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".
| 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 | ||||
2000 US edition cover | ||||
| Review scores | |
|---|---|
| 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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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.
CD track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | From the album | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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 |
VHS/DVD track listing
edit- "Taunting Cobras"
- "Edge of Thorns"
- "Chance"
- "Conversation Piece"
- "Nothing Going On"
- "He Carves His Stone"
- "Jesus Saves"
- "Watching You Fall"
- "Castles Burning"
- "All That I Bleed"
- "Stare into the Sun"
- "Damien"
- "Handful of Rain"
- "Sirens"
- "Gutter Ballet"
- "Hall of the Mountain King"
Personnel
edit- Savatage
- Zak Stevens – vocals
- Alex Skolnick – guitars
- Jon Oliva – keyboards, guitars, vocals
- Johnny Lee Middleton – bass
- Jeff Plate – drums
- Production
- Paul O'Neill – producer, mixing at Soundtrack Studios, New York
- Zak – engineer
- Toshiyuki Hayashi and the Sci Gang – assistant engineers
- Ken Lewis Moren – mixing engineer
- Ted Moren – mixing assistant
- Brian Weber, Michael Ifversen – audio edit
- Masao Nakazato – mastering at Onkio Haus, Tokyo
References
edit- ^ Schöwe, Andreas (October 1995). "Savatage – Japan Live '94". Metal Hammer (in German). Retrieved 2018-05-08.
- ^ Schnädelbach, Uwe (1995). "Review Album : Savatage - Japan Live '94". Rock Hard (in German). No. 101. Retrieved 2018-04-20.
- ^ "Japan Live'94 [Video]". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 17 March 2013.
- ^ "Savatage News, post dated 2000-07-19". Savatage.com. Archived from the original on 2007-10-17. Retrieved 2007-09-08.