Japan Live '94 | ||||
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Live album by | ||||
Released | January 25, 1995 (Japan) October 9, 1995 (Germany) | |||
Recorded | November 12, 1994 | |||
Venue | Club Città (Kawasaki, Japan) | |||
Genre | Heavy metal, progressive metal | |||
Length | 59:32(CD) | |||
Label | Zero Corporation (Japan) Intercord (Germany) | |||
Producer | Paul O'Neill | |||
Savatage chronology | ||||
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Live in Japan cover | ||||
Review scores | |
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Source | Rating |
Metal Hammer (GER) | 6/7 [1] |
Rock Hard | 8.5/10 [2] |
Japan Live '94 | ||||
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Video by | ||||
Released | February 22, 1995 (Japan) | |||
Recorded | November 12, 1994 | |||
Venue | Club Città (Kawasaki, Japan) | |||
Genre | Heavy metal, progressive metal | |||
Length | 95 min. | |||
Label | Zero Corporation (Japan) SPV (Germany) | |||
Producer | Paul O'Neill | |||
Savatage video albums chronology | ||||
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Japan Live '94 (also known as Live in Japan) is a live album and VHS by the American heavy metal band Savatage. The show that was recorded was held in Kawasaki, Japan on November 12, 1994, and was the last show on the short Handful of Rain tour. The show is noted for featuring Jon Oliva in a prominent role, his first since "leaving" the band in 1992. Oliva has an extended piano intro on "Gutter Ballet" and shares lead vocals with Zachary Stevens, making it his first performance as a lead vocalist with the band for two years. Oliva also performs rhythm guitar on "Hall of the Mountain King".
The album was released in Japan in January 1995 by Zero Corporation and features a cover with singer Stevens wearing a T-shirt with a red and white circle and cross. In fact, Stevens wore a Corrosion of Conformity T-shirt at the concert, and it was likely "censored" due to label issues. Due to lack of time on the physical support, the entire show was not released onto CD. Missing songs on the CD include "Conversation Piece", "Stare into the Sun", "Damien" and "Hall of the Mountain King". However, these songs were included in the VHS footage of the concert, originally released in 1995 in Japan and in 1998 in North America. [3]
The album was released in the U.S. by Nuclear Blast America in 2000 with a cover featuring both Johnny Lee Middleton and Stevens and the title Live in Japan. In 2000, plans were revealed for the show to be re-issued onto DVD with a possibility of bonus content. [4] A release date of October 2000 was publicised by the band, but possibly due to Nuclear Blast being bought by Century Media, Savatage were unable to release the DVD. Since then, there has not been an announcement of an official DVD release, although copies of the concert have been circulated on DVD. In March 2010, a greatest hit compilation called Still The Orchestra Plays: Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2 was released, with the 1994 concert included on a bonus DVD. The quality had not improved much from the VHS-version.
No. | Title | Writer(s) | From the album | Length |
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1. | "Taunting Cobras" | Jon Oliva | Handful of Rain (1994) | 5:01 |
2. | "Edge of Thorns" | Criss Oliva, J. Oliva, Paul O'Neill | Edge of Thorns (1993) | 6:37 |
3. | "Chance" | J. Oliva, O’Neill | Handful of Rain | 4:36 |
4. | "Nothing’s Going On" | J. Oliva, O’Neill | Handful of Rain | 4:31 |
5. | "He Carves His Stone" | C. Oliva, J. Oliva, O’Neill | Edge of Thorns | 3:04 |
6. | "Jesus Saves" | C. Oliva, J. Oliva, O’Neill | Streets: A Rock Opera (1991) | 4:04 |
7. | "Watching You Fall" | J. Oliva | Handful of Rain | 5:24 |
8. | "Castles Burning" | J. Oliva | Handful of Rain | 4:45 |
9. | "All That I Bleed" | C. Oliva, J. Oliva, O’Neill | Edge of Thorns | 5:20 |
10. | "Handful of Rain" | J. Oliva | Handful of Rain | 5:20 |
11. | "Sirens" | C. Oliva, J. Oliva | Sirens (1983) | 3:43 |
12. | "Gutter Ballet" | C. Oliva, J. Oliva, O’Neill | Gutter Ballet (1989) | 7:06 |
No. | Title | Writer(s) | From the album | Length |
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13. | "Damien" | C. Oliva, J. Oliva, O’Neill | Edge of Thorns | 4:06 |
14. | "Hall of the Mountain King" | C. Oliva, J. Oliva, Johnny Lee Middleton, O'Neill | Hall of the Mountain King (1987) | 6:29 |
Dead Winter Dead is the ninth studio album by the American heavy metal band Savatage, released in 1995. It is a concept album, that tells a story from the perspectives of a Serb boy, a Bosniak girl and an old man. The story of the album is set during the Bosnian War, which was ongoing at the time.
Edge of Thorns is the seventh studio album by the American heavy metal band Savatage, released on April 6, 1993, by Atlantic Records. It was the last Savatage album to feature guitarist Criss Oliva, who died six months after its release, and their first release with Zachary Stevens on lead vocals, following the departure of Jon Oliva from his role as singer in Savatage, although he did produce and write songs for the album.
Streets: A Rock Opera is the sixth studio album by the American heavy metal band Savatage and is a rock opera dealing with the rise and fall of the fictional musician DT Jesus. It was originally released in October 1991 on Atlantic Records. The album took almost a year to record, with pre-production beginning in October 1990. It was also Jon Oliva's last album as lead vocalist until 1995's Dead Winter Dead and 1997's The Wake of Magellan, where he shared lead vocal duties with Zak Stevens. He resumed lead vocal duties exclusively on 2001's Poets and Madmen.
Savatage is 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 at least one other band. Savatage is considered to be an integral part of the American heavy metal movement of the early-to-mid-1980s and has been cited as a key influence on numerous heavy metal subgenres.
The Wake of Magellan is the tenth studio album released by the American heavy metal band Savatage. The album was released in September 1997 in Europe and Japan, and in April 1998 in the US.
Poets and Madmen is the eleventh studio album by American heavy metal band Savatage, released in 2001. It was their last album before their 12-year hiatus, which lasted from 2002 to 2014. The album has a loose concept inspired by the career and death of journalist Kevin Carter, but has much less narrative in the lyrics than the previous two rock operas penned by Paul O'Neill. Everything said in the album is fiction, except with regards to what is sung about Carter. The album is also noted as it is the only Savatage album to not feature a title song from the album, although the title was taken from lyrics to the track "Symmetry" from the band's 1994 album, Handful of Rain.
Handful of Rain is the eighth studio album by American heavy metal band Savatage, released in 1994. This is the first album since the death of the band's founding member and lead guitarist Criss Oliva. who had contributed to writing on its songs "Taunting Cobras" and "Nothing's Going On" before his death.
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.
Fight for the Rock is the third studio album by the American heavy metal band Savatage, released on June 30, 1986. It is their first album with new bass player Johnny Lee Middleton.
Ghost in the Ruins – A Tribute to Criss Oliva is a live album by the American heavy metal band Savatage, recorded between 1987 and 1990. Many of the tracks on this album have since been added to the re-releases of other albums in the Savatage discography by the German label SPV in 2002. The Japanese version of the album, titled Final Bell – Tribute to Christopher Michael Oliva and released by Zero Corporation in 1997, shows the track "Criss Intro" as "Criss Oliva Guitar Solo" on the track listing.
Jeff Plate is an American professional hard rock/heavy metal drummer. He plays with the group Trans-Siberian Orchestra. He is best known as drummer for American heavy metal band Savatage on their albums since Japan Live '94, and was also a member of Metal Church from 2006 to their break up in 2009 and again from their reunion in 2012 to 2017.
John Nicholas "Jon" Oliva 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 referred to Oliva in numerous interviews as the single greatest vocalist/musician he has ever worked with.
Christopher Michael Oliva 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.
Johnny Lee Middleton is an American musician, best known as the bass guitarist for the heavy metal bands Savatage and Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
Zachary Trussell, 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.
Jon Oliva's Pain was a musical project of Savatage co-founder Jon Oliva.
Christopher Caffery is an American heavy metal guitarist, best known for his work as a member of Savatage and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Caffery has been releasing solo records singing and playing guitar for almost 20 years, releasing nine albums and many singles since 2004.
Paul O'Neill was an American composer, lyricist, record producer, and guitarist. He was the producer of the progressive metal band Savatage, and the founder of Trans-Siberian Orchestra.
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.