Criss Oliva passed away 27 years ago today...

The most unique and underrated metal guitarist ever.

People that grew up with Criss often talk about how Criss didnt party or socialize much as a teen. Even though he was known as a great guy. His life was his guitar. Even to the point of sleeping with it at times.

Dave Mustaine once said "When Criss came around, it was time to put the vodka down. Time to get serious."

Crank some Savatage in his honor today.

Cool heads up. Savatage is a total Autumn like band. Ancient romanticism.
27 years ago. How time flies. His sound and his riffs were all his own.
Many bands and guitarists are usually copy cats of others, though they mean well.
Criss was an original. His brother’s voice was original. Explosive years.
Saw them in the mid 80s at a large club. Packed. Kids wanted to see them.
The vibe was very close to seeing King Diamond in concert. A dark excitement.
Power Of The Night was the first song I heard. That was it for me.
Like when I heard Metal Church’s first record for the first time. You just couldn’t believe it.

Hall of the Mountain King is my favorite Savatage album. It's so sad what happened to Criss.

From May '93

A great talent taken from us far too soon.

007 wrote:

A great talent taken from us far too soon.

One of his best solos.

007 wrote:

A great talent taken from us far too soon.

Well said!

Taken way to soon!

He was in the same league as EVH and Randy Rhoads!

The thing about Criss is he wasn't regressing. He was just hitting his stride. Even Jon has said that.

And he was only 30 years old. Fuck that guy that hit him.

Awesome talent, tragic loss

Jon and him= One of the most talented brother duos in music, much less meta!

Was it a vision, or a waking dream? Fled is that music:—Do I wake or sleep? Now that the bird is left, the speaker's not sure if he ever entered its world at all.
-Keats

Still my favorite guitarist of all time! Added Savatage to a large shuffle list I listen to while delivering recently.

Immortal in Song

Today is a day the Legions gather
To commemorate the birth of a legend.
A man who touched the hearts of many
In songs of now and then.

His music was a reflection
Of the passion that he breathed.
He taught us how to rage, to cry,
To join our hands, and to believe.

His fingers danced across
The strings he set ablaze.
A story came to life
In each note that he played.

He carved a world of mountain kings
And cities laid beneath.
We followed him through dungeons,
Gutters, thorns, and streets.

Yet through all the sonic wizardry,
Only a loyal few took notice
In a world where "gimmick equals success"
Prevails over emotional ingenius.

It’s in this dead world of corruption,
Filled with greed and dreams left forsaken,
That false prophets roam in triumph
And from us, heroes taken.

One early autumn night,
God embraced an angel early in the game.
The tears fell from all around
On an orchestra that wasn’t the same.

The nightmare still haunts us now,
Questions left unanswered.
A warrior so filled with life
With a fate so undeserved.

Still, the Legions they stand proud
For the spirit is immortal in song.
The legacy of Christopher Michael Oliva remains
Where the crowds are never gone.

Still Believing,
Peter
(c)1998

He was a great player. In the same league as Randy Rhoads.

I was only introduced to Savatage right before he died with the Edge of Thorns album. It is still a top 25 all time album for me. The guitars on that record are incredible. Heavy and melodic, loads of pinch harmonic, but still with emotion galore.

FoJ wrote:

I was only introduced to Savatage right before he died with the Edge of Thorns album. It is still a top 25 all time album for me. The guitars on that record are incredible. Heavy and melodic, loads of pinch harmonic, but still with emotion galore.

Good description. He was a “total package” player! I first heard Savatage on the radio with the song Gutter Ballet. It’s also my favorite album of theirs! It runs the gamut of everything a great metal album should be.

FoJ wrote:

I was only introduced to Savatage right before he died with the Edge of Thorns album. It is still a top 25 all time album for me. The guitars on that record are incredible. Heavy and melodic, loads of pinch harmonic, but still with emotion galore.

You and I got into them around the same time then. I was introduced by the music video debut of Edge Of Thorns on Headbanger's Ball. Got the album on tape and wore it out before replacing tapes with CDs around 1995. For me it's probably in my top 5 if I were to hunker down and actually rate favorite albums. The album cover is my favorite of all time. Was actually able to get a t-shirt of it from ebay a few years ago but the design is faded so much it's hard to actually make it out. Unusual because the ebay seller I get my shirts from has surprisingly high quality prints.

Anyways, I digress, agree with the emotion in his playing, that's why he's my favorite guitarist because he did more than just played the guitar, he made that hunk of wood and electronics sing with a passion very few metal guitarists posses. The non-metal (but still rock) equivalent is Steve Rothery of Marillion. Both of which are my favorite guitar players of their respective genres.

Edge Of Thorns was Criss' best work, imo.


It probably has 3 of his top 10 solos with the title track, He Carves his Stone and Follow Me.

He was only 30 years old.imagine what was to come for him?

Dallas, I believe the reason there was sonmuch emotion in his playing is because he literally loved the guitar. Alex Skolnik said the was "magic in Criss' guitar when he used to record his parts on Handful Of Rain

Okay once again..  My favorite Savatage song ever..  Not A guitar player, But great tone by Criss, Right?

Mine would be this one (contains one of Criss' best solos IMO along with All That I Bleed and Believe):

I think Ghost In The Ruins is his best solo

Big Rich wrote:

I think Ghost In The Ruins is his best solo

That's a good one! Then again, I love every song on Streets which is tied with Hall as my favorite Jon/Criss album followed by Gutter Ballet.

Big Rich wrote:

I think Ghost In The Ruins is his best solo

I think Gutter Ballet is his best solo.

Gutter Ballet solo is incredible too.

Dallas Miles Away is an incredible song.