Jon Oliva’s Pain

Global Warning

Label: AFM Records

The meeting of the Mountain King after two years with his fans is a fact, through Pain. After “Tage Mahal” of 2004 and “Maniacal Renderings” of 2006, came the time for this year’s “Global Warning”.

The homonyme intro directly puts us in the climate of the new album preparing us for what we are about to listen: an inspired mixture of progressive-rock, heavy and symphonic parts with the distinctive voice of Jon Oliva sweeping the listener in its path, touching many emotional tones.

The new CD of Jon Oliva’s Pain includes 13 pieces characterized by a variety of styles and sounds. Among others, there are the traditional heavy pieces “Adding the cost”, “Before I hang” (which brings strong memories from the good old Savatage days, as a big part of the song was composed by the late Criss Oliva), “Stories” (which is an inspired turn in the epic feeling of Savatage) and the mid-tempo “Look at the world”, “Firefly” (a magnificent prog-rock ballad with Jon offering a recital), “Walk upon the water” (with the aesthetic of the Gutter Ballet era). Indicative of the “Global Warning” variety is “Master” with strong industrial elements in sound and voice, which may alienate the traditional followers of Jon Oliva.

"Global Warning” constitutes a polymorphic and inspired album meticulously produced with obvious ecological references in the lyrics, which takes its time to be assimilated by the listener. Nevertheless it will satisfy the fans of Savatage and Jon Oliva in general, accepting the presupposition that we are in 2008 and not in the 80’s - 90’s.