3) Trans-Siberian Orchestra, “The Mountain” (2009)
The song was born as “Prelude to Madness” on Savatage’s Hall of the Mountain King album, but morphed into a monster once given the TSO treatment. The first 40 seconds of sound you hear is the audio equivalent of a nightmarish trip down the river Styx; ferryman’s bell tolling out your impending doom. Easily one of the most metallic entries in the TSO catalog, the song is essentially a guitar-gunned reworking of Edvard Grieg’s “In The Hall of the Mountain King,” with O’Neill’s own madman adaptations. The song is a staple of the TSO live set, performed with the band rising high above the arena on catwalks, and more flames than Lucifer himself can spit at you.
2) Trans-Siberian Orchestra, “Requiem – The Fifth” (2000)
Featured on the concept album focusing on the agonizing final hours of a dying Beethoven during the storm of a lifetime in Vienna, Beethoven’s Last Night, this is another track inspired by O’Neill’s adoration of classical composers, and is truly what TSO did best. the song’s main riff is a reading of Beethoven’s “5th Symphony” and also one of the hallmark TSO live pieces. The TSO female vocalists showcase dance routines to this one live, as O’Neill always felt that the art of dance was lost in modern society.
1) Savatage, “Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)” (1995)
The one that cemented Paul ‘O Neill’s legacy in stone. First appearing as a track on Savatage’s 1995 Dead Winter Dead album, the track was a surprise hit at radio during that year’s holiday season. The song would appear again, unchanged, save for the new tag of Trans-Siberian Orchestra, and become even bigger within public consciousness on TSO’s debut album in 1996, Christmas Eve and Other Stories – much to the chagrin of Jon Oliva, who once commented on getting his first gold record for a Savatage song after 15 years of toil for the band, without the Savatage name attached. A heavy metal slant on “Carol of the Bells,” “Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)” is easily the most recognizable entry in the TSO arsenal, having been used in commercials, movies and television, including one very memorable rock-out moment by Dwight Schrute on The Office.
