Did anybody here know that Criss Oliva tried out for Poison?

You'll have to register, but you can read the thread here. The botton two quotes are from Jon's wife:

http://www.chriscaffery.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=22017&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

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Criss Oliva was in fact approached by Megadeth back in the day. Criss also applied for a job with Poison when they were looking for a guitarist. Jon was also almost the singer for Black Sabbath. There were times when the brother's Oliva were close to giving up on Savatage or at least putting it on the back burner to try their fortunes elsewhere, but when one would start to head that way, the other would call him up and persuade the other brother to stick with Savatage.

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I have the last version of the resume, with Criss' handwritten "scratch outs" (edits) on it. It was given to me several years ago by Dawn Oliva.

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Dave Mustaine was "dwarf tossed" out of a hotel room and into the hallway by Jon. He slammed up against the door across the hallway, which happened to be Criss Oliva's room. Criss heard the noise, opened the door, saw Mustaine in the hallway and Jon at the doorway, started laughing and then closed the door.

And for the record, the "beating" had nothing to do with Mustaine trying to "poach" Criss.

i registered but haven't been activated yet. i can only reply to what you quoted here. nothing in the first quote surprises me. both of the brothers were/are extremely gifted.

the last quote i couldn't care less about. it has nothing to do with anything imho.

I've never heard that Jon was "almost" in BLACK SABBATH. The rest of the story may be true, but I tend to doubt that one part.

SLASH tried out for POISON too but the day he was playing for them, CC came in with makeup on and they were looking for somebody like that, with a image and SLASH didnt had the image they were looking for. (this is in the SLASH biografi i am reading right now).

I'd heard about Criss being approached for Megadeth, but I had no idea he tried out for Poison. Also, that last story reminds me of varioius anecdotes I've heard regarding Jon and Mustaine - apparently the two tore it up fairly often.

Temple of Blood wrote:

I've never heard that Jon was "almost" in BLACK SABBATH. The rest of the story may be true, but I tend to doubt that one part.

Jon says it himself in this interview Kong posted the other day:

https://heartofmetal.niceboard.com/heart-of-metal-f1/jon-oliva-s-pain-new-podcast-available-t6379.htm

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the last quote i couldn't care less about. it has nothing to do with anything imho.

Actually, that thread is about dave trying to get Criss to join Megadeth. The Poison thing is just a side note.

Yikes!

What was Criss thinking trying out for Poison?!?....glad that never worked out.

Thats cool though how Jon and Criss would keep each other interested in Savatage though.

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What was Criss thinking trying out for Poison?!?....

I'm guessing it had something to do with Jon not singing with the band anymore. The timeline of CC leaving the band and that kind of add up.

An odd pairing for sure, but I guess that depends on how you look at the situation at the time. If we're talking about before Poison hit the big time, Criss, like so many other guitarists, was probably just looking for a steady gig. If we're talking about the later years, when CC decided he didn't want to unskinny bop with Bret and the boys on stage anymore, well then, here's my theory.

Savatage the band was on shaky grounds and never really hit that plateau of "platinum-super-duper-rock-star-fame". Poison, on the other hand, was plastered all over the magazines, selling out stadiums, plenty of MTV airplay and were selling millions & millions of albums. When the musical tides started to turn and the LA glam scene seemed passe, Poison, like so many other hair bands at the time, tried to go in a more serious or mature direction (aka Native Tongue). Perhaps, and of course this is all speculation on my part, Criss thought he could help steer Poison in that new direction and therefore getting 2 things in return, 1.) turning Poison into something more respectable in the eyes of the public and the music industry and B.) finally getting himself a piece of that rock-star platinum pie.

I guess we'll never know the real reasons, but I just wanted to type up something in this topic to avoid doing real work today. Score one for me!!

Thank God it never happened. (shudders)

I'd heard about Criss and Megadeth. But had never heard about him trying out for Poison or about Jon singing for Sabbath.