Christmas Eve and Other Stories

For this Christmas season, I wanna do something different and check out an album from the famous Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Formed by former members of Savatage, the whole band is basically a more orchestral and epic take from the previous band, and while they've branched into different themes, they're mainly known for their Christmas works. But for this review, I'm simply gonna take a look at their debut album "Christmas Eve and Other Stories".

First off, I was surprised with how varied the whole album is when it came to their style. As in, it's not exactly just exclusive to symphonic prog rock ballads such as in the first track "An Angel Came Down" and "First Snow". You do get tracks like "A Mad Russian's Christmas" that at first come off as basic metal parodies of classic Christmas songs like the Nutcracker, but the execution here is done creatively. While the loud guitar riffs do feel harsh, it's the symphonic synths that does balance things out by still maintaining the whole Christmas atmosphere while still offering a heavier view of the song. And of course, there's "Christmas Eve / Sarajevo 12/24", a track that I've known for the longest time because of how much I hear it on the radio during the season. But despite being overplayed for me, I still do enjoy it, especially with those fantastic guitar riffs that bring in a more epic tone that's kind of reminiscent of Savatage. While a couple of the tracks like "This Christmas Day" feel a bit mediocre and not as strong, the overall rock/metal song are strong overall.

However, the whole album is entirely comprised of these hard-hitting tracks. For a lot of the tracks, it takes on a more calm and chill atmosphere, though some work better than others. For one, tracks like "The Silent Nutcracker" and "Old City Bar" are pretty much soft acoustic tracks that feel out-of-place for such a grand album, but the whole cozy feel of the songs perfectly fit in that Christmas vibe that feels sincere. There's also the chorus tracks like "Promises to Keep", which are mainly carried by vocals. In the case of Promises to Keep, I think it's done well as the melodic singing of the children does touch that innocent feeling as a child during the holidays. However, this style can easily become obnoxious, such as in "The Prince of Peace". The singing itself is decent, but I feel like the grand singing would be more fitting towards some of the more rocking tracks. However, it's the last two tracks "O Holy Night" and "God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen" that does it for me, as both track further enhance the acoustic style with a more wintry feeling that perfectly close off the album in a nice, wholesome note. When the softer songs are good, they can be just as powerful, or perhaps even more, as the metal songs.

The album's Christmas theme is executed in various ways, and some of it is done better than others. Being that this is a metal website, I can kind of understand if you find the whole thing cheesy. But as it is, I think it captures the spirit of Christmas pretty well. If you're looking for a nice Christmas album with a mix of symphonic prog rock and soft ballads, then I'd say check this album out.

As if one horribly pompous and borderline-metal band wasn't enough, Jon Oliva and other members of Savatage had to create a WHOLE NEW BAND for this stuff, which is not really that much different anyway. I can say that this is definitely not a metal project, though, and Oliva had finally crossed the line here, creating an album so synth-laden and orchestrated that it was not anywhere near rock music at all. I don't doubt that this was his intention, but honestly, given the sound of Christmas Eve & Other Stories as compared to Savatage's last three albums, he could've very well just released this album under the Savatage name anyway.

The musicianship here is very proficient, and that is the only reason why this gets any points at all. The music itself is watered down prog rock crapola riddled with slow piano interludes, orchestrations, several different types of vocals (ranging from a choir to a rather melancholy female voice, to a deep, almost Jazzy baritonal rumble, and finally to Zak Stevens's charismatic sneer), Christmas-y jingles, and everything else in between. This album seems to be aiming to emulate some of the Christmas soundtracks for families, radiating with holiday spirit, and while I can understand what Oliva and his motley crew were trying to accomplish, I can't find much worth in this album. It's terribly unfocused, meandering on for a good hour or so of build-ups and sappy, romantic pianos and keyboard trills, but it never really leads anywhere. There are good moments, but there are too many interludes and lame, boring songs for my liking. None of this is really too memorable, as Savatage have apparently forgotten how to write a good hook, so in the end, you're left with a flashy, showy pile of crap. This looks glamorous and wonderful on the outside, but there is nothing on the inside.

It's all too much; yet another bloated and self indulgent cry of "LOOK AT ME, I CAN WRITE EMOTIONAL AND INTELLIGENT MUSIC, AREN'T I GREAT?" from a band that hasn't produced anything of worth in about 15 years now. There comes a point where you just have to give up on a band, and I'd say this is it for Savatage. Stick with Edge of Thorns for a better representation of this style.

This album is like listening to a very well made Christmas album with some heavy metal and prog thrown in. Not surprising seeing how this is basically a Christmas themed Savatage album. A lot of instrumentals including reworkings of many classic Christmas tunes we’ve all grown up listening to. This is supposed to be a concept album, but only a few of the songs tie into the story, the rest just share the Christmas theme without diving into the main story of the album (those must be the ‘other stories’ songs).

I see no reason why you wouldn’t like this album. If you’re thinking about getting this, you know to expect a Christmas vibe and that’s the only thing I can think of that would turn someone off it. It has appeal to metal fans by giving a good prog metal bite to many old Christmas songs while attracting the non metal audience as well with a beautifully written holiday offering that’s much different than your normal Christmas album.