Savatage

Very few bands have undergone an evolution as profound as Savatage has over the last 20 years, and fewer still have been able to do so without alienating its legion of fans. Starting as a club band in Florida in the early 80's, Savatage entered the music scene as a straightforward metal act with the near-simultaneous releases of 'Sirens' and 'The Dungeons Are Calling' in 1984. Shortly thereafter, the band was signed by Atlantic Records, and their early "true metal" days culminated in the 1987 release of 'Hall of the Mountain King', which was heavily bolstered by several high-rotation MTV clips.While touring in support of 'Mountain King', cofounder Jon Oliva found himself partying uncontrollably with Dave Mustaine of Megadeth, a disastrous period that landed Jon a stint in rehab in 1988. After Jon completed his rehab, Savatage started work on what would turn out to be the album that began the band's evolution, 'Gutter Ballet'. This is the first record with prominently-featured piano, inspired in part by Jon's fascination with a 1989 performance of "The Phantom of the Opera".It was also the Gutter Ballet tour that marked the initial appearance of guitarist Chris Caffery as an official member of Savatage. Chris had previously performed with Savatage during the Mountain King tour, and his musical interaction with Jon's brother and lead guitarist Criss Oliva was instantly dynamic.After 'Gutter Ballet', the band started to collaborate much more with producer/songwriter Paul O'Neill, an event that would lead Savatage into a new era. Criss Oliva came across a project that Paul had written back in 1979 about the rise and fall of a burned-out rock star, and the Olivas were fascinated with the idea, almost immediately suggesting it be reworked as Savatage's next album. One can imagine that Jon had to have seen a bit of himself in the fictional DT Jesus, having completed rehab quite recently. The resulting album, 'Streets: A Rock Opera', was to be the first of many theatrical releases by the band, and probably represented the most significant departure from the style of the previous album. And thats about it..