Savatage - Chance

No real video here, just the album cover and the song...

Chance is from the 1994 album Handful of Rain, a couple of years ago before the band recorded their first Trans-Siberian Orchestra side-project album.

Although I've heard of a few references to Jon Oliva, who founded the band with his brother Criss (Wikipedia), as the "Jim Steinman of metal", that could equally apply to then-manager Paul O'Neill, who took on more of a songwriting role as the band went on, and, with TSO, became a driving force of the band itself. In any case, this tune bears a heavy debt to Jim.

The highlight of the tune is the layered vocals towards the end... several different vocal melodies begin independently, and then are stacked one on another to reach the climax of the tune. This technique ~ used in many throughout TSO's recordings ~ featured prominently on at least one tune from every Savatage album that followed this, including One Child from the 1995 concept album about the Bosnian War, Dead Winter Dead (the album that really kick-started TSO: Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24) became a hit from them, and was lifted directly from the Savatage album about love and war and dropped into a Kissmas disc about love and redemption) and the title track from 1998's The Wake of Magellan.

Sang this with aequitaslevitas yesterday evening on the road to Philadelphia, and thought it would make a good Father's Day soundtrack...

Happy Fathead's Day!

My mom's dad used to like to mis-read cards. Drove my grandmother nuts when he would read a Father's Day card as "Happy Fathead's Day"... and, of course, it set us grandkids to giggling. Grandma was even less impressed when he'd try to help her read her "Happy Meathead's Day" cards, of course... =)

I miss both of my grandfathers, but the loss of my dad a few years back changes the mood a bit. Not all that much, because Father's Day is really more about the children than the father himself.

Mr. B and Rachel are off in the wilds of western Massachusetts today, so I do miss entertaining them with all the talk of being a Fathead, but I did talk to them on the phone earlier. They authorized aequitaslevitas to hand out the loot, and so in a little bit we're going to listen to Dream Theater's Systematic Chaos and watch Ian Anderson Plays the Orchestral Jethro Tull.

aequitaslevitas ran out this morning to pick up bagels and cream cheese (nearest deli that knows what bagels are is about an hour round trip, not counting time to stand in line...) so all is well on that front...