Christmas Eve and Other Stories

Last night, in an attempt at returning to some semblance of normalcy, I was invited to my daughter's place to celebrate Christmas Eve with my daughter and her boyfriend (and his sister) and my son and his girlfriend. Although, we have gotten together periodically over the past few years, the last time we celebrated the Christmas holidays was probably in 2023... in the middle of a whirlwind of bad news and tragedy.

Besides excellent company and excellent food (and a couple of fine food related products - please send recipes using Blueberry Mustard), I also received something that I have been missing for a fair number of years. The trilogy of Trans-Siberian Orchestra Christmas albums (Christmas Eve and Other Stories, The Christmas Attic, and The Lost Christmas Eve). These were CDs that I have often lent to others, but I thought that they had somehow got lost with my mother's possessions. Every Christmas, I would go to my racks of CDs... and they were not there. I had resigned myself to them no longer being mine, they had gone into the ether.

So, it was surprising when I got my bag of Christmas condiments to see these CDs in the bag. For, apparently, years prior, I had lent them to my daughter-in-law, and they did get lost in the shuffle. It was, much like the story of the first TSO album, a Christmas miracle.

Today, chilling with my two cats on a gray Christmas day, I listened to Christmas Eve and Other Stories for the first time in, perhaps, a decade. Certainly, for the first time with Hank and Dusty. I must confess, it made me just a bit tearful... but in a way of happiness, not sadness. For, TSO has been a part of my life for decades. Even before TSO itself was an actual thing.




Back in 1987, I was watching MTV's Headbanger's Ball when a video came on. This powerful bombastic metal with classical influence just came reigning down on me like a jackhammer. The guitarwork of Criss Oliva, the yowl of Jon Oliva, the solid rhythm of Doc Wocholz and Jonny Lee Middleton. It was a combination I had never heard before. It was also the first album with producer, collaborator Paul O'Neill.


Savatage and O'Neill would continue their continued collaboration on the next albums, Gutter Ballet and Streets: A Rock Opera, continuing to evolve the mix of power metal that Savatage had with more symphonic, operatic, and progressive elements. Both excellent albums, progressing the band to new musical heights, if not popularity. 


Jon stepped back from being the vocalist of the band for the next album, Edge of Thorns, with Zak Stevens entering the picture. The single, Edge of Thorns actually received radio play (reaching a height of 26 on the Mainstream Rock Charts). However, 6 months after release, Criss was killed by a drunk driver. It could have ended the band. In some ways, it did. The next album (Handful of Rain) was by all rights a Jon Oliva solo album, with vocals by Zak Stevens and lead guitar work by at that time former (now, current) Testament guitarist Alex Skolnik, with Jon contributing drums, bass, and keyboards. The tour for the album saw Jeff Plate (who was in Zak Stevens' prior band) join on drums. Alex left the band after the tour, being replaced by former Savatage tour guitarist Chris Caffery and former Alice Cooper guitarist Al Pitrelli. 

Now, if you have ever looked at the liner notes of any TSO album, you may recognize all of those names. For, they are the musical protagonists on most TSO albums. Additionally, if you have gone to see a TSO live show, there is a good chance you have seen a number of these members. But... they are Savatage. And, they put out an album called Dead Winter Dead in 1995, a rock opera about the downfall of Yugoslavia. They would follow up with another opus called The Wake of Magellan in 1998. Zak would leave the band in 2000 during the making of their final (to-date) album Poets and Madmen, which saw Jon come back as lead singer.


However, Dead Winter Dead has a little song called Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24), a song that earned a little bit of play during the Christmas season. Paul O'Neill had apparently had an idea to make a heavy metal Christmas album since 1986... and TSO was born. Christmas Eve and Other Stories was released and has since hit triple platinum in the US. The single itself also hit Platinum. The two further trilogy albums both have hit double platinum. Savatage, an outfit that had been grinding since the late 70s had not hit the big time. Under a completely different name.

Now, of course, Savatage and TSO aren't exactly the same. TSO is well known for its cavalcade of singers... which enhance the songs and the stylistic range of the group. But, there is a reason Savatage ended up breaking up (Until recently, they toured in 2025 and will tour in 2026 after a one-off reunion in Wacken in 2015.

But, they were also different in tonality. Savatage, even in this period, was darker. More cynical. Less hopeful. TSO, had optimism. Savatage and TSO were two sides of the same coin.

Alas, I have never had a chance to see Savatage. But, TSO. That is a different story. I first saw them at the Oakdale Theater in Wallingford, CT in 2000. It was an interesting array of people going to the show, a mix of people going for a Christmas concert and other going to see a Metal group. A mix that, to this day, is still the norm. The first concert was intimate. Not simply due to the size of the theater, but due to the lack of any real "rock concert" affects. No lasers. No pyro. Certainly, there was metal. However, the show felt appropriate for what they were going for. It was the standard TSO East lineup for that time, with Chris Caffery and Alex Skolnick on guitars, Dave Z on Bass, Jeff Plate on Drums and Mark Wood on violin. There were two keyboardists, probably Robert Kinkel and Mee Eun Kim. It was great. I saw them again the next year, I believe I brought my mother. They brought in lasers that year. They were growing... and were destined for the arenas.

I saw them again in 2010 and 2011 and 2012 (the Beethoven's Last Night Spring Tour) at Mohegan Sun Arena. The show was good. Great even. Also, over the top. Unnecessarily so. Apparently, the extravaganza has only continued.


Since I know have restored my lost Christmas Eve CDs, perhaps I'll resume going to see them in concert. Next year. We shall see. In any case, it has been a good couple of days. Other than my crown falling out again. I suppose that is the dark cloud in this silver lining. Life will bring ups and downs, and one has to crest the waves.


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