OLIVA / RAISE THE CURTAIN (2013)

Former of the legendary Savatage Jon Oliva presents his first ever solo album. "Raise The Curtain" is titled the artist's debut release and with this effort Oliva combines the 70's prog elements with the sound that he cultivated with his main bands, Savatage and Jon Oliva's Pain.

“After the passing of my dear friend Matt LaPorte I felt very confused about the future of Jon Oliva’s Pain”, Oliva speaks out.“A week or so after Matt’s service, I was speaking to my friend Dan Fasciano about what I wanted to do. He suggested that I come by his home where he has a full studio and we just hang out and record whatever I had that I wanted to demo.  Unknown to me at the time, Dan also had tons of unfinished music that he wanted to do something with. It was very strange because he had tons of stuff and so did I. I don't remember how we actually started writing together but it just happened.”

“Then it became almost like a competition. I would show up at his house at 9am and we just started combining what we both had and somehow it was magic.  He would say on the phone I hope you got something because I do. We recorded over 60 songs in a very short period of time. I was amazed at the fact that his music and mine were very similar and easy to join together. I knew that this CD was going to be different and I wanted to play as much of it myself as I could. This was something I had to do for me and for Criss”.

The album starts with the brilliant 'theatrical' and proggy instrumental tune of "Raise The Curtain". Up-next, we have the 'stormy' "Soul Chaser" which takes no prisoners with its unique arrangements and the amazing guitar parts!! "I Know" it's a well-crafted ballad that features Oliva's soulful performances while "Big Brother" it's an up-tempo and traditional metal track. In "Soldier", we have a very emotional mid-tempo track that includes some acoustic guitars and a 'sweet' melody. "Father Time" and "Cant Get Away" are both superb samples of Oliva's music talent.

Overall, I have to say that this is a solid record. Even if I'm not a big fan of Oliva's music, I have to admit that he is a very talented musician and that's a thing that reflects in every moment of "Raise The Curtain". I don't have to say that for the fans of Savatage and Jon Oliva's Pain this is a must have, for the others like me, it's a great sample to discover Oliva's world!! 
Heavy Paradise's Rating : 8/10

Track List :

01. Raise The Curtain

02. Soul Chaser

03. Ten Years

04. Father Time

05. I Know

06. Big Brother

07. Armageddon

08. Soldier

09. Stalker

10. The Witch

11. Can't Get Away

12. The Truth (bonus track)