I knew he produced the later albums, but I wanna know why he holds the key as what the band does and does not do.
SAVATAGE reunion at Wacken 2015!
- Thread starter AngraRULES
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PromisedLand
Master of Corgis
- Sep 3, 2013
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He runs TSO. TSO makes the members of Savatage a lot of money. They like lots of money. *shrug*
He was also Jon's right hand for many years, especially after Criss died, so I would imagine he has a certain amount of influence.
I know this is heresy, but I always felt O'Neil destroyed Savatage musically. He may have been good for them financially, but I always liked Savatage more as a METAL band. Just my personal opinion.
KingsGene
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Germany's Wacken Open Air Festival: Heavy Metal's Socialist Dream Struggles to Break Even
Backstage on July 31, founder of Germany’s Wacken Open Air Thomas Jensen seems unfazed by the financial pressure, telling Billboard, “We’re surviving. Every year is a challenge and this one will be hard -- I don't think we'll lose money, but the profit will be eaten. But we have to get the best experience for the fan. If we're not doing that, we're not successful. It's as simple as that.”
Backstage on July 31, founder of Germany’s Wacken Open Air Thomas Jensen seems unfazed by the financial pressure, telling Billboard, “We’re surviving. Every year is a challenge and this one will be hard -- I don't think we'll lose money, but the profit will be eaten. But we have to get the best experience for the fan. If we're not doing that, we're not successful. It's as simple as that.”
The Invisible Guest
Member
I've always been under the impression that Paul O'Neill probably owns all the rights to everything Savatage and TSO related. The band probably likes it that way as they perhaps collect a salary, get some royalty payola, and probably don't have to do a lot of shitty paperwork and stuff. That just my guess .. I don't have any inside information on any of it.
Britt
edgeofthorns
24 Hours Ago...
Kurt,
If I'm not mistaken O'Neill does indeed own the Savatage name. I believe that deal was done back during the HOTMK days after he pulled the band out of the gutter (pun intended) after the FFTR album, which bankrupted the band. Glenn can most certainly validate my next statement, but I think O'Neill is the one that wouldn't allow the Savatage name to be used during the 2004 WMD performances. That was sort of my "take away" regarding the situation at that time. Again, if Glenn feels the need, he can validate that.
Regardless, to answer your question, whatever O'Neill says goes when it comes to Savatage and TSO. On the flipside, he's been very good to Jon and the rest of the guys and they owe him alot. Jon has made that statement in countless interviews in the past.
~Brian~
Well that's great and it sucks at all once. I am aware of his involvement but wasnt sure of the level. The business side of things always sucks.
Oblivion Ocean
Member
Well, an argument could be made he has as much to do with their success as anyone. While I love Sirens and their pre-O'Neil work has some bright moments, it is not really head and shoulders over the typical metal output of the time. Hall of the Mountain King really solidified them as something special and it continued from there.
In my opinion none of the post-Savatage projects are really in the same league as the O'Neil era stuff. I would easily choose to listen to Poets and Madmen (probably my least favorite O'neil-era Savatage album) over any JoP or CiiC album.
Sir Exar Kun
Member
Agreed; Savatage brought the best of all the projects to the table, and as good as many of those post-Tage albums are, I can always hear a little something missing that the others might make up for.
Oliva's work definitely comes the closest; however, the stuff he co-wrote with CIIC is right there also. Chris Caffery's solo albums have their moments, but overall songwriting is just lacking. CIIC had a GREAT first album, and I think they slid after that until the last disc, which I thought was a great return to form.
Each band good in it's own way, but all sit in the shadow of the mighty 'Tage.
edgeofthorns
24 Hours Ago...
I tend to disagree here...at the beginning of the JOP/CIIC era I wouldn't have. With that said, after several releases from each band, personally I think the JOP/CIIC stuff is just as solid as the Savatage stuff. JOP has released mostly brilliant albums. As far as CIIC, they're more inconsistent I admit, but they've released some stellar stuff as well. I'm very much looking forward to new efforts from both bands.
~Brian~
KingsGene
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SAVATAGE's JON OLIVA Interviewed
"...An in-depth Interview with Jon Oliva about the Savatage/Trans-Siberian Orchestra Wacken performance, TSO's New Album Letters From the Labyrinth, and the TSO 2015 winter tour.
http://squintyt4e.livejournal.com/50850.html by Brad Parmerter
Audio excerpt:
BP: You've obviously been playing a lot of the Savatage material on your own since the last time you guys toured together, but what was it like when the six of you got together for rehearsals again for Wacken?
Jon Oliva: It was like we never stopped playing. It was really strange. This whole Wacken thing was a very bizarre thing because when we first set up for the first days of rehearsal at the fairgrounds, it was just like we never stopped playing together. It was so weird. I mean we just played through the stuff as if we were on tour. That was strange as well just the way, you know, I mean we hadn't played, that group of guys, we haven't been on stage together or even played together since Al's last tour was what, '98? I mean we toured again in 2000, 2001, but Pitrelli wasn't with us. So '98 was his last tour so that was a long time, but it didn't feel like we...you know you would expect some rust or you would expect some mistakes or some shit like that, but it was as if we were, you know, it was as if we were playing together for the last twenty years. That's what people don't understand, but we do, we are together a lot.
"I gave all the Savatage fans the best years of my life from the day I turned 21 to the day I turned 40. That's all I did was Savatage. That was the best years of my life. I lost my, I lost my house, I lost my cars, I got divorced. Thank god my wife forgave me and remarried me, but I sacrificed everything for that band and you know, people don't really...it kind of bothers me a little bit people don't really understand that. How much that, how much I went through to keep that band together. And I would think people would be happy that I'm happy. You know, and to say, "Jon gave, if this is what he wants to do great, he's writing great stuff and blah blah blah..." And that's how I want it, you know. I wish the Savatage fans would feel that, you know, this is my decision.
It's nothing that was forced on me or anything like that. This is what I want to do because I want, I want to push my limits until the day I'm dead. I want to keep trying to come up with different things and new ideas and I gave you guys 25 years of my life with Savatage. You know, the best years of my life. You know while everybody else was living their lives I was sleeping in fucking vans and buses and traveling around playing in front of 200 people in a beer bar and doing all that shit in the early days and then legging around Europe and all the stuff that we went through and the, you know, all the chaos and the, you know, the tragedy of losing Criss and everything like that. You know it's just, it was time for me to take a step back and say look to the...what do you want to do when you're in your 50s and 60s. Obviously it's not running around singing "24 Hours Ago." You know, it's not gonna happen. So, this is my decision and I'm very happy right now. I'm a very happy guy....."
A whole lot more at this link.... http://squintyt4e.livejournal.com/50850.html
"...An in-depth Interview with Jon Oliva about the Savatage/Trans-Siberian Orchestra Wacken performance, TSO's New Album Letters From the Labyrinth, and the TSO 2015 winter tour.
http://squintyt4e.livejournal.com/50850.html by Brad Parmerter
Audio excerpt:
BP: You've obviously been playing a lot of the Savatage material on your own since the last time you guys toured together, but what was it like when the six of you got together for rehearsals again for Wacken?
Jon Oliva: It was like we never stopped playing. It was really strange. This whole Wacken thing was a very bizarre thing because when we first set up for the first days of rehearsal at the fairgrounds, it was just like we never stopped playing together. It was so weird. I mean we just played through the stuff as if we were on tour. That was strange as well just the way, you know, I mean we hadn't played, that group of guys, we haven't been on stage together or even played together since Al's last tour was what, '98? I mean we toured again in 2000, 2001, but Pitrelli wasn't with us. So '98 was his last tour so that was a long time, but it didn't feel like we...you know you would expect some rust or you would expect some mistakes or some shit like that, but it was as if we were, you know, it was as if we were playing together for the last twenty years. That's what people don't understand, but we do, we are together a lot.
"I gave all the Savatage fans the best years of my life from the day I turned 21 to the day I turned 40. That's all I did was Savatage. That was the best years of my life. I lost my, I lost my house, I lost my cars, I got divorced. Thank god my wife forgave me and remarried me, but I sacrificed everything for that band and you know, people don't really...it kind of bothers me a little bit people don't really understand that. How much that, how much I went through to keep that band together. And I would think people would be happy that I'm happy. You know, and to say, "Jon gave, if this is what he wants to do great, he's writing great stuff and blah blah blah..." And that's how I want it, you know. I wish the Savatage fans would feel that, you know, this is my decision.
It's nothing that was forced on me or anything like that. This is what I want to do because I want, I want to push my limits until the day I'm dead. I want to keep trying to come up with different things and new ideas and I gave you guys 25 years of my life with Savatage. You know, the best years of my life. You know while everybody else was living their lives I was sleeping in fucking vans and buses and traveling around playing in front of 200 people in a beer bar and doing all that shit in the early days and then legging around Europe and all the stuff that we went through and the, you know, all the chaos and the, you know, the tragedy of losing Criss and everything like that. You know it's just, it was time for me to take a step back and say look to the...what do you want to do when you're in your 50s and 60s. Obviously it's not running around singing "24 Hours Ago." You know, it's not gonna happen. So, this is my decision and I'm very happy right now. I'm a very happy guy....."
A whole lot more at this link.... http://squintyt4e.livejournal.com/50850.html
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KingsGene
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