Initially the project consisted entirely of solo recordings by Oliva, but after several months of work he was joined in 2004 by former members of Circle II Circle to form a band. After hearing the results of their earliest studio sessions together he then decided to repeat the solo work from scratch with the band, releasing their first album 'Tage Mahal on the SPV label early that year. 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 released in September 4th 2006. Oliva credits his late brother Criss (with whom he had founded Savatage) as co-writing some of the work on this latest album (particularly the track "The Answer"), after finding some working tapes they had recorded together immediately before Criss' death in a road accident in 1993.
Jon Oliva's Pain hit the road fequently, visiting mostly Europe. 2006 saw some appearances at the larger European festivals. In april 2007, Jon Oliva was reunited with Chris Caffery onstage at the Pestpop festival in Belgium. This festival featured three Savatage related bands: Jon Oliva's Pain, Circle II Circle and Chris Caffery.
October 2007 saw Jon Oliva's Pain headlining ProgPower Europe, among the played songs was Chance, which was never performed with Jon on lead vocals before.
In 2008 JOP released Global Warning, which received excellent reviews from all over the globe. The album includes an ode to the bands past sound engineer Greg Marchak (O to G.) The band is currently preparing the fourth JOP album and will be hitting some of the annual summer festivals in Europe.
The music and themes bear comparison with the likes of Alice Cooper, focussing 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.
JOP always play a bunch of classic Savatage songs onstage. Typical Savatage songs that are played are Sirens, Hall Of The Mountain King, Gutter Ballet and a lot of songs from the Streets album.
Lineup:
Jon Oliva (vocals, keyboards)
John Zahner (keyboards)
Matt LaPorte (guitars)
Kevin Rothney (bass)
Christopher Kinder (drums)
Tom McDyne (guitars)
Former Members:
Jerry Outlaw (guitars)
Shane French (guitars)
Afterglow
Jon Oliva's Pain Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Shared by the lonely, the evil, the holy.
It chooses no sides...
And it's hard... it's hard... hard...
In the dead of night, in the dark we know,
What we try to hide, seems to always show.
This eternal pain, that we keep inside,
In the darkness of night, there is no where to hide,
In the afterglow,
Let the torment begin, as you twist and you bend,
In the afterglow,
You run for your life, from the demons that hide,
In the afterglow,
Never heard, never seen as you cry and you scream,
In the afterglow.
I can't understand, what I'm feeling inside.
Desperate and lonely,
I feel like the only person alive,
And it's hard... it's hard... hard...
In the dead of night, in the dark we know,
What we try to hide, seems to always show.
This eternal pain, that we keep inside,
It's the afterglow of the crucified.
Oh you gotta believe me,
Oh listen to me.
Oh,
In the darkness of night, there is no where to hide,
In the afterglow,
Let the torment begin, as you twist and you bend,
In the afterglow,
You run for your life, from the demons that hide,
In the afterglow,
Never heard, never seen as you cry and you scream,
In the afterglow, yeah yeah.
The lyrics of "Afterglow" by Jon Oliva's Pain describe a deep, internal pain that is shared by all kinds of people, regardless of their morality or beliefs. It is an eternal pain that cannot be escaped, even in the dead of night when we try to hide from it. It is described as the afterglow of the crucified, which could refer to the aftermath of Jesus Christ's crucifixion and the pain that humanity must continue to endure as a result.
The song suggests that this pain causes torment and makes us feel desperate and lonely, as if we are the only person alive. The lyrics describe running from demons and crying out in the afterglow, suggesting that the pain is all-encompassing and impossible to escape. Despite this, the chorus encourages others to listen and believe in the singer's words, perhaps seeking comfort or solace in shared experiences of pain.
Overall, "Afterglow" is a powerful song that speaks to the universality of pain and suffering, but also suggests that we can find strength in acknowledging and sharing our pain with others who may be going through similar experiences.
Line by Line Meaning
It's a cold hard pain, deep down inside,
This pain is not physical but emotional and it is deep-rooted within us.
Shared by the lonely, the evil, the holy.
This pain is not selective, it affects every kind of person regardless of their actions or beliefs.
It chooses no sides...
This pain does not discriminate, it can affect anyone from any walk of life.
And it's hard... it's hard... hard...
This pain is not easy to deal with, it's difficult and overwhelming.
In the dead of night, in the dark we know,
This pain tends to manifest itself at night and in the darkness when our thoughts and fears become overpowering.
What we try to hide, seems to always show.
No matter how much we try to hide or suppress this pain, it always seems to find a way to resurface and reveal itself.
This eternal pain, that we keep inside,
This pain is everlasting and continues to reside within us even when we try to ignore it or move on from it.
It's the afterglow of the crucified.
This pain can be linked to the aftermath of a traumatic experience, like being crucified, that continues to linger with us long after it's over.
In the darkness of night, there is no where to hide,
The darkness of night can intensify the feelings of pain and make it feel like there is no escape from it.
Let the torment begin, as you twist and you bend,
The pain can be agonizing and can cause us to feel like we are being tormented and twisted in knots.
You run for your life, from the demons that hide,
The pain can make us feel like we are being chased by our own demons, making it difficult to confront or deal with.
Never heard, never seen as you cry and you scream,
Even when we cry and scream, the pain is not visible to those around us, making it harder to get support or help.
I can't understand, what I'm feeling inside.
The pain can be so overwhelming and confusing that we can't even comprehend what we are feeling.
Desperate and lonely,
The pain can leave us feeling hopeless and isolated, like nobody understands what we are going through.
I feel like the only person alive,
The pain can make us feel like we are the only ones going through this and like nobody else could possibly understand our pain.
Oh you gotta believe me,
The pain is so real and intense that we need others to believe us and validate our feelings in order to feel heard and supported.
Oh listen to me.
The pain is so overwhelming that we need others to pay attention to us and hear us out.
In the afterglow,
The aftermath of the pain can linger and continue to affect us long after the initial pain has subsided.
yeah yeah.
This repetition emphasizes the continuing and unending nature of the pain.
Contributed by Stella K. Suggest a correction in the comments below.