Jon Oliva's Pain
| Jon Oliva's Pain | |
|---|---|
| Also known as | The Jon Oliva Project |
| Origin | Clearwater, Florida, United States |
| Genres | Heavy metal, progressive metal |
| Years active | 2003–present |
| Labels | SPV/Steamhammer (2004–2006), AFM (2006–present) |
| Associated acts | Savatage, Circle II Circle, Trans-Siberian Orchestra |
| Website | www.jonoliva.net |
| Members |
Jon Oliva Bill Hudson Joe Diaz Jason Jennings Christopher Kinder |
| Past members | Former members |
Jon Oliva's Pain (sometimes referred to as JOP) is the latest project of Savatage co-founder Jon Oliva.
Originally, the project consisted entirely of solo recordings by Oliva, but after several months of work he was joined by former members of Circle II Circle to form a band.
The band's first performance was at the Criss Oliva Memorial Concert in 2003, where Oliva played a set of 6 songs from his solo catalog plus "In the Dream" from Power of the Night, "Hey Bulldog" by The Beatles and a cover of "Wishing Well" by the band Free (which was covered by Savatage on their album Fight for the Rock). Joining Jon on stage that night were Matt LaPorte (guitar), John Zahner (keyboards), Jason Jennings (bass), and Christopher Kinder (drums). Initially, the band went out on tour in December 2003 under the name "The Jon Oliva Project", but this was later changed to "'Tage Mahal". The band's name was changed after discovering the blues musician Taj Mahal. Because of the laws surrounding consumer confusion, Oliva instructed the band's name be changed to Jon Oliva's Pain, "Pain" being the working title of the band's first album. The music and themes bear comparison with the likes of Alice Cooper, focusing as they do on elements of obsession, pain, confusion and insanity. Oliva himself cites The Beatles, Queen and The Who amongst his and hence the band's influences.
After hearing the results of their earliest studio sessions together, Oliva then decided to repeat the solo work from scratch with the band. The band embraced the opportunity without hesitation, and brought in former Circle II Circle bass player Kevin Rothney to solidify the line-up. The band released their first album 'Tage Mahal on the SPV label in 2004. Originally slated to be released on the same label in May 2006, JOP subsequently signed to AFM Records for the release of the follow-up entitled Maniacal Renderings, which was due for release on September 4, 2006. Oliva cites SPV's reluctance to promote the previous record as a major factor in his decision to move labels. Oliva credits his late brother Criss (with whom he founded Savatage) as co-writing some of the work on the album (particularly the track "The Answer"), after finding some working tapes they had recorded together shortly before Criss's death in a road accident in 1993.
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