Global Warning is the third album from Jon Oliva’s post Savatage band, aptly called Jon Oliva’s Pain (JOP).  Their previous effort, Maniacal Renderings, on it's release was granted a resounding 10/10 review here on HRH by my colleague Don Gibbs and therefore Global Warning obviously has a lot to live up to. 

I have to fully agree with the press release that states “The new album is like a buffet – there will be something for everyone”.  Not only is it a step up from the previous releases, with stronger songs and more variety, but it also sees the band covering many different Savatage eras while throwing some more influences and styles into the mix to create an amazing album.   

Like Maniacal Renderings before it some of the bare bones of tracks included here came from the lost work of Criss Oliva (late brother of Jon and guitarist/co-founder of Savatage). No doubt this helps to explain why some of the songs have that early Savatage feel to them; with “Stories” being very reminiscent of “Sirens”.  However Global Warning also sees the band showing off more of their collective influences over and above the Savatage links, there's traces of Deep Purple, Queen, even The Beatles as well as some blues style rock to boot. 

Oliva’s voice throughout Global Warning is as good as ever it was and, as you would expect, the  emotion in his vocals is plain to hear. This emotion comes across best on the ballads that sit throughout the CD and, whilst “Firefly” and “Open Your Eyes” are good examples it is with “O To G”, which appears to be about Greg Marchak their engineer and co-producer who passed away recently, where you can really feel the strong emotional lyrics in a similar way perhaps to on “Alone You Breathe”.

The excellent production and musicianship evident from first to last track on Global Warning, from what is a very talented and  established line up, help the album shine and any fan of Savatage or JOP will not need this review to know the calibre of music that Jon Oliva has produced on a regular basis in the past, suffice to say he's done so once again with this outing. For those that are less familiar, well this is a great album to cut your teeth on. Album of the year?  There’s a very good chance.

Let us know your views on Global Warning

Track Listing

Global Warning
Look At The World
Adding The Cost
Before I Hang
Firefly
Master
The Ride
O To G
Walk Upon Water
Stories
Open Your Eyes
You Never Know
Someone/Souls

Line Up

Jon Oliva – Vocals/Keyboards
John Zahner - Keyboards
Shane French - Guitar
Matt LaPorte - Guitar
Kevin Rothney - Bass
Christopher Kinder - Drums