Molte volte, quando leggiamo della morte di un musicista, ne prendiamo conoscenza con un senso di solitudine e di tristezza quasi familiare. Quasi come se fosse una persona che conoscevamo bene, che non ci ha mai abbandonato, che con la sua passione trasmessa attraverso le note, o attraverso la voce, ha saputo mettere a nudo la nostra anima. Risuona in ognuno di noi una strana emozione, come se un pezzo del nostro io se ne fosse appena andato, come se quella persona con la quale non abbiamo mai avuto nessun contatto, nessuno scambio di parole, ma con la quale ci sentivamo così vicini, se ne fosse appena andata. Ma i ricordi, in alcuni casi, sono sempre coloro che ci salvano dalla malinconia, e in questi casi specifici una parte importante la gioca anche la musica, che ci fa credere con un aspetto illusorio, che quella persona sia ancora fra noi.
Il 17 Ottobre 1993, quando il chitarrista e co-fondatore dei Savatage, Criss Oliva morì in seguito ad un incidente stradale causato da un ubriaco che attraversò la strada in contromano, nel mondo dell'heavy metal veniva a mancare probabilmente uno dei più grandi chitarristi di sempre, morte che minò sia la stessa esistenza dei Savatage, che i componenti del gruppo, fra i quali più di tutti il fratello Jon.
Dopo due anni dalla morte, lo stesso Jon Oliva decise di pubblicare questo "Ghost In The Ruins: A Tribute To Criss Oliva", un live album che vedeva la ragione della sua pubblicazione nel ricordo di Criss, del suo tocco elegante, ma potente, e della potenza dei Savatage. Questo live è suddiviso in vari concerti, in un lasso di tempo che va dal 1987 al 1990, e perciò dalla pubblicazione di "Hall Of The Mountain King" (1987) e il tour di "Gutter Ballet" (1989).
La scaletta è relativamente corta, solo 13 pezzi, ma che fanno capire subito all'ascoltatore la potenza distruttiva, ma anche la sinfonia e l'eleganza di un gruppo eccezionale e unico come i Savatage. Inutile da dire ovviamente, che il protagonista indiscusso di questo live è Criss Oliva, che si ritaglia sia in spazi solisti (nell'assolo introduttivo di "Hall of The Mountain King"), sia nella canzoni vere e proprie, come in "When The Crowds Are Gone" e "24 Hours Ago" un vero e proprio spettacolo. Non mancano ovviamente gli acuti dell'immenso Jon Oliva, la prestazione di "Hounds" è a dir poco fenomenale, stessa cosa per "Of Rage And War", ma anche in pezzi più soft come "Strange Wings" e "Sirens". A chiudere è una piccola prestazione di Criss, intitolata "Post Script", pezzo acustico ripreso da una prova del 1990 all'Hollywood Palace, eseguita in poco meno di due minuti, ma con una musica leggiadra e sognante.
"Ghost In The Ruins" è la testimonianza che i Savatage vogliono lasciare ai loro fan per ricordare che Criss non verrà mai dimenticato, e anche se non è mai stato uno di quei chitarristi propensi a interviste ed elogi, anzi, per gran parte della sua carriera nei Savatage non fu mai visto di buon occhio dalla critica, e che la sua musica e la sua passione sono ancora vivi, nel cuore di chi lo ha sempre apprezzato, e vuole continuare a ricordarlo.
Elenco tracce e testi
01 City Beneath the Surface (05:39)
Hi - welcome to hell
you are all here
for this where you must dwell
sinners and cheats
sit here with Satan
and have all your spirits meet
Oh city beneath the surface above
how you survive on evil and blood
you breathers in this space
you never can leave this place
Die - we all must die
how will you face it
when you bend to your knees and cry
Burn - like witches burn
when will you sinners believe
that it's your time to learn?
Oh city beneath the surface above
how you survive on evil and blood
you breathers in this space
you never can leave this place
Oh city beneath the surface above
how you survive on evil and blood
you breathers in this space
you never can leave this place
You breathe earth's inner space
You never can leave this place
Punished for the way that you lived
raping and stealing
but never one thought to give
here forever - not a trail or a trace
total illusions of tales
of the unholy place
03 Legions (05:06)
A call from the night
metal storming masses
In the lies
Battle cry
Screaming to the night
Oh no
Summon up the legions
To do our deeds
Our legion's needs
Are growing every day
We're coming out tonight
We come from the darker light
Join your hands and pray
Maybe you can all be saved
Legions of the night
Legions of the night
Good god
Legions of the night
Can they hear your battle cry
Cry out
But what does it matter?
There's no way to escape
The hold we have on you
Ohh ho
Controlled by the master
Infiltrate
Penetrate
Your little precious minds
We're coming out tonight
We come from the darker light
Join your hands and pray
Maybe you can all be saved
Legions of the night
Legions of the night
Good god
Legions of the night
Can they hear your battle cry
Scream loud
Let the masses hear you
Banging hard across the ground
Shatter the darkest lights
Oh no
Heed the master's calling
Congregate
Celebrate
The power you've obtained
Good god
Legions of the night
Legions of the night
Good god
Can I hear your battle cry, yeah
04 Strange Wings (04:01)
She is a native of the stormy skies, yeah
I, I caught a glimpse from the depths of my eyes
Atop a black winged mare
Casting a wicked stare
She throws her head back
And rides into the night
She flies strange wings
Behind a thin disguise
She flies strange wings
Still tears she cries
Oh I, I followed her
To the brink of dawn, yeah
She, she took control of my very soul, yeah
She's still a mystery
In her arms I long to be
I don't know why
I turn and reach to the sky
She flies strange wings
Behind a thin disguise
She flies strange wings
Still tears she cries
She flies strange wings
Behind a thin disguise
She flies strange wings
Still tears she cries
Strange Wings
Behind a thin disguise
Strange Wings
Tears she cries
05 Gutter Ballet (06:14)
Another sleepless night
A concrete paradise
Sirens screaming in the heat
Neon cuts the eye
as the jester sighs
at the world beneath his feet
CHORUS:
It's a gutter ballet
Just a menagerie
Still the orchestra plays
On a dark and lonely night
To a distant fading light
Balanced on their knives
Little parts of lives
Such a strange reality
Kill the unicorn
Just to have it's horn
Soon he's just a fantasy
CHORUS
The jester takes his bows
slips into the crowd
as the actors fade away
Another death to mourn
Another child is born
Another chapter in the play
CHORUS
06 When the Crowds Are Gone (07:10)
I don't know where the years have gone
Memories can only last so long
Like faded photographs, forgotten songs
and the things I never knew
When then skin is thin, the heart shows trough
Please believe me what I tell you is true
CHORUS:
Where's the lights, turn them on again
One more night to believe and then
Another note for my requiem
A memory to carry on
The story's over when the crowds are gone
All my friends have been crucified
They made life a long suicide true
Guess we never figured out the rules
But I'm still alive and my fingers feel
I'm gonna play on till the final reel's through
and read the credits from a different view
When the crowds are gone
and I'm all alone
Playing a final song
Now that the lights are gone
Turn them on again
One more time for me my friend
Turn them on again
I never wanted to know
Never wanted to see
I wasted my time till time wasted me
Never wanted to go
Always wanted to stay
Cause the person I am, are the parts that I play
So I play and I play
and hope that I scheme
to the lure of a night
Filled with unfinished dream
and I'm holding on tight
to a world gone astray
As they charge me for years
I can no longer pay
And the lights
Turn them off my friend
And the ghosts
Well just let them in
Cause in the dark
It's easier to see
07 Of Rage and War (04:29)
You got Libia, you got the Russians
You got civilian planes crashing to the oceans
Airports full of terrorists
Naziskins anarchists
When are they gonna learn
CHORUS:
Better listen to me you son of a bitch
Better disarm those missiles sleeping in the ditch
You have no goddamn right to do the things you do
The world will be a better place if we were rid of you
Of rage and war (4 x)
Every country's got the bomb
The scientists are working on
chemical weapons to melt the flesh
With no source of defense
Shoot me, I'll shoot you
Like there's nothing better to do
Who's the loser in the end
CHORUS
War broods in foreign lands
Missiles launch upon command
Islam Lebanon what the hell is going on
Ambassadors who say they try
Negotiating suicide
Are they prepared to face the end
Of rage and war (4 x)
08 The Dungeons Are Calling (04:48)
Down in the dungeons
Of concrete and terror
Candles light the way
Can you hear me say?
The dungeons are calling
The dungeons are calling for me
I can't escape
This den must be hell
Pleasures of freedom
Denied me in this cell
I steal from my friends
Victims of my pain
Its nearing the end
I live like the dead
The dungeons are calling
Calling for me--oh!
The dungeons are calling
The rack waits for me
Down in the dungeons
I'm locked away
Suicide ride
I take everday
Prisoner in hell
Victim in pain
The dungeons are calling for me
None of my friends
Want to come out and play
They think i'm crazy
But what can i say?
Prisoner in hell
Victim in pain
It's nearing the end
I live like the dead
The dungeons are calling
Calling for me
The dungeons are calling
The rack waits for me
09 Sirens (03:37)
On the sea
They heard the voices sing
Through the storm
The island's closing in
They'd heard tales
Of lives lost at sea
Deserted beach just beyong their reach
You're approaching the island of the
Sirens
Sirens
Hungry for man tonight
Sirens
Sirens
Claiming the sailors' lives
Nine men made it to a shore
A night of terror
Lies neatly in store
Who are those women?
Are they real?
Is this just a crazy dream?
You're approaching the island of the
Sirens
Sirens
Hungry for flesh tonight
Sirens
Sirens
Claiming the sailors' lives
Terror happens quickly
Remains till the sailor are gone
They vanished in the night
Sirens singing their song
Whoa--till they're gone...
ALL RIGHT!!
10 Hounds (07:20)
Sun sets on the moor
The cry of the hounds live forevermore
Stalking the night
They roam the countryside till morning's light
CHORUS:
Do you hear the hounds they call
Scan the dark eyes aglow
Through the bitter rain and cold
they hunt you down
Hunt you down
They run wild and free
Across the fields and valleys of their native land
Nature's beasts deranged
Beyond belief no one understands
CHORUS
Can you hear them in the night
They got you in their sight
CHORUS
12 Hall of the Mountain King (06:38)
Far away
In a land caught between time and space
Where the books of life lay
Within this castle of stone
The mountain king roams
All alone in here
But he's not the only one
Lost inside
Forever hidden from the sun
Madness reigns
In the hall of the mountain king
Oh yeah
His deep
Dark eyes keep watch on his kingdom
And mysteries that sleep safe inside
His hall
His towers of stone
Shall not be overthrown
For eternity
They are guarded by the king
Insanity and the power that it brings
Madness reigns
In the hall of the mountain king
Oh yeah
Come with me
Stay close by my side
As the darkness of night closes in
Don't fear
In the thunder, it roars
When the mountain king calls all his children home
To where I hid him we must run
Refuge here
But I was forever on the run
Madness reigns, my friends...
In the hall of the mountain king
Oh yeah
In the hall of the mountain king
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