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│ METAL CLASSICS ARCHIVE │
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│ P R E S E N T S │
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│ + Jon Oliva's Pain - 'Tage Mahal (Jap. Ed.) + │
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│╔═════════════════════╗ │
│║ Release Information ║ │
│╠═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╗ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Release Date.May-01-2013 Encoder......L3.97 -V2 --vbr-new ║ │
│║ Genre........Metal Graber.......EAC ║ │
│║ Year.........2004 Khz/Bitrate..44,1/ Br ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Ripper.......anthem Songs........13 ║ │
│║ Covers.......Yes Url... www.jonoliva.net ║ │
│║ ║ │
│╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ │
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│╔═════════════════════╗ │
│║ Release Notes ║ │
│╠═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════╗ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Artist : Jon Oliva's Pain Rating : You Decide! ║ │
│║ Album : 'Tage Mahal (Jap. Ed.) Label : Nippon Crown C ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
│╠════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╣ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Description : ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ After a short string of changing band members ║ │
│║ and conflicts concerning the project's name, the ║ │
│║ debut of Jon Oliva's Pain came out in the fall ║ │
│║ of 2004 and gave hope to the listeners that ║ │
│║ longed for another Savatage effort following the ║ │
│║ release of "Poets and Madmen." While this album ║ │
│║ isn't quite the same, it does exert all of that ║ │
│║ band's legendary characteristics and songwriting ║ │
│║ aesthetics. It may also be the closest thing to ║ │
│║ a solo album that Oliva has ever released and ║ │
│║ has him perform a vast majority of the ║ │
│║ songwriting. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ As previously mentioned, the album's music has ║ │
│║ many similarities to the classic Savatage sound ║ │
│║ and seems to cover all the eras associated with ║ │
│║ the band. Oliva himself is clearly the star of ║ │
│║ the show with many of the songs being directed ║ │
│║ by the catchy vocal hooks as well as the ║ │
│║ sweeping piano melodies throughout. The guitar ║ │
│║ riffs and solos probably aren't as aggressive as ║ │
│║ they could be but they put on a solid ║ │
│║ performance and add on the songs' many textures. ║ │
│║ The backing vocals that appear on this album as ║ │
│║ well as some future efforts also add on the ║ │
│║ album's feel and provide some unique backing on ║ │
│║ several songs' hooks. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ While almost every album involving Oliva's ║ │
│║ songwriting features songs that are all distinct ║ │
│║ and unique, the songwriting on this particular ║ │
│║ effort may be some of his most versatile to ║ │
│║ date. Many different styles are present with ║ │
│║ there being several epic numbers ("The Dark," ║ │
│║ "Guardian of Forever," "The Nonsensible ║ │
│║ Ramblings of the Lunatic Mind"), catchy rockers ║ │
│║ ("People Say-Gimme Some Hell," "No Escape," "All ║ │
│║ The Time," "Nowhere To Run"), the usual balladry ║ │
│║ ("Walk Alone," "Fly Away"), more aggressive ║ │
│║ tracks ("Pain," "Outside the Door"), and a few ║ │
│║ miscellaneous numbers ("Slipping Away," "Father, ║ │
│║ Son, Holy Ghost"). Most of the catchier tracks ║ │
│║ are my personal favorites, but I also enjoy "The ║ │
│║ Dark" and "Walk Alone" in particular for their ║ │
│║ particularly sweeping contrasts. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ As evidenced by the unusually plain song titles ║ │
│║ on here, this album's biggest flaw is the rather ║ │
│║ generic feel that frequently pops up throughout ║ │
│║ the work. The songs themselves are nicely ║ │
│║ structured and the execution helps keep them ║ │
│║ strong, but there is an overwhelming "by-the- ║ │
│║ numbers" mentality on here that keeps several ║ │
│║ tracks from becoming true classics. This is ║ │
│║ probably due to it being less of a band effort ║ │
│║ than future efforts. ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ There also seems to be a rather derivative feel ║ │
│║ to the music that slightly brings down the ║ │
│║ overall quality. While "Nowhere To Run" seems to ║ │
│║ have started the tradition of reviving ║ │
│║ unreleased Savatage songs in the modern age, ║ │
│║ there are several songs on here that seem to be ║ │
│║ repeats of older works. "Slipping Away" often ║ │
│║ feels like a rewrite of "You're Alive" and "All ║ │
│║ The Time" features a riff that is oddly similar ║ │
│║ to one from "Turns To Me." Hell, they even had ║ │
│║ the balls to sample about twenty Savatage songs ║ │
│║ during the outro of "People Say-Gimme Some ║ │
│║ Hell!"s ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ All in all, this is a pretty decent album that ║ │
│║ is worth checking out for fans of Savatage and ║ │
│║ all things Oliva. I have a feeling that not too ║ │
│║ many others will get much out of this but the ║ │
│║ band has shown a good deal of improvement on ║ │
│║ future efforts such as 2006's "Maniacal ║ │
│║ Renderings." ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ My Current Favorites: ║ │
│║ "The Dark," "People Say-Gimme Some Hell," "Walk ║ │
│║ Alone," "All the Time," and "Nowhere to Run" ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ Jon Oliva - Vocals, Keyboards, Guitars ║ │
│║ Chris Kinder - Drums ║ │
│║ Kevin Rothney - Bass ║ │
│║ John Zahner - Keyboards ║ │
│║ Matt LaPorte - Guitars ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
│║ ║ │
│╚════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╝ │
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│╔═════════════════════╗ │
│║ Release Tracklist ║ │
│╚═════════════════════╩══════════════════════════════════════════ │
│ │
│ 01 - The Dark [05:11] │
│ 02 - People Say - Gimme Some Hell [04:08] │
│ 03 - Guardian Of Forever [07:44] │
│ 04 - Slipping Away [04:29] │
│ 05 - Walk Alone [04:32] │
│ 06 - The Nonsensible Ravings Of The Lunatic Min [05:31] │
│ 07 - No Escape [03:23] │
│ 08 - Father, Son, Holy Ghost [05:54] │
│ 09 - All The Time [04:58] │
│ 10 - Nowhere To Run [05:23] │
│ 11 - Pain [03:13] │
│ 12 - Outside The Doors [04:00] │
│ 13 - Fly Away [04:11] │
│ │
│ Total Length : [62:37 minn │
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│ ╔═════════════════════╗ │
│ ║ Greetings To: ║ │
│ ╚═════════════════════╝ │
│ │
│ Too all people who contributes to make this │
│ archive of good music in a exceptional conditions │
│ │
│ │
│ │
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