JAPAN LIVE '94

Very good live album by this great band, but with a problem: it has too much songs of the record Handful of Rain. It's undestandable, because they were presentating this album, but some songs of Edge Of Thorns and some classics are missed.

Nevertheless, the sound is very clear, and the guitar's sound perfect. Alex Skolnick made some variations from the Criss Oliva's guitar solos and it made the songs a little different and interesting, because he doesn't limit himself to repeat the other's work. And this is the first record where we can hear Jeff Plate on drums, and Jon Oliva on rythm guitars!!!

High point: the great duet by Jon Oliva and Zachary Stevens of the song Gutter Ballet.

Low point: the Chance's choirs are very missed here...

One of my favrite bands ever relesed in 1994 a live album called simply Japan Live'94. I have this album since he hits the market in mid '90's, till than i was listen constantly never get bored or something alike. With this live they present the newest album, then, Handful of rain. Obviously Savatage has a very big fan base in Japan, one of the most important markets of music in the world so was clear thet the music was well recived both by the public and critics from this country. This is a great album with pieces from all the periods of Savatage, but as The Crow mention earlier some classics are missed. So the majority of the pieces are from Handful of rain, the best from this album here is Chance. Some othe great tunes that sounds very good live are Gutter ballet and Jesus saves. Their is a piece who was dedicated to Chris Oliva memory All That I Bleed - simply superb - Zachary Stevens has a super voice that fits very well in this kind of music. Aswell this is the first album where we see Jeff Plate on drums. So overall this is a great live album and desearve without question 4 stars, among the best from the '90's and the best band ever made. Recommended. And do not forget, i have a VHS casette with the same concert filmed , there the concert ends with the piece Hall of the mountain king who sounds extremly good live, i see here on this live album is missing, i wonder why??

This album is a perfect example of why I've always preferred studio albums to live ones. Savatage are without a doubt one of my all-time favourite bands, but 'Japan Live '94' just doesn't do their music justice.

Recorded while touring for their 1994 album, 'Handful of Rain', this was a short-lived line-up of the band which was reeling from the tragic death of original guitarist Criss Oliva. With Zak Stevens totally owning it on vocals, and guitar master Alex Skolnick of Testament fame stepping in on guitars, the band members are on top form, and the performances from everyone are solid throughout.

The production is pretty good, and everyone can be heard clearly, however, there're two things about this album that bug me. Firstly, I just feel that the album versions sound a lot bigger, grandiose and epic, especially as the studio can allow for multiple layers and dubs, whereas live, they all sound a bit flat. Secondly... ah... the audience... Like so many similar live releases, the audience at times just sound piped in. It's when Stevens is talking and the crowd are constantly screaming and yelling, I know metal fans can be a rabid bunch, but at times it just sounds a bit fake (and if it isn't, well... there's always reason one to fall back on).

Coming at a time just as the band were starting to become more progressive, theatrical and bombastic with their music, 'Japan Live '94', (sometimes also known as 'Live in Japan') does have a pretty decent set list. With the likes of 'Chance', 'Edge of Thorns', 'Gutter Ballet', 'Taunting Cobras', 'Jesus Saves', 'Watching You Fall' and 'Sirens', there's plenty of good material here, making this is a decent enough album, but as a whole, I think I'll probably ignore it and just listen to the bands studio output instead.