Fight for the Rock

Fight for the Rock, the third album, came out on Atlantic in April 1986 as the LP 7 81634-1. The trade weekly FMQB listed it for release on 24 April, American stations were adding its songs from early May, and it entered the Billboard 200 on the chart of 21 June, peaking at number 158. The official site calls it the band's second Atlantic release and the first with bassist Johnny Lee Middleton. Jon Oliva has recalled recording it at Trident Studios in London from late 1985 into early 1986, with Stephan Galfas producing. The old official FAQ explains that much of it was material Jon had written for other Atlantic artists such as John Waite, which the label then had Savatage record themselves. Badfinger's "Day After Day" was cut because the piano Badfinger had used on their hit was in the studio and Jon started playing the song on it, and Free's "Wishing Well" was the favourite song of someone at the label. "Out on the Streets" from the debut was recorded again here, and so was "Lady in Disguise", an early take of which later surfaced as a bonus track on the 1994 CD of Sirens. The band nicknamed it "Fight for the Nightmare", and Jon has said he was never fond of it, according to the FAQ. AllMusic calls it a blatant attempt at commercial success but singles out "Hyde". In 1986 the band played American dates with Ted Nugent and Blue Öyster Cult and made their first European tour opening for Motörhead, as the old official timeline records. East West Japan issued the Japanese edition on 10 March 1992 (AMCY-388). The running order here is the original's as printed.