Dead Winter Dead
Dead Winter Dead is Savatage's ninth studio album, released on 24 October 1995. It is a concept album set during the Bosnian War, which was still going on at the time, and it tells its story through three voices: a Serb boy, a Bosniak girl and an old man. It follows Handful of Rain and brought a changed line-up. Alex Skolnick left to focus on his own band, while Chris Caffery, a occasional and touring player since 1987, became a full member. Jeff Plate joined on drums, and Al Pitrelli, previously in Alice Cooper's touring band, shared lead guitar duties.
The record is worth hearing for its ambition and for what it set in motion. "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)" turned into an unexpected radio hit, and the band wanted to explore that style further. Paul O'Neill and Robert Kinkel were already planning what became Trans-Siberian Orchestra, who later reworked the song. Classical themes also surface here: "Mozart and Madness" quotes Mozart's Symphony No. 25, and "Memory" draws on Beethoven's Ninth.
Dead Winter Dead: tracklist, credits and charts
13 tracks · 52:58Tracklist
- 1OverturePaul O’Neill and Jon Oliva1:52
- 2SarajevoPaul O’Neill and Jon Oliva2:33
- 3This Is the Time (1990)Paul O’Neill and Jon Oliva5:43
- 4I AmPaul O’Neill and Jon Oliva4:34
- 5StarlightPaul O’Neill and Jon Oliva5:41
- 6Doesn’t Matter AnywayPaul O’Neill and Jon Oliva3:49
- 7This Isn’t What We MeantPaul O’Neill and Jon Oliva4:15
- 8Mozart and MadnessPaul O’Neill and Jon Oliva5:03
- 9Memory (Dead Winter Dead intro)Paul O’Neill and Jon Oliva1:21
- 10Dead Winter DeadPaul O’Neill and Jon Oliva4:21
- 11One ChildPaul O’Neill and Jon Oliva5:16
- 12Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)Kinkel, O’Neill, Oliva3:26
- 13Not What You SeePaul O’Neill and Jon Oliva5:02
- Produced by
- Paul O’Neill, Jon Oliva, Jon Oliva
- Recorded at
- Soundtrack Studios and Studio 900, New York City
- Recorded
- June–August 1995
- Mixed by
- Dave Wittman
- Engineered by
- Chris Curran, Joe Daily, Tim Hatfield, Joe Johnson, Brian Kinkead, Robert Kinkel, Kevin Lewis, Julio Pena, Will Schillger, Mike Scielzi
- Labels
- Concrete, Atlantic (US), Concrete/Edel (Germany), Zero Corporation (Japan)
- Length
- 52:58
Line-up
- Zak Stevens · vocals, lead vocals
- Chris Caffery · guitar, background vocals
- Robert Kinkel · keyboard
- Johnny Lee Middleton · bass guitar, background vocals
- Jon Oliva · keyboard, lead vocals, background vocals
- Al Pitrelli · guitar, background vocals
- Jeff Plate · drums (drum set)
- Mary Wooten · cello · guest
Singles
- “One Child” · 1996
Peak chart positions
| Chart | Peak |
|---|---|
| Swiss Albums · 2022 | 98 |
From MusicBrainz, Wikipedia and Wikidata. Only what the sources record is shown.
Released the same week
Also released on 24 October
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Releases and pressings
How we know the release date wikipedia + musicbrainz + wikidata
| Source | Date | Note |
|---|---|---|
| MusicBrainz | 24 October 1995 | ignored lone early release dated 1995-09-20 |
| Wikipedia infobox | 24 October 1995 | |
| Wikidata | 24 October 1995 | |
| US release | 24 October 1995 | earliest US date |
9 editions
| Date | Country | Label | Barcode | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| — | CA | Atlantic | 075678285066 | other |
| 1995 | DE | Concrete | 4009880862520 | other |
| 20 September 1995 | JP | Zero Corporation | 4959407012498 | original |
| 24 October 1995 | DE | Concrete | 4009880862025 | other |
| 24 October 1995 | US | Atlantic | 075678285028 | other |
| 2002 | DE | Steamhammer | 693723745220 | other |
| 22 July 2011 | — | earMUSIC | 4029759069072 | other |
| 22 July 2011 | DE | earMUSIC | 4029759069072 | other |
| 23 September 2022 | XE | earMUSIC | 4029759153825 | other |
Cover art sources
deezer · upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25)
| Source | Size | Verdict |
|---|---|---|
| deezer ✓ | 1200×1200 | upscaled: major: best source 1200x1200, upscaled to 1500 (x1.25) |
| fanarttv | 1000×1000 | upscaled |
| coverartarchive | 600×594 | upscaled |