Savatage — Handful of Rain

𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…

August 16, 1994 — Savatage released their eighth studio album, Handful of Rain via Atlantic Records. (Listen)

Background:

This is the first album since the death of the band's founding member and lead guitarist Criss Oliva who in turn had contributed to writing on two of its songs before his passing, namely Taunting Cobras and Nothing's Going On.

Handful of Rain marked the only time that Savatage had recorded with former Testament guitarist Alex Skolnick (who had replaced Criss, providing guitar solos), and their only one without Johnny Lee Middleton (who is credited on the insert, but did not perform) since 1985's Power of the Night. Drummer Steve Wacholz (also credited) had already left Savatage by the time the album was recorded. Instead of replacing Middleton and Wacholz, Jon Oliva provided both drums and bass on the album as well as rhythm guitar, piano, keyboards, and backing vocals.

Before the recording of the band's previous album, Edge of Thorns, Jon Oliva had temporarily left the band and stepped down as lead vocalist, and was replaced on vocals by Zak Stevens. After founding member Steve Wacholz left the band, he was replaced by Andy James, who quit the band immediately after Criss Oliva's death. James was also contacted by Zak Stevens and Jon Oliva about tracking drums for HOA but he declined to do so. The band's original plan for the next album was to have Jon Oliva rejoin the band on keys and secondary vocals, along with former rhythm guitarist Chris Caffery at a later date, but this was shaken up due to the death of lead guitarist and founding member Criss Oliva at the end of 1993.

Jon Oliva and producer Paul O'Neill decided to keep Savatage going to honor the memory of Criss, and went to Morrisound Recording Studios in Tampa, Florida to work on the next album. They had invited Middleton, Stevens, Wacholz and Caffery to join them, but they were still dealing with the death of Criss and did not show up. Jon Oliva and O'Neill started writing and recording the album together, with Oliva performing all drums and bass on the album, with both he and O'Neill responsible for rhythm guitar and keyboards. Oliva also performed some lead guitar, but the pair eventually enlisted then former Testament guitarist Alex Skolnick to record most of the guitar solos, and subsequently contacted vocalist Zak Stevens to record the vocal parts for the album.

The first album since the death of Criss Oliva, the music is often dark in reflection of brother Jon Oliva's loss. Chance is about Chiune Sugihara, a Japanese diplomat in Lithuania during World War IIwho defied government orders by signing exit visas for thousands of Jewish refugees.

Castles Burning is about Giovanni Falcone, an Italian magistrate killed by the mafia in 1992. Alone You Breathe is a tribute to Criss which reuses the chord progression (albeit in a different key) and lyrics from the Streets song Believe in its long coda, and also part of the ending chorus in the Gutter Ballet song When The Crowds Are Gone, although the lyrics do not mirror his death and the songs are not literally about him.

The album also marked the first time Savatage wrote a trademark vocal counterpoint in a song. The third section of Chance has at one point, five overdubbed vocals from singer Zak Stevens.

Although it was more a Jon Oliva solo effort, the album was released on August 16, 1994 as the eighth Savatage album. Oliva could not appear as a band member for contractual problems and so the sleeve and booklet included photos of both Wacholz and Middleton to maintain a more "𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚌" Savatage line-up feeling to the release. Wacholz is also in the video for the song Handful of Rain (Watch video). Jeff Plate, a former bandmate of Stevens, did not play the drums on the album, but was pictured as part of the band line-up in the European edition of the album. Plate would become a full-fledged member of the band by the time of their next release, Dead Winter Dead in 1995.

The title track was originally released as an abridged version, missing its second verse. Some editions of the album (for instance, the Rock Masters version released on the iTunes Store) include the omitted piece, referred to by the band and fans alike as The Barmaid Verse.

Touring for Handful of Rain:

The touring band consisted of Stevens on lead vocals and Middleton on bass guitar as the only remaining members of the line-up from the previous album.

The tour also featured the official return of Jon Oliva to the band, who played keyboards, rhythm guitar and also performed vocals on several songs. The line-up was rounded out by lead guitarist Skolnick and Plate on drums.

The tour in support of Handful of Rain was documented in the live album Japan Live '94, which was released in 1995.

Critical Reception:

In a contemporary review for Rock Hard magazine, Matthias Breusch was disappointed for not being able to elect Handful of Rain among the best records of the month, like he did with Edge of Thorns. Despite sounding like a true Savatage album and a natural progression from previous works, he found the album lacking "𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚢 𝚝𝚞𝚗𝚎𝚜" and "𝚞𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚙𝚘 𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖𝚜", with the best tracks being slower songs and ballads exalted by Skolnick's guitar work.

Modern reviews are mixed. Alex Henderson of AllMusic considered Handful of Rain an excellent album "𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚖𝚎𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚒𝚌, 𝚊𝚖𝚋𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜, 𝚘𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚌 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚋𝚒𝚗𝚐" and the band "𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚝", even after the personnel changes caused by Criss Oliva's death.

Martin Popoff instead wrote that the album was "𝚞𝚙𝚜𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐" for older fans, confirming the band's "𝚏𝚊𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚙𝚘𝚖𝚙, 𝚊𝚌𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍, 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚕𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝/𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚊𝚍𝚛𝚢", with less focus on fast Heavy Metal.

Notice: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells

Savatage — Handful of Rain

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