Oliva returned to perform vocal duties for Savatage's 1995 album "Dead Winter Dead", supplying vocals to the tracks "I Am" and "Doesn't Matter Anyway". However, Jon was not prepared for the success the band would finally achieve, albeit indirectly. The track "Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24)" became a huge hit around Christmas time that year on many radio formats. The song was re-released in 1996 by the new side project of the band, the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Oliva has stated however that he was saddened about the success of the record, citing the fact that the same song was released by both bands, yet TSO's rendition became a bigger hit. This led Jon to believe that the biggest barrier to success was the Savatage name.