistic choices that Oliva could have gone for. Edge of Thorns isn’t radically hurt by this — Stevens does what he needs to do to sell the material. But I can’t help what wonder if especially the odder cuts of the album, like “Skraggy’s Tomb”, would have played better if Oliva had been able to add his unique talents. The material certainly sounds like it has been written for his voice.
The album is also the last to feature guitarist Criss Oliva, who would die shortly after in 1993 at the hand’s of a drunk driver. Jon decided to make an album in Criss‘s honor, despite initially being against it. Handful of Rain plays slightly better keeping this in mind, and that some of material already existed, but ultimately doesn’t quite sound right for Savatage. Even the tracks still written by Criss, like opener “Taunting Cobras”, feel too dark and emotionally heavy for the band. Handful of Rain is, however, the only album that has some distinct 90s flavor to how it sounds. It feels darker, more cynical, defeated, and certainly like the album made by a man who carries a lot of grief, but ultimately underperforms — maybe partly because of the fact that it is still Stevens on vocals, not the voice of the person who is actually carrying the grief.
The period after Handful of Rain saw Savatage re-orienting itself. At this point, the albums feel mostly like a collaboration between Oliva and O’Neill as a producer. Dead Winter Dead is a fine album, honing in on the band’s tendency to quote classical music. This late period of Savatage is always strangely political on a lyrical level, with all albums focusing on contemporary issues and featuring stories hinting at real people and events. Dead Winter Dead is fundamentally about the Bosnian war and its actors, told from a ground level weaving a story of love in the times of war and the power music and art can hold even within a world faced by war and destruction. If this sounds broad to you, that is likely because it is. It would be hard to claim that Savatage are making a unique point here, but the album does feel like it comes from an honest position — especially considering the war was ongoing at the time. The band dials up the orchestral bombast at the same time and landed a hit with “Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)” — a simple interlude trying to establish a time period. This hit would lead to the creation of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra, probably the only band fully embracing that they originated from a Christmas song (over and over and over).
Since TSO became a new outlet for Oliva and O’Neill exploring symphonic compositions, the Savatage records that followed ended up being less bombastic, albeit not less progressive. 1997’s The Wake of Magellan is a story inspired by a nautical incidents and the life of reporter Veronica Guerin, who reported on the drug trade in Ireland. At least this is what the band claims, as the actual story is closer to a typical nautical tall tale than anything political, involving a suicidal sailor learning about the value of life by rescuing a stowaway. The piano-intro leading into a simple guitar riff method developed since Gutter Ballet is on full display here, but the album is inoffensive in the way it plays and gentle enough in its flow that I occasionally am motivated to replay it. Poets and Madmen, released in 2001, is more riff focused, heavier and features Jon Oliva as the lead vocalist for the first time since Gutter Ballet. The political motivations are even clearer here, featuring a story inspired by the life of investigative apartheid reporter Kevin Carter. But the album once again is somewhat vague in what stance Savatage wants to take and how the issues intertwine with the life of the protagonist — although I might be demanding a bit much from a heavy metal band.
As of now, Poets and Madmen is the Savatage‘s latest outing, although the band has since reunited and announced a new album called Curtain Call for this year of 2024. As of this moment, I have heard very little about it. The title suggests that this album is supposed to be the last one for real and I hope the band can focus on their best tendencies to make it work. As this run has shown, there are a few different directions the band could take and finding the right balance to please all types of fans the band has should prove tough. I have not heard Oliva‘s voice in a while, either, as the band has rarely toured since I became old enough to purchase my own concert tickets. It is worrying that Oliva seems to have never quite overcome his addictive tendencies, being arrested for DUI while carrying cocaine at some point and battling with health issues, involving Covid-19, among other things. When I saw Danzig in 2018, his voice was completely shot and he seemed physically unwell, supported by an uncaring band of nobodies and seeing it as little more than a quick buck. Seeing a legend perform badly can sometimes hurt. Nonetheless, if Savatage come to my neck of the woods, I would certainly buy a ticket.
