Criss Oliva

[horns666]

Re: Criss Oliva

Man, me and John got to meet Al Pitreli a few years back ...at that time he was a very rude , obnoxious , conceded , antisocial jerk .. While playing the 'Tage set he rolled his eyes and yawned and made faces everytime the "tage didn't play one of "his" songs....then I met him at a guitar seminar for Peavey some years before that ....he was kinda dick-like then too... [img]graemlins/eyes.gif[/img]

I'm a great judge of character when meetin' people for the most part...Iv'e never been known to be wrong....not yet anyways.. [img]images/icons/wink.gif[/img]

Unfortunately I thought Jon Oliva was a dick too ...but his voice and writing is soooo unmistakable and is a required element for the 'Tage ...unlike Stevens.

I was hopin' for Jeff Waters to stay aboard to do some studio work with them ...that would of been interesting ....maybe still??

[ August 05, 2003, 12:01 AM: Message edited by: horns666 ]

[Riffmeister]

Re: Criss Oliva

Hey Bill,

how about some links so I don't have to search all over the place [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Oh and see above for the description of Power Tabs. [img]graemlins/poke.gif[/img]

[Tekky]

Re: Criss Oliva

I think we'll all agree that Criss Oliva was one of a kind and we'll probably never see someone as talented and as passionate as he was. We walk side by side with those who hold Randy Rhoads in high regard as an influence. We both lost a master of the instrument way too early.

In my opinion, Chris Caffrey has probably come closest to filling Oliva's shoes. His years on tour with Criss has given him a perspective that not too many can claim.

Alex Skolnick is an incredible guitar player, his work with Savatage (Handful of Rain and Live in Japan) is simply brilliant. But, it is Skolnick's interpretation of Oliva's lines. Alex's turn towards jazz isn't unfortunate. It's his evolution. I was reading on his site where a fan totally ripped on him for doing jazz and "abandoning" metal. Alex made a great case and eventually won the fan over. There's a lot to be said for diversity in musical tastes. I would suggest giving it a try. Give all other musical styles a try. (flemenco, jazz, fusion, latin) You'd be amazingly surprised what you'll find out there.

I've never met Pitrelli, I've seen him a few times at the end of TSO concerts and he's always been cordial. As far as playing goes, I love the stuff he does with TSO, he and Caffrey make a good pair. I have to admit though, outside of Savatage and TSO, I haven't really heard too much of his playing. I know he was with Alice Cooper and did a lot of other albums, but I really didn't follow him much.

[piranhaguy2002a]

Re: Criss Oliva

I've followed Savatage since "Sirens". I was the one who bought Criss' Charvel from Easton Guitars a while back, let me tell you this thing has been threw the ringer and back. Does have a mojo kind of feel to it though. Still has everything original on it including the string that were on it when Criss gave it Jackson. Horns and Cleveland aren't the only followers of the Criss legacy!

[Steve]

Re: Criss Oliva

Originally posted by jeff300:
1) Check my Avatar.

2) Criss was great, but so are all the other guitarists who came after him. Caffery is very underrated and plays just as well as Oliva. Skolnick is a master. I wish he stayed with the band. And Pitrelli can shred with the best of them.

What do you want to know about his style? Its well documented. You can find out pretty much everything about him on various sites.

And what do you mean by powertabs? Is that some special format? If you're just looking for tabs in general, you can find a heck of a lot of their work. I have dozens.

<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Yeah man chris rules/ruled , I was gonna get that pic you use for your avatar tatooed to my arm but I have never had the cash to do it cause I buy to many guitars [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img] but I wouldn't be anywhere with my guitar playing if I wouldn't have listened and figured out the stuff that Chris and Jon wrote my fave songs that I figured out when I was younger were all the stuff off gutter ballet and Hall of the mountain king my 2 faves forsure //Steve

[eaeolian]

Re: Criss Oliva

Hmm - Bill, I'd have to say that I didn't think Jon was a d*ck AT ALL - he's obnoxious, but I got along with him great. Word of warning - DO NOT try to drink with him, unless you've got the constitution of an OX.

Caffery is a great guy, and he's good, but he ain't Criss, and he'd be the first to say so.

Pitrelli can be a jerk, but he was OK when we played with them - and he is a good guitar player. (Remember, most of the first TSO album is him - not shred stuff, but masterfully played.)

Alex has gone from being very good to just insane - his TSO performances alone are just brilliant, never mind his jazz stuff. Interestingly, though, I never much liked "Handful of Rain".

Criss was a very, very cool person, and a unique talent in his own right - he is sorely missed.

Oh, and to give you an idea of the kind of 'Tage fans we have in Division, my singer has Jeff300's avatar on his arm. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Mike

[ August 05, 2003, 02:57 PM: Message edited by: Michael ]

[Cleveland Metal]

Re: Criss Oliva

Hmm, last time we talked to Jon, he was nice at first. I'm trying to remember exactly what we said that made him irate...

I believe it was about how we thought Chris C. should be given more spotlight than he was getting. He seemed upset at that immediately. Something about, "no one person gets a spotlight anymore". I took that to mean, now that Chris O. isn't there.

I remember mentioning about Pitrelli looking so distressed when he had to play the Chris O. solos and seemed upset 1). that the audience wanted more old Savatage and 2). gave a better response to it than the Magellans material they were touring on. He seems to like Pitrelli and didn't like us downing him.

Pitrelli is a good and very pro player. But, he's not of my interest as far as his generic chameleon-like, bluesy rock style, and I basically don't like him on a personal level.

He's ok, but he sure isn't up to Chris Oliva or Marty Friedman status at all.

Oh well, Savatage is floundering on anything that isn't TSO Christmas stuff. Savatage should be laid to rest.

Dr. Butcher, with Caffery and Jon Oliva truly held a lot of promise, and was the closest to the Savatage Vibe I'd heard since Chris passed. But, is on hold forever maybe, with the $$$ are rolling in from the TSO Bing Crosby Christmas stuff.

Ehh, the era is gone, and Savatage is over. We can only be thankful the Chris O. left us a lot of awesome material. What a guy... Man, I miss him... Over a decade now, and I still get sad...

Such deep emotion that guy had sometimes... I loved HOTMK as it was crushing for the time. But Gutter and Streets had so much emotion in some places, it was amazing... RIP man... I would not be near the player I am today without Chris Oliva...

[eaeolian]

Re: Criss Oliva

I agree - there are two Savatages - Criss and Post-Criss. Actually, the dividing line for me is pretty much "Edge of Thorns", which Criss wails on by Zak hasn't got it together yet.

I have to agree, though, that I'd be a different player if it wasn't for Criss.

Personally, I think post-Criss 'Tage has come up with a handful of good songs and one brilliant album - "The Wake of Magellan". It's not HotMK, but it's damn good in it's own right. They are now a totally different band, though.

If you like the "Wake" style but would rather skip the "O'Niell-isms", Zak's new band CircleIICircle's album is pretty cool. If you're a die hard "Sirens" guy, though, this ain't what you're looking for.

John, Dr. Butcher was promising, but very hit-or-miss. Still a riot, though - "Reach Out and Hurt Someone", indeed. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Mike

[horns666]

Re: Criss Oliva

Yeah .. Anything the Tage has put out since EOT is cool and pretty decent for the most part but I could never accept that as Savatage ...

Circle II Circle / TSO is pretty cool too......but it's not Tage..that's my point

Same goes with the Pre and Post era DLR era Van Halen...Dave wanted to keep Ed in the spotlight as a Guitar heroe ....Ed had other plans ...what those plans were we still don't know!!! [img]graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

RIP Chris ...and Eddie [img]images/icons/blush.gif[/img]

[semagic]

Re: Criss Oliva

C. Oliva will always be in my top 5 of all time. I'm just now reading about what actually happened to him, what a shame.(drunk driver story) [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img] Let's not go there. [img]images/icons/mad.gif[/img]

[masterofsolos]

Re: Criss Oliva

Glad to see Criss being mention again on here [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]
He is without a doubt my favourite guitarist. I'd love to be able to nail his tone. I'm sure the ghost in the ruins album was eq'ed and all sorts but his lead tone on it is just amazing. I have a live mp3 of them playing If I go away from the final streets tour concert and the emotion from Criss' playing is just overpowering.

I like Caffery a lot. I hated hearing that Al Pitrelli is back in the band, as I'm sure he'll take over most of the soloing duties [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

Donnie Cretsinger, can you post pictures of the guitar please?

[zeegler]

Re: Criss Oliva

When I saw Savatage open for Testament back in 87 or 88 sometime, I had never heard of them. Let's just say that after their set, Testament were a huge dissapointment. I bought HotMK the next morning. Ever since then, I have bee a giant Criss Oliva fan and I remember very sadly the day I heard of his pointless death. The last album I bought was Dead Winter Dead. With Criss gone and no Jon on vocals, it wasn't the same. [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

[Wayniac]

Re: Criss Oliva

Anyone attending the 10th Anniversary Memorial Concert in Tampa on Oct 17??

[doommaker]

Re: Criss Oliva

If it weren't for Criss Oliva I wouldn't be anywhere near the level I am at now as a guitarist. He is and will forever be my number one influence. Criss Oliva also turned me onto Jackson guitars, back when I got my first Jackson it was because I wanted to be like him. The guitar is still my main guitar too this day.

Al Pitrelli is a bit of a tool, i always found his playing to be really sterile, he seems to put absolutely no emotion into his playing, it all sounds fake and pushed.

It would've been cool for Jeff Waters to stay in savatage, he would add a new extreme aspect too the band, and IMO be much better suited to 'Tage. I'm surprised they let Al back in after he ditched them for Megadeth.

[beachjammer]

Re: Criss Oliva

All I can say is that I agree with most that has been said except for maybe the personality issues with the guys since I've never had the opportunity of meeting any of them.

Hall of the Mountain King was also a pivotal point in my playing as well and I went through two Gutter and Streets Cassettes before I finally bought them on CD. I was really depressed and upset when I found out of his passing. Being Rhoads is my number one pick and Criss was my number two it kinda puts a person in limbo when both guys are prematurely taken. I'm sure that alot of you fall in this catagory.

Anyway I'd also love to see some pics posted of Criss's guitar!