Dead Winter Dead

I first heard Savatage in 1993 when the album Edge of Thorns came out and the song by the same name was getting quite a bit of radio play. I loved the song and quickly ran out and bought the album. In those days, I was quite naive about music and, even though I loved Edge of Thorns, I never picked up and bought Savatage's earlier releases. I thought Savatage's previous albums would not be as good because I had never heard of Savatage before Edge of Thorns came out. This was extremely naive of me, here I thought that because a band didn't get radio play, they basically sucked. I've grown up since then and now realize that some of the best bands around get little or no radio play. Well, shortly after the release of Edge of Thorns, Savatage guitarist Criss Oliva was killed by a drunk driver. Because of this terrible tragedy, I wouldn't touch any of Savatage's following albums. Again, naivete played a part. I figured that because Criss Oliva wrote so much of Savatage's music, any albums done after his death would be weaker because of his absence. Well, I was wrong. It took me five years to finally grow up and buy other Savatage albums, now I have most of their studio releases, the first two of which was the recently released The Wake of Magellan and their 1996 release Dead Winter Dead. I immediately warmed up to The Wake of Magellan but Dead Winter took some time.

I didn't like Dead Winter Dead when I first heard it. It was a harsh, dark concept album about the ongoing war in former Yugoslavia and it was depressing to listen to, I thought I had made a mistake in buying DWD. But I refused to yield so easily, I forced myself to listen to it. Sure, there were a couple of tracks I immediately liked ("Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)" and "This Isn't What We Meant" come to mind ) but the album as a whole left me wanting. But I continued to play it, over and over again. Dead Winter Dead started to grow on me, I realized that the harshness the album projected was part of the story (this is an album about the realities of war, after all). I found that once I understood where Jon Oliva and producer Paul O'Neill, the album's main songwriters, were coming from, I not only started to like DWD but I grew to love it and now it is one of my favorite Savatage albums (second only to The Wake of Magellan) and, really, one of my favorite albums in my entire cd collection.

1. "Overture" - "Overture" brilliantly sets the stage for the rest of Dead Winter Dead, it's bombastically dark (the guitars roar along with what sounds like an orchestra accompaniment) and it's very ominous in nature, hinting at what will follow...
2. "Sarajevo" - This is basically a continuation of the first track and what was bombastic guitars is now a simple but foreboding piano piece coupled with Zak Stevens' excellent vocals. The lyrics are very haunting...
3. "This Is the Time (1990)" - Continuing from "Sarajevo" (the first three tracks really are one song), this mid tempo song brings the guitar and piano together and Zak Stevens soars vocally, this is typically good Savatage.
4. "I Am" - Jon Oliva sings lead vocals on this one and, after not doing any lead vocals since 1991's Streets, Jon sounds better than ever. This is easily the darkest song on DWD. Heavy guitars accompany Jon's evil-sounding vocals. This is a song about the evil humans do to one another and the lyrics give the impression that Jon is playing the part of the Devil. Excellent song.
5. "Starlight" - "Starlight" starts off with a mellow guitar paired with a calm-sounding Zak Stevens on vocals and then the guitars and vocalist explode into another richly, bombastic song. There's a cool guitar solo at the end of this song and I'm not sure which of Savatage's two guitarists (Al Pitrelli or Chris Caffery) is playing it but it's very good.
6. "Doesn't Matter Anyway" - Jon Oliva sings lead vocals again on this one and it starts out with a fast and furious guitar solo which continues throughout this piece, there is even a brief but very nice bass solo in the middle of the song. The lyrics are about the selling of arms and how mercenaries and arms dealers are not the most ethical people on the planet. Good song.
7. "This Isn't What We Meant" - The crown jewel of Dead Winter Dead, this is a slow paced but very powerful song about how one should be very careful about what one asks for because he/she just might get it. Zak Stevens is especially strong on this one. This is one of my favorite songs on the album.
8. "Mozart and Madness" - "Mozart and Madness" opens with a slow-paced piano and cello (I think it's a cello) which is soon joined by a guitar, the song later shifts from slow to fast and then is joined by an orchestra (or at least the string section). Excerpts from Mozart are played throughout the song (I don't know which excerpts, though). Excellent tune.
9. "Memory (Dead Winter Dead)" - This is Savatage's take on Beethoven, good song.
10. "Dead Winter Dead" - This is a heavy, up tempo song with powerful vocals and good guitar work throughout. Great song!
11. "One Child" - Another Savatage song that opens with a piano and becomes heavier as the song continues, who would have thought? This isn't one of my favorites but it's okay. The trademark Savatage point-counterpoint vocals at the end of the song are really good, though.
12. "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)" - This song has become a classic on radio stations during the holidays and not just rock radio stations, either. This is Savatage's version of God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman and Carol of the Bells. Savatage took those Christmas classics and twisted them into a dark and amazingly powerful piece. This is a great tune!
13. "Not What You See" - Dead Winter Dead ends on the album's most emotional song. This song is deeply powerful and Zak Stevens is at his best. The lyrics explain how every life is valuable and not one life should be wasted. Like "One Child", this song features Savatage's point-counterpoint vocals making "Not What You See" my favorite song on the album.