I miss the shit outta Criss Oliva, guitarist of Savatage, who was killed in a car accident by some fucknut habitual drunk driver in 1993. Like Randy Rhoads, Oliva was just reaching his creative and technical peak at the time of his early death. Without Criss, Savatage's classic Streets: A Rock Opera teeters into schmaltz and showtune ham (witness the post-Criss Trans Siberian Orchestra, brought to you by Streets producer Paul O'Neill and the rest of Savatage). But Criss'sess's mind-blowing Streets solos are the definition of soul to combat his brother Jon's uh theatrical tendencies; Criss was like Kevin Garnett in the 2008 NBA Finals: no longer human, but fully transformed into a beam of pure light and energy. Ok that's a bit much but he carried that album from great to transcendent.
Check out the tribute to Criss on the 15th anniversary of his death in the Greek edition of Rock Hard, freshly translated here. It's pretty sad stuff, but this story brought a big smile to my face. Savatage touring keyboardist John Zahner remembers:
In Tokyo, Japan at the Budokan, Savatage was opening for Yngwie Malmsteen. The promoter created a get-together so we could meet the great Yngwie, but apparently nobody told him. We were all at the door of the dressing room when the promoter walks over to Yngwie, who is playing a game or fucking around with a guitar, and introduces Criss and the band. Yngwie doesn't even turn around but says "Tell 'em to fuck off"!Criss walks over to him sticks out his middle finger and says “You're a fuckin' dick! You suck!” and marches out of the dressing room with all of us staring at him stomping down the stairs. As he walked by, Jon slapped him on the back with a look of pride I'll never forget! (Apparently, Yngwie was rude to Jon earlier that day and Jon was already pissed at him.) All of Yngwie's band were giving us "golf claps" as we headed down the steps!That night, Criss was on a mission to bury Yngwie! When we played "City Beneath the Surface" he usually had a 20-second solo at the beginning. Not that night -- he fucking went crazy playing the most complex ridiculous shit EVER for almost two minutes! Fucking hysterical! Then he proceeds to play at such a level that Jon is forgetting words, just staring at Criss throughout the whole show. In Jon's own words if there is any video or audio tapes of that show we need it!! It's possibly the best Criss Oliva performance EVER!
