You can always steal from my website. Like this:
FACES / GOD D@MN WAR (2004) BLACK LOTUS

CD1: Alas - instrumental Faces Fade Into The X Pisses Me Off Remember The Fall Music Man Life, Crazy Life!!! The Mold Bag O'Bones Evil Is As Evil Does Never So Far Today Jealousy Preludio - instrumental Abandoned	Line-up: Chris Caffery - All Lead and Background Vocals, All Lead, Rhythm, Electric and Acoustic Guitars Jeff Plate - Drums and Percussion Dave Z - Bass Guitars Paul "Licorace'" Morris - Keyboards, Piano
CD2: God D@mn War Fool, Fool Edge Of Darkness Saddamize I Amazing Grace Piece Be With You Beat Me, You'll Never Beat Me Curtains

Being a huge Savatage fan, this album is of course a necessity. Chris have over the years grown to become a player as close to Criss Oliva as can be. Not that he is trying to copy him, but he has developed a personal style that fits the legacy from Criss. Also, his work as a writer have always been on the metal side of things. Just check out Doctor Butcher for reference. So two questions needed answers concerning this solo-album: 1. Was he able to carry an entire album on his own? And 2. How would his singing abilities as a lead vocalist work? I'm happy to say that I can answer positive on both question. Between the 25 songs on this double album, there are enough killer material to last for 1 solid album. But I must say that a 2CD effort is a bit overkill. The second CD is meant more as bonus-material, and Chris is planning to re-release these tracks on his second offering (adding more songs completing a war-themed concept album). The 'Faces' CD is aptly titled, as it is showing us the many faces of it's originator. He is really showing off his variety as a songwriter. From the country-influenced "Music Man", to the molten metal of the "The Fall", "Evil Is As Evil Does" and "God D*mn War", back to the ballads like "Never", Chris pulls it all of nicely. The man has a cool metal voice, and much to my surprise he has an unexpected variety. It's almost unbelievable that it is the same man singing all of these tracks. I could have sworn that Jon Oliva was doin' some guest-vocals on the title-track. But I was wrong, it is all Chris! The 'God Damn War' CD is more consistent in the heavier side of things. As mentioned, this will later develop into a concept album on war. Of course, there are some obvious references to Savatage and Doctor Butcher present on both of these discs. Chris' band is made up of drummer Jeff Plate (his Savatage/TSO bandmate), bass-player Dave Z (also from TSO) and Paul Morris (ex-Rainbow, Doro). 'Faces/God D*mn War' is an album to come back to, and enjoy time and time again. As said, some of the tunes could have made way, so we'd sit back with 1 really strong album, instead of 2 decent ones. And just to round this up, you do not have to be a Savatage fan to enjoy this album!

Killer tracks: Faces, Fade Into The X, Pisses Me Off, The Fall, Music Man, Evil Is As Evil Does, Never, Abandoned, Saddamize, I, Piece Be With You, Beat Me, You'll Never Beat Me, Curtains

We can't say "ghey", but that GD bomb up there can stay? Can you do something about that, please?

There isn't much that offends me, but those two words in succession do. Thank you, kmorg.

No problem. And I forgot to add an emoticon to my last post.

For some reason I couldn't get into this. I think if, like you suggest, one album of the solid songs had been done it'd have worked better.

THE MOLD (2004) BLACK LOTUS (EP)

The Mold Fade Into The X God D*mn War Fright Knights (exclusive) Forever We'll Be (exclusive)

Chris recorded a crap load of songs for his debut album. So although he released a double album, he still had plenty of leftovers. Here we get 2 of them served together with 3 album tracks. Both are quite good, and would have fit nicely amongst the rest, and maybe created a little breathing space between the faster songs, as both are slower songs.
MUSIC MAN (2004) BLACK LOTUS (EP)

Music Man What Child Is This? * Christmas Is * Forever We'll Be ** Pisses Me Off (Radio Edit) * Abandoned Amazing Grace Pisses Me Off

* = exclusive track ** = also on 'The Mold' EP

Another EP released in time for Christmas. 3 of the 8 tracks are exclusive to this EP. 2 of the them are Christmas songs, while the 3rd is a radio version of "Pisses Me Off". More of a collector's item then anything I ever listen to.

Looks like Kmorg has the Chris Caffery stuff pretty much well in hand, here's the rest... W.A.R.P.E.D. (2005), PINS AND NEEDLES (2007) and HOUSE OF INSANITY (2009)... anyone who's got these feel free to comment on'em and I think that'll pretty well wrap up this thread...

Unless there are any additional Sava-Offshoots that I don't know about?

PINS AND NEEDLES (2007) METAL HEAVEN (Limited digipack)

Pins And Needles 66 Reach Out And Torment Again Walls Y.G.B.F.K.M It's S-A-D Chained Worms The Sign Of The Crossed The Time Mettle Eastern In The Midst Quaaludio The Temple Once Upon A Time (bonus track)

Line-up/Players: Chris Caffery - Lead & Background Vocals, Lead, Rhythm, Electric & Acoustic Guitars, Bass, Additional Keyboards, Saxophone Yael - Drums Phil Caffery - Drums on 15 Nick Douglas - Bass Guitars Dave Eggar - Cello, Strings Arrangements, Organ solo on 4 Lucia Micarelli - Violin on 11 Rachel - Violin on 15 Paul LaPlaca - Keyboards Paul Morris - Piano and Keyboards Ferde Dornberg - Keyboard solo on 11 Nik Chinboukas - Additional Keyboards, Additional Drum magic Alex Skolnick - Ending Guitar solo on 6 Marcus DeLoach - Opera vocals on 10

This was one tuff album to get a hold of! First Chris' label went under. Then he secured a deal with Metal Heaven, not exactly the largest label out there. So finding it in the regular shops in Norway was a no go. Finally I had to do a special order through a smaller music store in town, and ending up buying a costly import of the CD. As fate would have it, I found it online a few days later for a much nicer price. Oh well, what can one do when one is a die hard fan of a band, and have to own everything related? Chris is once again over us with a collection of his insanity. He's still pissed, and he's still a little obsessed with war. But on 'Pins And Needles' we get so much more. Musically this is a logical step further from what we were served on his last 2 efforts. Always dabbling and experimenting with different ideas, and unexpected sounds, 'Pins And Needles' was a task to get through on the first spins. But when the initial vertigo settled, and I was back on the ground with this album, some new doors opened. Now I'm sad to say that I'm not as pleased with this one as I were with the 2 predecessors. Some great ideas are presented here. I just think that Chris is trying to cramp too many of them into this 60 minute silver disc. And it results in a little overkill. He should have trimmed it down to 3 or 4 tracks less, and concentrated on making the remainsers just a little more consistent. As it stands now, the album sounds too chaotic, and you really have to dig deep to find the nuggets. Maybe next time, Chris. Look out for a guest spot from ex-Savatage axeman, Alex Skolnick.

Killer tracks: Pins And Needles, It's S-A-D

I like Chris Caffery solo maybe even more than I like Jon Oliva's Pain.

I really didn't know what to expect when I picked up 'Faces' back in 2005. I was immediately blown away by the combination of aggression and infectious guitar melodies. Not that far removed from what he was doing with Doctor Butcher a decade earlier. Caffery really has a great tone on Faces - it's not far from Criss Oliva's playing, just with a more modern production. Killer stuff.

I also like how you totally get your money's worth when you pick up Faces - so many great songs that you just cannot digest it all at once. It took me a long time to fully appreciate all the songs, and I can honestly say there's not a single track there that I don't love now. 'Fade into the X' is probably my favourite at the moment, but it changes everytime I give the CD a spin. Very solid from beginning to end, and not predictable at all! A lot of different styles of music present here, several almost like crossover songs, you could even say. But the dominating part is always good ol' fashioned Savatage-school heavy metal.

Caffery's voice also surprised me. I was thinking he's not really a trained vocalist that would blow you away with flawless technique, so basically I was expecting something like Glenn Tipton solo: a guy that knows his limits and plays it safe, singing well within his range. Well, that's not the case here at all. Caffery TOTALLY goes insane on this one! You know he's not the greatest vocalist ever technically, but hell, neither was Jon Oliva. He just doesn't care, and really his raw vocals add a lot of power to the songs. It's not like his voice is that extreme though, it's quite pleasant actually. Not that different from Oliva's - you can hear he's been doing lots of backing vocals for Savatage and learning from Jon while at it.

'Faces' has to be one of my favourite albums of the decade.

And 'Pins and Needles' was actually my favourite 2007 release. My wife's also! And she's usually into more somber stuff, like Solitude Aeturnus. Caffery solo has been real solid. Pins and Needles was another batch of amazing songs, too bad the label went bankrupt or something. Caffery really hasn't had it easy promoting his solo efforts. Pins and Needles really deserved more attention than it got. Very solid, and maybe even more consistent than the debut. I can not name a favourite track off it right now... maybe if I had to, I could mention Sixty-Six, but that doesn't stand out simply because the rest of the disc is also awesome.

The new one, 'House of Insanity', which I have an autographed copy of, may just be the weakest of the bunch. Still not bad, but it doesn't draw you in quite as well as the first three. Still, I would say 'House' has the best guitar parts of them all. In fact, I really cannot think of an album that has more awesome guitars than this, at least not one made in the 2000's. Real awesome stuff, and Caffery just has that great guitar tone that I cannot get enough of. The individual songs are good, but not great, but the album itself is more than the sum of its parts. Too bad it has gone unnoticed for the most part. That's a crying shame. Caffery's playing has gotten so good I would love to hear him do another Savatage tour and play some of Criss' old songs, without a rhythm player, just like Criss did it.

Caffery has also improved as a singer, but that doesn't necessarily mean I like the vocals better now. I still think he nailed the vocal parts on 'Faces'. Dude, don't even try to compete with vocalists with superior talent and technique! Just be yourself.

Speaking of vocalists, one of the highlights on the record is 'Solitaire' where Chris shares the lead vocals with Zak Stevens. But my absolute favourite off the record is "I Won't Know". Tremendous guitar tone, did I say that enough times already? Like straight off of 'Doctor Butcher'. Also an infectious chorus, which is not always a given with Caffery. It's usually more about the verses, really.

Also "No Matter What", where after a country style intro, the METAL kicks in and the whole song ends up being a big highlight. 'Madonna' has two sweet solos, too.

So the songs are good, but maybe the rhythm section sounds a bit bad on the new album. It's maybe even a bit too much about guitars, and guitars only. Caffery was never the Vai or Malmsteen type of solo artists where guitars take center stage, he had three albums full of great songs that work with or without over-the-top guitar parts, but now the drums and bass parts seem to be sacrificed a little and I don't really like it.

Anyway, as an artist, Caffery is top class. Not in my top ten guitarists when it comes to pure skill, but he does things with good taste. Even shredding! Definitely in my top ten artists/bands of the decade.

I own 2 albums from this guy, but I didn't find anything that would make me want to hear it again. I found his voice very similar to Jon Oliva. But I don't think Caffery is a good song writer.

But I understand him, he once said that he can't be on a regular band, since he spends almost half of every year busy with Trans Siberian Orchestra

Lari: Great takes on the CC stuff! Alhouugh we don't agree on everything, I really enjoyed reading what you wrote. Made me see CC's albums in a new perspective.

Didn't know about the bonus an the new one. Saw it on the shelve at the local music store today, but like you, I ordered it online, and didn't think about looking at it in the shop. I might just buy it now!

Here is my take on the latest CC:
HOUSE OF INSANITY (2009) FACE THE MUSIC

Seasons Change House Of Insanity I Won't Know The Fleas Madonna Big Brother Back's To The Wall Solitaire I'm Sorry Shame Winter In Hamburg No Matter What Get Up, Stand Up! [untitled]

Line-up/Players: Chris Caffery - Electric, acoustic, bass & synth guitars, lead & background vocals, percussion, keyboards John Macaluso - Drums & percussion Lonnie Park - Keyboards, background vocals, and arrangements Paul LaPlaca - Keyboards & key arrangements on 11 Brian Gregory - Bass on 5 Zak Stevens - Lead vocals on 8 Glenn Drover - Lead guitar solo on 4

'House Of Insanity' was initially released as a download from Chris' official website. That pissed me off, because I don't pay for digital music, I want a solid product on my shelf! Luckily Chris decided to press CD's for us collector too, so i ordered it directly from his website. It came signed by Chris (on the case and not the booklet, but oh well), together with a signed poster.
Musically this is a step up from the last effort. It's almost as if Chris read my comments on 'Pins And Needles' and decided to up the ante :-) Chris is a remarkable artist. He is an excellent player, but was never a show off, or an attention seeker. The music just flows from him naturally, with lots of soul and integrity. Sure, he is not the best of singer either, but he pulls it of solid enough. So basically his songs are hits or misses due to the songwriting. And on 'House Of Insanity' it all come together better than ever. Chris is still experimenting. But this time it is within reason, and the songs are kept tighter together as a unity. The album throttles along on it's journey, without taking any detours, or hitting any bumps on holes in the ground. This is just typical Chris Caffery metal, with flavors from all the constellation we've come to know the man from in the past. This is a solo album in it's truest form, where Chris is doin' almost everything himself. There is no band here per se. But with a little help from John Macaluso (Powermad, TNT a.o.) on drums, Lonnie Park and Paul LaPlaca on keys, these guys have created what might just be the best Chris Caffery album to date. It's dynamic, well executed and with lot's of little subtle nuances to make it an interesting listen every time. But most of all it contains some great, memorable music, that would not leave my player for a long time after receiving the CD. On the negative side, there are maybe 2 or 3 songs too many on this CD also. The cover of Bob Marley's "Get Up, Stand Up!" for example, could have been left off. I really love the original, but Chris manages to make it sound boring. But as a whole I find 'House Of Insanity' so much better than it's predecessors.

Killer tracks: Pretty much all of them.

Crap, I forgot the W.A.R.P.E.D CD. Here goes:
W.A.R.P.E.D. (2005) BLACK LOTUS

Home Is Where The Hell Is * G*d Damn War Election Day * Erase * Fool, Fool! Edge Of Darkness Saddamize "I" Iraq Attack * W.A.R.P.E.D. ** State Of The Head * Amazing Grace Piece Be With You Beat Me, You'll Never Beat Me Curtains

Line-up: Chris Caffery - All Lead and Background Vocals, All Lead, Rhythm, Electric and Acoustic Guitars Jeff Plate - Drums and Percussion Dave Z - Bass Guitars Paul "Licorace'" Morris - Keyboards, Piano Guests: Jon Oliva - Vocals on 9 Dave Eggar - Strings on 7 George Kokonas - Lute on 7 Gregory Maninakis - Traditional Greek vocal on 7 * previously unreleased ** taken from the US version of 'Faces'

'W.A.R.P.E.D.' is the full-length version of the 'God D*mn War' album, included as a bonus CD in the 'Faces' double album. Here we get 9 "old" tracks, 6 new ones, plus the bonus track from the U.S.A. version of 'Faces'. And this listener really likes the newer tracks the best. The album itself sounds as angry as expected. Chris is really letting his feelings toward the war subject out. The music is heavy, crunchy and furious, but also balanced out with slower parts. A song like "Election Day" sounds almost like Alice Cooper singing an Annihilator tune! I think that spells out the kind of creative span we are talking about here. It's all metal, plain and simple. Chris is a skilled musician, and a decent vocalist too. But it never hurt to get a little help from your friends, right? Thus we get to hear The Mountain King himself doin' vocals on "Iraq Attack". This particular track was written for their Doctor Butcher project, during the Gulf War, but never released 'til now.

Killer tracks. Home Is Where The Hell Is, Erase, Saddamize, I, Piece Be With You

Thanx for the assist on the Caffery stuff, fellas. Seems like I should be looking into some of his solo material myself. Sounds like it'd be up my alley, I just haven't ever come across any of it.

Speaking of Chris Caffery, I have one final piece of Savatage spin-off history here that is a little on the obscure side:



This is a short review of a show I wrote for my college newspaper back in May of '91. WitchDoctor was a short lived combo that Chris Caffery formed in between his stints in Savatage. I remember my friend Sean and I were total dorks and both wore our Savatage t-shirts to the gig (haha). We happened to bump into Chris while one of the opening bands was onstage and chatted with him for a bit, he was a very cool guy. (Of course I immediately wished I'd brought my GUTTER BALLET tape for him to sign...) As far as I know, WitchDoctor never recorded or released anything, just played a bunch of shows and then split up. According to Chris' Wiki entry, the other band members included Hal Patino (ex-King Diamond) on bass, Chris' brother Phil on drums, and a keyboardist named Doug Kistner, who apparently plays with TSO's West Coast touring company nowadays. No word on who the singer was (anyone know?)

As you can see from my review above, the sound system in the club that night was terrible so we could barely make out what was being played while they were onstage. At one point, Chris even leaned over to my friend Sean (who was up front) and said something into his ear. On our way home I asked him what Chris had said to him and he told me he said "I don't even know if I'm playing the same song as the rest of the guys!" That's why this review was so short... because I honestly couldn't tell if the band was good or not, but Chris was cool so I wanted to give'em some press (however small).


...and I guess that'll about do it for this thread until the next time Savatage, or one of their spin-offs, releases something new that we can chat about!!!

Johnny Lee Middleton has a solo album coming out. He already released a single. I think I heard it somewhere (MySpace?) and it sounded a bit too wimpy for my liking. But it could still be interesting.

The revamped official Savatage site is real good also for keeping up with the side projects. Apparently there's this band called "Machines of Grace", too. It has Zak Stevens and Jeff Plate.

The Savatage family is already huge, and it just keeps on getting bigger.

Definetly will..... I plan on picking up that cd at the show.

thanks for the plug btw

I got a friend that needs a question answered and im not sure if this was brought up about during this thread somewhere but its late and I dont feel like going through to look so heres the question...


Jon Oliva stated a pact where if one should die the other would continue Savatage. This has been disputed by some. Who disputed this?

Nice piece of local music history thier Freddy

Very cool, FF! I didn't even know bout WitchDoctor. Hal Patino was also a member of Doctor Butcher!

Machines of Grace is actually the new name for Wiched Witch, a band that used to include Jeff Plate and Zak Stevens. If anyone has Wiched Witch's self titled demo from 1990, I'd love to read a review of that!

PRD: If anyone disputes such a claim, it must have been Dr. Killdrums (Steve Wacholz). I bet it is found on his Classic Savatage website.

What don't you guys know?