So after finishing my latest run-through of the entire Savatage discography today, I was listening to a mix of Jon Oliva's Pain, Circle II Cirlce, Doctor Butcher and Chris Caffery, and it got me thinking about something: which members/associates of Savatage currently active would you consider to be necessary for a Savatage reunion? Jon Oliva often says the reason why Savatage can't tour/release albums anymore is because so many Sava alumni need TSO to make a secure living. The mighty 'Tage did go through a very large number of line-up changes over the years, and not all of them are full time members of TSO. Pretty much all the members each had their own strengths as performers that they brought to the band and contributed mightily to the Savatage sound of their respective eras, however, few of them wrote much (if anything) for the band during their respective tenures, so they may not all be necessary for a new Savatage album. However we would need at least enough guys to form a touring unit so the band could play live again.
Here's how I see it (official studio recording members only!):
1) Jon Oliva - Not only does he have writing credits on almost every Sava song, he also is the only individual to actually have participated in the creation of every album (even the ones released during his hiatus from 1991-94). This man
is Savatage.
2) Paul O'Neil - Paul gets a lot of shit from more old school 'Tage fans for introducing the band to classical and Broadway music, which resulted in a dramatic shift in style in the late 80's/early 90's. However, from 87 onwards, he has writing credits on almost every Savatage song, and pretty much wrote all the lyrics to the last 3 albums. Also, it goes without saying that it was those very classical/Broadway influences that ultimately defined the band in the long run and distinguished them amongst their peers. Even Jon Oliva has said that Savatage before Paul was more like "Savatage in training." I think Paul's involvement would be essential for a reformed Savatage.
3) Chris Caffery - Even though he was only on 4 Savatage albums, Caffery was a major influence in the band's later career, writing a good chunk of music on the last few Sava albums. Furthermore, Criss Oliva took him under his wing back in 87-90, and it is pretty safe to say that Caffery is one of the few people that can truly do justice to the works of Criss live. Considering that, I think it is pretty safe to say that these days, you can't have Savatage without Chris Caffery.
4) Zack Stevens - Zack is a tricky case. On the one hand, he was only on 4 Savatage albums, and many of the 'Tage's most famous works did not involve him (Hall of the Mountain King, Gutter Ballet, and Streets). Furthermore, he did not write anything during his stint in Savatage. On the other hand, though, Zack's voice is synonymous with Savatage from 1992-2000, and his presence and distinctive vocal talents pretty much revitalized the band after they shot the full creative load on their opus, Streets. The Edge of Thorns album alone is reason enough to serious consider him as a necessity for a true Savatage reunion, to say nothing of the other epic 3 albums he recorded with the band.
5) Johnny Lee Middleton - Johnny is another strange case. He was in Savatage from 1985-2002; longer then anyone save Jon Oliva himself. However, his compositional contributions are minimal, and while he is one hell of a bass player, I think they could probably replace him with another and it would not affect the overall chemistry of the band too much.
6/7) Steve Wacholz/ Jeff Plate - Both are superb drummers, but only one of them is really needed for this hypothetical reunion, and both have very slim writing credits. I may give a slight edge to Wacholz since he was on the first 8 albums and he was also the original drummer of the band. Ultimately, though, I don't think either is too essential.
8) Al Pitrelli - Another fantastic player who was in the band for a relatively brief period of time (6 years/ 3 albums), he helped write a few songs on Wake of Magellan, but according to Jon Oliva, he never really bonded with the band and was more of a hired gun from the start.
9) Alex Skolnick - Pretty much the same as Pitrelli, but he was only on one album and didn't write anything.
10) Keith Collins - Bass player on Sirens and Dungeons. I bet a few of you didn't even know who he was!
Also of note is Bob Kinkel. He handled orchestration and some keyboards on Hall of the Mountain King as well as some of the later, more symphonic albums, as well as working as a studio engineer for the band on multiple albums. Not actual a member per se, but like Paul O'Neill, he did contribute pretty mightily to crafting the signature Savatage sound.
Soooooo............... in conclusion, I think at the very least we need Oliva and Caffery in the band with O'Neill as a producer/ songwriter and Kinkel handling orchestration and engineering. Other then that; I have a difficult time seeing them perform most of the 1992-2000 songs without Zack, so I would prefer it if he were part of any reunion (plus I love the possibility of him doing vocal trade-offs with Jon, like in the Japan 94 rendition of Gutter Ballet). I would also prefer Johnny on bass, but despite his lengthy tenure in the band, I would be willing to accept a reunion without him. The same goes for Wacholz, Plate, Pitrelli, Skolnick and Collins (I would think that between two second guitarists, two bass players and two drummers, the could get enough ex-Savatage guys together to make a complete band). If the band needed to bring in new people to fill in those positions, however, I could live with that, although I would prefer these new people to be associated with one of the many Savatage off-shoots (TSO/JOP/CIIC/CC/DB) as well as former touring only members, such as Damond Jiniya and Jack Frost.
Anyways, please comment on this idea, as I would love additional input!