Japan Live '94 a live album

Live album

A live album is a recording consisting of material recorded during stage performances using remote recording techniques, commonly contrasted with a studio album...

 that was recorded by Savatage

Savatage

Savatage is an American heavy metal band founded by the brothers Jon and Criss Oliva in 1978 at Astro Skate in Tarpon Springs, Florida.-Early days :...

. The show that was recorded for the release was held in Kawasaki, Kanagawa

Kawasaki, Kanagawa

is a city located in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, between Tokyo and Yokohama. It is the 9th most populated city in Japan and one of the main cities forming the Greater Tokyo Area and Keihin Industrial Area....

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 on November 12, 1994 and was the last show on the short Handful of Rain

Handful of Rain

-Personnel:Due to the shake-up in the band following Criss's death, the line-ups were somewhat unclear at the time. Drummer Steve Wacholz left the band and did not play on the album, but he is pictured in the album to maintain a more "classic" Savatage line-up. Bassist Middleton was apparently...

tour.

Due to a lack of time on the CD, the entire show was not released onto CD. Missing songs on the CD include "Conversation Piece", "Stare Into the Sun", "Damien" and "Hall of the Mountain King". However, when the concert was released to VHS

VHS

The Video Home System is a consumer-level analog recording videocassette standard developed by Victor Company of Japan ....

, these songs were included.

The release also has two covers. One featuring both Johnny Lee Middleton

Johnny Lee Middleton

Johnny Lee Middleton is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the bass guitar player for Savatage and Trans-Siberian Orchestra.-Musical beginnings:...

 and Zachary Stevens

Zachary Stevens

Zachary "Zak" Stevens , is best known as the former lead vocalist of the band Savatage. He is also a drummer and has a degree in psychology but is not, as is often reported, a licensed, practicing psychologist....

 (Live in Japan), whilst the other features Zak Stevens on his own (Japan 'Live 94). Despite the CD jacket of the latter record depicting Zak wearing a t-shirt with a red and white circle and cross, Zak, in fact, wore a Corrosion of Conformity

Corrosion of Conformity

Corrosion of Conformity is an American heavy metal band from Raleigh, North Carolina formed in 1982. For almost the majority of its existence, the band has consisted of guitarist Woody Weatherman, bassist Mike Dean , drummer Reed Mullin and vocalist and rhythm...

 t-shirt at the concert, and it was likely "censored" due to label issues.

The show is noted for featuring Jon Oliva

Jon Oliva

John Nicholas Oliva is best known simply as Jon Oliva and as founder of and lead vocalist for Savatage. He is the third of four children...

 in a prominent role, his first since "leaving" the band in 1992. Jon has an extended piano intro on "Gutter Ballet" and shares lead vocals with Stevens, making it his first performance as a lead vocalist with the band for 2 years. Oliva also performs rhythm guitar for "Hall of the Mountain King".

The show was originally released on VHS, the prominent format of the time. In 2000, plans were revealed for the show to be released onto DVD

DVD

A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....

 with a possibility of bonus content. A release date of October 2000 was publicised by the band, but possibly due to Nuclear Blast

Nuclear Blast

Nuclear Blast is an independent record label and mail order record distributor with subsidiaries in Germany, the United States and Brazil. The record label was founded in 1987 by Markus Staiger in Germany. Originally releasing hardcore punk records, the label moved on to releasing albums by melodic...

 being bought by Century Media, the band were unable to release the DVD. Since then, there has not been an announcement of an official DVD release, although copies of the concert have been circulated on DVD. March 2010, a greatest hit compilation called Still The Orchestra Plays: Greatest Hits Vol. 1 & 2 will be released, with the '94 concert inclused on a bonus DVD. Unfortunately, the quality hasn't improved much from the VHS-version.

CD Track Listing

1. "Taunting Cobras" – 5:01
2. "Edge of Thorns" – 6:37
3. "Chance" – 4:36
4. "Nothing Going On" – 4:31
5. "He Carves His Stone" – 3:04
6. "Jesus Saves" – 4:04
7. "Watching You Fall" – 5:24
8. "Castles Burning" – 4:45
9. "All That I Bleed" – 5:20
10. "Handful of Rain" – 5:20
11. "Sirens" – 3:43
12. "Gutter Ballet" – 7:06

VHS/DVD Track Listing

1. "Taunting Cobras"
2. "Edge of Thorns"
3. "Chance"
4. "Conversation Piece"
5. "Nothing Going On"
6. "He Carves His Stone"
7. "Jesus Saves"
8. "Watching You Fall"
9. "Castles Burning"
10. "All That I Bleed"
11. "Stare Into the Sun"
12. "Damien"
13. "Handful of Rain"
14. "Sirens"
15. "Gutter Ballet"
16. "Hall of the Mountain King"

Personnel

• Lead Vocals: Zak Stevens
  Zachary Stevens
  Zachary "Zak" Stevens , is best known as the former lead vocalist of the band Savatage. He is also a drummer and has a degree in psychology but is not, as is often reported, a licensed, practicing psychologist....
  
  
• Lead Guitars: Alex Skolnick
  Alex Skolnick
  Alexander Nathan Skolnick is an American jazz and metal guitarist. He was a member of the San Francisco Bay Area thrash metal band Testament from 1983 until his departure in 1993...
  
  
• Bass Guitar: Johnny Lee Middleton
  Johnny Lee Middleton
  Johnny Lee Middleton is an American musician and songwriter, best known as the bass guitar player for Savatage and Trans-Siberian Orchestra.-Musical beginnings:...
  
  
• Keyboards, Guitars and Vocals: Jon Oliva
  Jon Oliva
  John Nicholas Oliva is best known simply as Jon Oliva and as founder of and lead vocalist for Savatage. He is the third of four children...
  
  
• Drums: Jeff Plate
  Jeff Plate
  Jeff Plate is a professional drummer and percussionist. He currently plays with the progressive rock group Trans-Siberian Orchestra and with thrash metal band Metal Church until their 2009 disbanding, although he is most remembered for his drumming for the band, Savatage on their albums since...