Fight for the Rock

Fight for the Rock is the third full-length album by the American heavy metal band Savatage. It is their first album with new bass player Johnny Lee Middleton, who has since become the only member to appear on each subsequent Savatage album.

Fight for the Rock
Studio album by Savatage
Released	June 30, 1986
Recorded	England
Genre	Heavy metal hard rock glam metal power metal
Length	37:54
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Stephan Galfas Robert Zemsky Steven Machat Rick Smith
Savatage chronology
Power of the Night (1985) Fight for the Rock (1986) Hall of the Mountain King (1987)

Professional ratings

Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	[1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal	7/10[2]
Kerrang!	[3]
Metal Hammer (GER)	5/7[4]
Rock Hard	7.0/10[5]

Released in 1986, it is largely regarded as the band's worst release by both fans and band members, with the band referring to it as "Fight for the Nightmare".[6] Jon Oliva said in October 1994, "I've never really been fond of that album. WE'VE never been fond of that album".[6] The band said that they were driven to make the record by their label, Atlantic Records; particularly Oliva began writing pop-rock songs for other artists on the label such as John Waite. However, the label eventually turned around and told the band to record the music that Oliva had written for other artists themselves. This destroyed the band's credibility in the eyes of the press and reviews were not kind to the band.[7] It not only destroyed the band's image, but the negative critical reaction has been cited as a cause of Oliva's bout of drug and alcohol depression which eventually drove him from the fore of the band.[6]

Atlantic Records also wanted the band to have photographs taken, since none of their previous releases had included any. The band hired a friend to do the photography work, with one of the photos featuring the band re-recreating the famous photo Raising the Flag on Iwo Jima. The band agreed this was a good idea at the time, but look back with the same feelings on the photos taken as they do the album.[6]

When initially released, the album featured a Parental Advisory label on the front cover, despite having no "nasty words", as Jon Oliva puts it, featured anywhere on the record. This was largely done to please the label, as they felt that putting the sticker on the record would drive up record sales. Although it did chart, the band have been extremely reluctant to perform any of the songs live, and haven't done so since the early 1990s. Even on the tour in support of the album, the band only performed "Hyde", "The Edge of Midnight" and few others.[6]

Track listing

Side one

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
1.	"Fight for the Rock"	Criss Oliva, Jon Oliva, Steve Wacholz	3:55
2.	"Out on the Streets"	C. Oliva, J. Oliva	3:58
3.	"Crying for Love"	C. Oliva, J. Oliva	3:27
4.	"Day After Day" (Badfinger cover)	Pete Ham	3:40
5.	"The Edge of Midnight"	C. Oliva, J. Oliva, Wacholz	4:52

Side two

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
6.	"Hyde"	C. Oliva, J. Oliva, Wacholz	3:51
7.	"Lady in Disguise"	J. Oliva	3:08
8.	"She's Only Rock 'n Roll"	C. Oliva, J. Oliva	3:14
9.	"Wishing Well" (Free cover)	John "Rabbit" Bundrick, Paul Kossoff, Simon Kirke, Paul Rodgers, Tetsu Yamauchi	3:20
10.	"Red Light Paradise"	Johnny Lee Middleton, C. Oliva, J. Oliva	3:56

1997 Edel Music CD reissue

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"If I Go Away" (Acoustic version)	C. Oliva, J. Oliva, Paul O'Neill	3:50

2002 SPV CD reissue

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"The Dungeons Are Calling" (live)	Keith Collins, C. Oliva, J. Oliva	3:45
12.	"City Beneath the Surface" (live)	C. Oliva, J. Oliva	5:01

2011 Ear Music CD reissue

No.	Title	Writer(s)	Length
11.	"This Is the Time" (acoustic version recorded by Jon Oliva in 2010)	O'Neill, J. Oliva	5:31
12.	"This Is Where You Should Be" (recorded during the Hall of the Mountain King sessions)	O'Neill, J. Oliva	4:55

Personnel

Savatage

• Jon Oliva – lead vocals, piano
• Criss Oliva – guitars, backing vocals
• Johnny Lee Middleton – bass guitar, backing vocals
• Steve "Doc" Wacholz – drums, percussion

Additional musicians

• Larry Dvoskin (credited as "Dvoskin") – keyboards
• Brent Daniels – backing vocals

Production

• Stephan Galfas – producer, engineer, mixing
• Mark Jolley – engineer
• Dan McMillan – assistant engineer
• Bob Ludwig – mastering at Masterdisk, New York
• Robert Zemsky – associate producer
• Steven Machat, Rick Smith – executive producers

Charts

Year	Chart	Position
1986	Billboard 200 (US)[8]	158

References

1. Orens, Geoff. "Savatage - Fight for the Rock review". AllMusic. Rovi Corporation. Retrieved 2011-09-06.
2. Popoff, Martin (1 November 2005). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 2: The Eighties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 313. ISBN 978-1894959315.
3. Johnson, Howard (26 June 1986). "Savatage 'Fight for the Rock'". Kerrang!. No. 123. London, UK: United Magazines ltd. p. 16.
4. Kaldeuer, Ulf (June 1986). "Savatage - Fight for the Rock". Metal Hammer (in German). Retrieved 2018-05-08.
5. Kühnemund, Götz (1986). "Review Album: Savatage - Fight for the Rock". Rock Hard (in German). No. 17. Retrieved 2018-04-03.
6. "Savatage FAQ, part 1". Savatage.com. Retrieved 2007-02-08.
7. Gordon, Jim. "Hall of the Mountain King review". Savatage Official Website. Retrieved 2018-04-03.
8. "Savatage Chart History: Billboard 200". Billboard.com. Billboard. Retrieved 2018-04-03.