JON OLIVA'S PAIN
Maniacal Renderings
Locomotive Records 2006
www.jonoliva.net

What’s the 4-1-1?
The second album from the Savatage frontman’s solo project follows up the debut album ‘Tage Mahal.

Genre
Rock / metal / progressive metal / symphonic rock

The Good
The song “Through The Eyes Of The King” opens the album with a quick tempo. The opening musical intro was fantastic, and I loved the added keyboard/piano that added a more epic feel to the song. The title track is a slightly more moderately paced song. The lyrics are great in both the content and delivery. The guitar solo is excellent.

One of the best things about Jon Oliva is his ability to combine metal riffs with acoustic passages and make them just as heavy as the hardest and fastest guitar riffs. The opening of “The Evil Beside You” illustrates this assertion. The song then grows into a killer rocker, the song on the album that sounds the most like a Savatage song.

Oliva’s voice ranges from the smooth tones of the excellent closing ballad “Still I Pray For You Now” to the fiery rasp of the vicious “Push It To The Limit.” His voice seems stronger now more than ever. For the classic “Evil Jon Oliva” voice check out “Time To Die.” It’s my favorite track on the CD other than the title track. A speedy romp through the rocker dripping with that evil tone that only Oliva can deliver.

The Bad
While I don’t think they are necessarily bad songs, I just didn’t really think much of the songs “Holes” and “End Times.” I listened to the songs repeatedly but just couldn’t get into them.

The Verdict
I’m a huge fan of Jon Oliva. The nicknamed “Mountain King” has a certain knack of being able to craft amazingly epic songs and then turning around and come up with throat ripping tracks of pure metal viciousness. I’m thrilled with this album overall, despite my misgivings over the two songs mentioned above. It has a little bit of everything. You have a truly beautiful ballad, fiery rockers, and while it’s not a Savatage album in truth, it does remind long time fans of that level of greatness. You cannot go wrong with an album full of Oliva brilliance. Period.

Did You Know?
Jon Oliva sang the role of Mephistopheles on the Trans-Siberian Orchestra CD Beethoven’s Last Night.

Rating: out of 5

Realted Reviews:
Savatage - Edge of Thorns

-- Jay Roberts