I can hardly believe that I am writing this but I am got for today marks the 20th Anniversary of the release of “Christmas Eve and Other Stories” by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. It was the group’s first album and it blew me away from the very first listen and I can proudly say that I have been listening to this recording since it was released. My introduction to them is on the amusing side because I had been a longtime fan of the band Savatage and was keeping up with their releases as they appeared at the record shop and found the sounds on the album “Dead Winter Dead” to be something very, very different. In my mind the band always pushed the creative envelope and were more than a typical Heavy Metal band but with this body of work there was a grandiose nature to it and even a sense of cinematic or Broadway drama. This was of course due to the creative genius of Paul O’Neill and Jon Oliva who wrote and composed this one from beginning to end. When that album reached the track of “Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)” I was floored. Yeah I had listened to Heavy Metal Christmas tracks when I heard them but they were few and far between at the time. Stryper had a good one but most of the rest were just Rock artists. This was new and quite different to my aural senses.
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Trans-Siberian Orchestra @ Izod Center (12/12/2009)
Artist: Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Venue: Izod Center (East Rutherford, NJ)
Opener: n/a
Date: 12/12/2009
Label: Lava Records
As I walked into the Izod Center for this years Trans-Siberian Orchestra show, I had to say that I felt that the time had flown by quickly from when I was doing it the last time around. I also mused to myself how this was actually going to be my tenth year supporting the group having seen them every year since 2000. That was their second tour and I had only missed the first go round of it because it came and went faster than anyone could have imagined. As a music journalist, this evening’s appearance would be my seventh show which would be documented for the masses at large and while I greatly enjoy what they do, the schedule that I keep does not permit me to be one of those fans that hit a number of shows each season. Instead of following the band around to different cities as some are apt to do, I find myself satisfied with the one show every year and this has been a tradition of mine since 2002 when I felt that this should be one of my yearly agenda items. In 2009 the TSO as they are lovingly referred to by their fans have become a massive undertaking with two separate companies hitting the cities across the nation and now a full five albums under their belt. Five you say? Well, yes I do because we found the group releasing their long awaited second non-Holiday CD “Nightcastle” only a few weeks ago. That was sure to offer up some difference to the fans tonight and here are some highlights of the performance if you somehow managed to miss out.
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“The Christmas Trilogy” by Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Artist: Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Title: “The Christmas Trilogy” – Boxed Set
Label: Lava Records
Release Date: 11/2/2004
Genre: Holiday Rock
Rating: 9/10
“The Christmas Trilogy” boxed set by the Trans-Siberian Orchestra was a great idea for the existing fan and those that for whatever reason are still finding themselves curious and unaware of what the group is all about. This set includes all three of the Holiday themed albums that were released as well as their DVD which was initially released around the time of the second album. Doing this made sense as it ties all of the threads together and makes it one cohesive story out of all the albums. It also gives you access to all of this music in one beautiful package. Wrapped in an ornately decorated book the CD’s and DVD sit comfortably and in the center is all of the lyrics for the albums and the stories that each brought to the listener. I enjoyed being able to focus on it as one giant epic as these recordings find regular rotations in my own CD player especially around the Holidays. The book also has several pages of photos which seem to have been taken from the various tour books.
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Trans-Siberian Orchestra @ Beacon Theater (12/10/2003)
Artist: The Trans-Siberian Orchestra “Christmas Eve & Other Stories Tour 2003”
Venue: Beacon Theater, NYC
Date: 12-10-2003
Every Holiday Season, The Beacon Theater in New York City has been the place where the power symphony known as Trans-Siberian Orchestra makes its home for a couple of nights. This year will mark the 5th Anniversary of such performances. The venue itself holds a little over 3,200 people and every seat in the place is terrific. On top of excellent views, one cannot mistake the quality of the sound in the room. Among the best acoustics I have ever experienced. This will be my 4th year in a row attending a Trans-Siberian Orchestra performance (The TSO for short). It is officially a Christmas Tradition for my Friends and I. Each year it’s a spectacle that gets bigger and better each time.
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“Christmas Eve & Other Stories” by Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Artist: Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Title: “Christmas Eve & Other Stories”
Label: Lava Records
Release Date: 10/15/1996
Genre: Holiday Rock
Rating: 9/10
Let’s get this clear from the beginning. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra comes from Savatage and oddly enough there are still some people who are not aware of this as the origin point of the group. The signature piece of this Metal Ensemble entitled “Christmas Eve Sarajevo” first appeared on the Savatage CD “Dead Winter Dead”. The tune stood out on the CD back then and also received a large amount of airplay on stations that would never play the music of Savatage in the first place. The music of 1996 was very steeped in the “alternative” movement and hard rock music was seldom heard and looked to die a quiet death. Clearly this track would prove another road could be taken with heavy music.
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