The Savatage Discography - Result and cause...

[wolfking]

And apparently I'm in the minority but Jon is just not strong enough vocally to carry When The Crowds Are Gone. That said, my favorite moment of Jon's singing that I have heard so far is the beginning of Mentally Yours.

Hounds is a cool tune. Not a fan of the Title track. Great guitar on this album.

There's some controversial opinions in there that's for sure Tim.

[TAC]

You mean the guitar is not great?

[wolfking]

I guess I can see where you're coming from with Crowds, but I've always loved it.  The title track is classic too IMO.

[jjrock88]

The title track is one of the songs that got me into the band.  Absolutely fantastic!

[The Dark Master]

I love "When the Crowds are Gone" but over the years I've come to view "Believe" as the definitive Savatage ballad, so I'm not as fond of "Crowds..." as I once was.  The video for it is still awesome, though.

The title track of the album is actually my favourite Savatage of all time.  I was blown away the first time I heard it.  Remember I started with Hall of the Mountain King, and then went back to Sirens and worked my way forward.  Since I was already familiar with TSO, I was wondering how exactly the band had bridged the gap between their origins and what they eventually became.  "Gutter Ballet" is the song where you can really hear them begin the transformation.  There is just so much in that song that I love; the guitar, the piano, the orchestra, and one of Jon's most impassioned and emotional performances on record, plus given it's place in history as the moment that Savatage established the "Broadway metal" style they later became know for, that song has become very special too me.  (sorry, TAC    )

It's nice to see a lot of love for "Hounds".  I've always thought that song was one of the best Savatage ever did in the 80's, and it's my second favourite track on the record.  Definitely metal Savatage at their finest.   

[bl5150]

I think my two favourites are Gutter Ballet and Hounds too.   The change in pace from Criss at the end of Hounds is fantastic - similar to what he does in the solo section of Follow Me.

[Kwyjibo]

And apparently I'm in the minority but Jon is just not strong enough vocally to carry When The Crowds Are Gone.

You are not totally wrong, but the fact that the vocal delivery isn't perfect in an "obvious" sense is one factor that makes this song so great for me. It's just that much more emotional.

[wolfking]

I think my two favourites are Gutter Ballet and Hounds too.   The change in pace from Criss at the end of Hounds is fantastic - similar to what he does in the solo section of Follow Me.

And He Carves His Stone.  That Hounds ending is some amazing shit.

[TAC]

And apparently I'm in the minority but Jon is just not strong enough vocally to carry When The Crowds Are Gone.

You are not totally wrong, but the fact that the vocal delivery isn't perfect in an "obvious" sense is one factor that makes this song so great for me. It's just that much more emotional.

Yeah, I get that. And I'm even taking that into account. But for me, there's still a disconnect of some sort.

[Podaar]

It's hard for me to pick a favorite from this album. Probably "Gutter Ballet", "Temptation Revelation", "Hounds", "Mentally Yours",... Oh, hell, it's easier just to say that "She's in Love" isn't a top tier Savatage song for me (Oh, and TAC, the lyrics are supposed to be ironic).

Speaking of TAC, I'm surprised you haven't mentioned "Temptation Revelation" in this discussion. The middle guitar solo sounds so much like 1978 Schenker (at first). Of course, Criss puts his stamp on the solo to leave no doubt about who's playing...but, man the tone and style invokes the ghost of Lights Out album.

A fantastic album that was the perfect segue into their later discography. I didn't love it at first, but nonetheless I couldn't stop listening to it and by the time Streets came out I was perfectly prepared to accept 'Broadway Metal'.    In fact, if I'm honest, this album prep'd me for prog metal in general. At the time, metal was my 'teeth-gritting, party music'...mostly. It simply wasn't what I sat down and 'listened' to...that was for Pink Floyd, Yes, Zappa and blues music that I was getting into at the time. HotMK and GB got me to listen harder to metal.

Hey DM, I read somewhere (probably on a Wiki) that the last three songs are (at least conceptually) about the same person. Any truth to that from your experience? I don't hear it.

[Podaar]

And apparently I'm in the minority but Jon is just not strong enough vocally to carry When The Crowds Are Gone.

You are not totally wrong, but the fact that the vocal delivery isn't perfect in an "obvious" sense is one factor that makes this song so great for me. It's just that much more emotional.

Yeah, I get that. And I'm even taking that into account. But for me, there's still a disconnect of some sort.

I don't know. I always thought he was using his voice to portray a character and the performance was deliberate. He's a broken down performer lamenting his glory days decrying his loneliness. Or so it seems to me.

I think it's fantastic.

[TAC]

Well, it's really just my impression from 10,000 feet. I'm sure there's more to it. Like I said in my roulette, there are so many DTFers who I respect that love Savatage. So I'm trying.

[Lowdz]

Temptation Revelation is a great track. I would have had that on my tattoo but it was too long so went with Silk & Steel!

[wolfking]

Temptation Revelation is a great track. I would have had that on my tattoo but it was too long so went with Silk & Steel!

Wow, awesome.

[jjrock88]

Temptation Revelation is a great track. I would have had that on my tattoo but it was too long so went with Silk & Steel!

very cool!

[Calvin6s]

I don't know. I always thought he was using his voice to portray a character and the performance was deliberate. He's a broken down performer lamenting his glory days decrying his loneliness. Or so it seems to me.

Jon Oliva was never one of my favorite singers.  And I'm sure at one time I thought "I bet they'd even be bigger if they switched vocalists."  Then they did.  And I just wanted Jon back.

[The Dark Master]

I don't know. I always thought he was using his voice to portray a character and the performance was deliberate. He's a broken down performer lamenting his glory days decrying his loneliness. Or so it seems to me.

Jon Oliva was never one of my favorite singers.  And I'm sure at one time I thought "I bet they'd even be bigger if they switched vocalists."  Then they did.  And I just wanted Jon back.

And yet, their biggest radio hit was "Edge of Thorns"...

I love Jon's voice too.  I think he certainly has that "Mel Blanc" gift to morph his voice to sound like like a multitude of different characters.  It's one of the things that makes Streets work convincingly as a rock opera, even with only a single vocalist.  And I think the man's stage presence and personality is, all around, second to none.  Both back in the day and in the present, he is just a pleasure to watch, weather he's singing or just giving interviews.  Honestly, Jon Oliva could do a show where he did nothing but read the phone book, and I would be in the front row, because somehow, he would make it entertaining.

All that said, Zak just had more commercial appeal.  His voice was more friendly to the radio listening audience, and his looks probably helped the band draw in a larger percentage of females.  Jon may have had more versatility, but Zak was more of what the mainstream wanted out of a frontman.  I think it's very telling that their first album with Zak was the one that received the largest degree of mainstream exposure.  Jon was a great vocalist for their metal era, but as the band's music began to flirt more with ballads and commerciality, Jon's limitations as the face of the band became more apparent.  He was, and still is, a brilliant singer (though he has his off nights), and his talent as a songwriter is on the level of true genius, but to reach an audience beyond the hardcore metal fans, they needed someone else, someone like Zak.

[Podaar]

I have always enjoyed Jon's voice, especially his chameleon ability to fit whatever mood the music was presenting. But I also realized I was in the minority, since I had so many friends who said that Jon didn't do it for them.

I was open to a change in singers simply because I wanted the band to be bigger...to have more people to share my love of the music with. In many ways, Zak was a better fit for where the music was going but like Calvin6s, I never really got over wondering what the music would be like if we had Jon back.

I guess that's jumping the gun a bit though. We'll get there soon enough.

[The Dark Master]

Ok, so a couple of things:

Firstly, I've been rather busy for the past week or so, and haven't had the time to do the write-up for Streets.  I'll try to get started on it as soon as possible, but with two concerts coming up for me (Symphony X on Fri, Scorpions/Queensryche on Sat), plus some other things IRL I've been neglecting that require my time, I probably won't be able to post  the write-up for Streets until next Monday.  I actually wanted to get this thread back on a Monday schedule anyways, so that will probably be for the best.  But I feel the need to apologize in advance for the long wait.  I promise it will be worth it.   

Secondly, concerning the side projects of various Savatage members,  I've come to the conclusion that, as far as this thread is concerned, I will only be covering Savatage albums, specifically the twelve studio records and two live albums.  I do want to cover TSO, but I'm thinking that should be a discography thread of it's own.  By the time I'm done with this thread, the new TSO album, Letters from the Labyrinth, will be out, so that will give me a bit more to talk about when the time comes.

I'm not certain yet if I wish to cover any of Jon's other projects (Doctor Butcher, JOP, solo).  I believe the rules for discography threads state that a band needs to have at least five studio records, and none of Jon's other bands meet that criteria.  If I do feel like doing a Jon Oliva thread, I may just cover those three projects all in one thread, if I am permitted to do so.

As for Circle II Circle, Machines of Grace and Chris Caffery solo, while I enjoy those bands, I personally am not interested in running similar threads for those projects, and I do not feel I am familiar enough with their discographies to make such threads.  Of course, if anyone else would like create discography threads for CIIC or Chris Caffery, they are more then welcome to do so, and I would certainly be following.  I'm sure there are some people here who are well versed enough in those bands to make a worthy discography run of their own.    

[Calvin6s]

Perhaps a compromise is Doctor Butcher, JOP, Jon solo kept in this thread, considering he has been a core writer of Savatage from the beginning.

[Podaar]

No worries, DM. Enjoy the concerts!

[abydos]

I've missed the thread, tagging to read back on it. Looks like a wonderful read!

[jjrock88]

enjoy the shows.......I'm checking out SX on Sunday

[The Dark Master]

Perhaps a compromise is Doctor Butcher, JOP, Jon solo kept in this thread, considering he has been a core writer of Savatage from the beginning.

I thought about including the JOP stuff in here, as a lot of those songs were originally written for Savatage (although, as I have pointed out when talking about many lost Savatage tracks, the JOP versions do tend to be very different then the originals).  Between that and the fact that, yes, Jon Oliva was the only constant in Savatage, I do think an argument can be made that JOP is a continuation of Savatage.

Of course, as similar argument could be made for TSO.  Both Dead Winter Dead and The Wake of Magellan are very much of the same style as the TSO records (and Jon has said they were even written in the same way as the TSO records), and even Poets and Madmen, while a bit different due to the lack of instrumentals and few ballads, is still very much in that same vein.  Plus, TSO has Paul and all the guys from the DWD/TWOM era of the band, and even the song that made TSO famous is a Savatage track, so the lines are very blurred there as well.

Ultimately, though, I decided that I wanted this to be a Savatage thread, not a Savatage/TSO or Savatage/JOP thread.  It's clean, easy, and simple, and if I want to do discographies for TSO and JOP (and I will definitely be doing one for TSO), I can do that after the Savatage thread is complete.

No worries, DM. Enjoy the concerts!

enjoy the shows.......I'm checking out SX on Sunday

Thanks.  I'm especially looking forward to Symphony X, as I loved the new album (easily in their top 4), and can't wait to hear the new songs live.  I haven't seen Queensryche with Todd yet, so that will be an exciting new experience for me.  As for the Scorpions; I saw them back around 2005, they rocked then, so I'm eager for seconds!   

By the way, feel free to continue the discussions about the albums we have already covered, or just the band as a whole.  I will still be popping in from time to time to give my two cents.  Plus, this will be a great opportunity for late-comers to get caught up and give their opinions on the story thus far as well.

[The Dark Master]

The rough draft of the Streets write-up is done, I'll clean it up and post it tonight when I get home.  I hope the wait wasn't too long.   

[jjrock88]

Fantastic concept album!

[The Dark Master]

   Part 7 – I never wanted to go, always wanted to stay...



Released   October 4, 1991
Recorded   January–July, 1991
321 Studios, New York
Genre   Progressive metal, heavy metal
Length   68:33
Label   Atlantic
Producer   Paul O'Neill

Track List

All songs written and composed by Criss Oliva, Jon Oliva and Paul O'Neill

1.   "Streets"     6:48
2.   "Jesus Saves"     5:13
3.   "Tonight He Grins Again"     3:28
4.   "Strange Reality"     4:56
5.   "A Little Too Far"     3:25
6.   "You're Alive"     1:51
7.   "Sammy and Tex"     3:07
8.   "St. Patrick's"     4:17
9.   "Can You Hear Me Now"     5:11
10.   "New York City Don't Mean Nothing"     4:01
11.   "Ghost in the Ruins"     5:32
12.   "If I Go Away"     5:17
13.   "Agony and Ecstasy"     3:33
14.   "Heal My Soul"     2:35
15.   "Somewhere in Time"     3:17
16.   "Believe"     5:42

The Band

Jon Oliva – Vocals, piano, keyboard, drums(On "Jesus Saves" and "Can You Hear me Now")
Criss Oliva – Guitar, backing vocals, bass(On "Jesus Saves" and "Can You Hear me Now")
Johnny Lee Middleton – Bass, backing vocals
Steve "Doc" Wacholz – Drums

Additional musicians

Robert Kinkel – Keyboard
John Zahner – Keyboard, rhythm guitar, backing vocals (touring member)
Female Background Vocals by Abi Reid
Child Background Intro (on "Streets"): Mozart's Magic Flute
Director of Children's Choir: Elena Doria
Children's Choir Conductor: Bob Kinkel

Further credits

Produced by Paul O'Neill
Recorded and Mixed at 321 Studios, NYC, Jan-July '91
Mastered by Greg Calibi/Sterling Sound, NYC
Engineered by John Kayne and James A. Ball
Assistant Engineer: Joe Daley
Second Assistant Engineers: Scott Pizzo, J Kael Trstram, Jay DeVito
Technical Assistants: Chris Fountain and Kurt Johnson
Photos by William Hames
Back Cover Illustration by Gary Smith
Cover Development by Tory Chartier

   As the 80's gave way to the 90's, the world of rock music in America found itself approaching a great watershed.  While hair metal still ruled the airwaves, a reaction that had been taking shape for quite a while was starting to find a larger audience.  The thrash metal movement, led by Metallica, was starting to attract mainstream attention, while even in Los Angeles itself, Guns 'n Roses created a sleazy, gritty counterpoint to the all too slick glam bands, who seemed fake and phoney by comparison.  And all the while, an entirely different alternative to the hair bands was forming up north in Seattle by way of the grunge scene.  Rock was changing, it was simply a question of what shape the new status quo would take, and when the monumental change would occur.

   Before Seattle became famous for the likes of Nirvana and Pearl Jam, a very different sort of rock band from that same city offered up their vision of how music could progress beyond the power ballads and rock anthems of the 80's.  Queensryche's third full length studio record, 1988's Operation: Mindcrime, would create shock-waves throughout the underground of the the rock and metal world of the time.  Combining the high minded lyrical concepts and psychedelic soundscapes of 70's progressive rock with the power and majesty of 80's heavy metal, Queensryche laid the foundation for what would become progressive metal.  Queensryche had not been alone, and on the other side of the continent, bands like Fates Warning, Crimson Glory, Savatage and an as of yet little known group called Majesty had been dabbling in similar musical territory.  Nevertheless, it was Queensryche who placed the keystone of the new movement with a sprawling rock opera comparable to The Wall or Tommy.  Queensryche followed up their magnum opus with even greater commercial success with 1990's Empire, and had poised themselves at the forefront of the progressive metal revolution.  Operation: Mindcrime has set a precedent for the new sub-genre, and for all other aspiring prog-metal bands, Queensryche would be the standard against which they would all be judged.

   While the world of music was changing around them, Savatage had been busy at work with Paul O'Neill developing their sound into something far more unique then they had ever dared to dream.  The inclusion of classical elements on 1987's Hall of the Mountain King had been matched by flirtations with Broadway on 1989's Gutter Ballet.  Savatage had certainly appeared to be a cutting edge heavy metal band in the late 80's.  But by 1990, the pace of history was threatening to leave them behind.  To what extent Paul and the band was aware of what was transpiring in music at the time is purely conjectural, but it certainly seems reasonable to assume that after Gutter Ballet, the band felt confident enough to craft their own masterpiece, one which they were sure would give them their place in rock history.  The last two albums had won them a sizable fanbase and a strong following on Headbanger's Ball.  Their next, so they hoped, would break them through to the next level. 

   The band elected make their next record a rock opera, much in the vein of Operation: Mindcrime, and yet, one that was very distinctly Savatage.  According the Jon Oliva, the band spent a good deal of time studying the great rock operas of The Who and Pink Floyd, as well as the musicals of Andrew Loyd Weber, when setting the groundwork for their next album.  For the narrative of their most ambitious record yet, Savatage had returned to Paul's unpublished musical Gutter Ballet, which had provided much inspiration for the Savatage album of the same name.  The story would detail the life and times of a drug dealer turned rock star, named D.T. Jesus, as he struggled with the consequences fame, fortune and addiction on the mean streets of New York City. In hindsight, the story was nothing particularly original.  Many bands had traveled similar conceptual paths before, and many would do so after Savatage had contributed their own chapter to the age old rock and roll tale.  Yet with Jon's first hand experience that oddly mirrored the story Paul had crafted, as well as the band's unique talents, surely Savatage could breathe new life into an old idea.

   The original concept for the album that was eventually named Streets: A Rock Opera (as Gutter Ballet had already been used for the previous record) was grand in scale, and, if fully realized, would have spanned a double album.  Sadly, for all of Paul's power and influence in the record industry, he found himself incapable of convincing Atlantic to make such a sizable investment on a niche act like Savatage, so several tracks would need to be cut for the album to fit a single CD.  Again, in retrospect, it might have been a better idea to spread the concept out over two releases, as Helloween had done for Keeper of the Seven Keys when they had been faced with a similar dilemma.  Sadly, Atlantic lost the masters for the songs cut, so any plans for a complete version of the record to be released at a later date were ultimately scrapped.  Much of the ideas from the unused tracks would reappear on subsequent Savatage and Jon Oliva's Pain records, and a revised version of the Streets story would form the basis of a later Trans-Siberian Orchestra record, also called Gutter Ballet.  Furthermore, Jon had recorded many short tracks of narration to fit between the album's many songs, to better explain the story, but all, save one, were removed from the final product.  A narrated version of the album would eventually see the light of day over two decades later.

   The true star of Streets would prove to be Jon Oliva himself.  Given that the album was indeed a rock opera, the lyrics would be told from the point of view of various characters, each with their own unique personality and voice.  Jon, with his distinctive gift of morphing his voice to sound like different characters, would use his talents to their fullest on Streets, slipping in and out of the album's many roles with ease.  But even more importantly then his Mel Blanc like vocal prowess, what really sells Streets is the degree of genuine emotion Jon pours into each and every single line.  While Paul may have come up with the story, Jon embellished it with many elements of his own past, offering up little pieces of his own heart and soul into every song, rendering the album all the more personal.  Singers often give their best performances when they feel a personal connection to their music and lyrics.  For Jon Oliva, Streets would prove to be his finest hour, and the singers who would later follow him in Savatage and TSO would always have the Mountain King himself to serve as an awe-inspiring inspiration, as well as a daunting example of just how much would be expected of them.

   The album opens with a haunting and decidedly creepy childrens' choir and keys before Jon and co. bring the madness into play.  A thunder of drums from Wacholz kicks off Streets' title track, and slow, plodding number of doom and gloom.  Jon cries and shrieks like a psychopath while Criss' guitar wails in the ghostly atmosphere, "Streets" aptly setting the stage for what is to follow.  This song leads into a narration that introduces the listener to our main character, D.T. Jesus.  Jon does an excellent impersonation of a homeless bum here, while the sound effects, recorded at Times Square, envelop the audience in the setting. 

   After about a minute of narration, the next song properly kicks off with a groovy riff while Jon rants about our protagonist, detailing his origins and initial rise and fall.  "Jesus Saves" was originally intended to be a gospel flavoured song, as heard on the original demos from the the bonus disc on From the Gutter to the Stage, as well as the narrated version of Streets.  The Oliva brothers, however, insisted that the song be rocked up, a position that was supported by the label.  Each Oliva brother crafted their own version of the song, with Jon's using a simpler riff with more swing, while Criss' version was far more technical and progressive.  The final version of the song is a hybrid of the two, using Jon's riff to form the basis for the main portion of the song, while Criss' riff was used as the foundation for the instrumental middle section.   "Jesus Saves" was chosen to be the albums first, and ultimately, only, music video, with Savatage artist Gary Smith, who had been creating the band's album covers since Hall of the Mountain King, appearing in the guise of D.T. himself.  Despite the rise of grunge, the video would receive a respectable amount of airplay on MTV, proving that the fans Savatage had won over in the late 80's were at least remaining loyal despite the vicissitudes of mainstream tastes.

   The next song, a dreary piano driven rocker entitled "Tonight He Grins Again", finds D.T. Jesus contemplating his fallen state, wallowing in his addictions.  Originally entitled "Screwed Up" on the album's demos, this song has attained a special place among the Savatage fans, in particular due to it's status as Jon favourite song he has ever written.  The Mountain King bears his soul, and more then a little of his sordid past on this track, his incredible high-pitched screams leaving one in awe of his sheer vocal power.  Criss takes us into the following track, "Strange Reality", with some slick guitar work,  as D.T. via Jon experiences life on the rough streets of NYC.  If "Tonight He Grins Again" was a Jon track, this one certainly belongs to Criss, his lightning quick fingers weaving musical mastery all over the song.  We then find Jon in a more mellow form on "A Little Too Far".  Jon performs this song entirely solo, both vocals and piano, his voice every bit as smooth and subtle as his earlier performances were harsh and crazy.  The lyrics here are rather cheesy, with their John Wayne and Star Trek references and all that, and yet it somehow all still seems genuinely from the heart, doubtlessly because of Jon himself.  Not the strongest song on the album, but still, in it's own way, rather special.

   The pace picks up again with the short, up-beat "You're Alive", as D.T. makes his grand return to the stage.  At under two minutes, this is one of the shortest songs in the Savatage discography that can even be considered a song, though it is still highly enjoyable for it's breif length.  "You're Alive" as abruptly interrupted by a mean riff and some gruff vocal from Jon as we are introduced to D.T.'s drug dealer, Sammy.  The hard rocking "Sammy & Tex" tells of a confrontation between D.T. and Sammy wherein his friend, Tex, comes to his defense only to be mortally wounded in the process.  Wacholz and Middleton deliver an avalanche of beats to drive the action while Criss deftly weaves his licks throughout the song.  D.T. then attempts to seeks answers for Tex' seemingly meaningless death from God in the ballad "St. Patrick's".  Again, Jon cuts himself open and lays his emotions out for all to see.  The guitar, bass and drums are joined by ethereal organs and a sweeping orchestral section, giving this song a ganduer that builds to a heartbreaking climax as D.T. mourns his lost friend.  Certainly one of the most emotional tracks on record, and one which is often overlooked, "St. Patrick's" should warrant some extra attention from listeners.

   After leaving St. Patrick's Church, D.T. returns to aimlessly wander the streets in the atmospheric "Can You Hear Me Now?"  One of the highlights of the album, the song opens with a Jon raving over a haunting acoustic melody, before the song explodes into a full on metal onslaught for the chorus.  The process repeats itself for the second verse and chorus before Criss changes up the pace a bit for the middle.  The epic orchestrations return as Criss shreds to his heat's content, his guitar crying for D.T.'s loss in one of his most expressive solos of his career.  The song ends with a long, lingering fade out, leading me to believe that had the complete double album been released, this song would have closed out the first "act" before giving way to a second.

   A bluesy guitar and Jon's crooning vocals draw us into the next song, "New York City Don't Mean Nothing".  One of D.T.'s friends contemplates life in the big city, with all it's trials and tribulations as the song picks up with some aggressive riffing from Criss, Middleton and Wacholz.  The song's middle section, with a notably superb and hard rocking solo, had become particularly well known to many Savatage fans, and was later reused in a TSO track entitled "Child Unseen" from the forthcoming TSO Gutter Ballet project, serving to cement the connection between the two records.  "New York City Don't Mean Nothing" was slated to be the second video and single from the record, but the fully finished video, much like the masters for the unused Streets tracks, would disappear into some black void in the Atlantic vaults, never to be found.

   Criss returns to his creepy mode for the next track's acoustic intro, before bringing the thunder with some heavy riffage, along side Middleton and Wacholz.  Jon takes on the persona of a street pimp as D.T. experiences the seedy underbelly of NYC on "Ghost in the Ruins".  This song, which was nearly the album's title track before Streets was selected, is a solid mid paced rocker, the middle featuring some rather slick bass work by Middleton while Criss shreds high overhead.  Jon closes out the song with some of his signature screams, once again proving his formidable range.  After "Ghost in the Ruins", Savatage takes us into more somber territory with the ballad "If I Go Away".  Jon brings forth the passion and heartache as D.T. reminisces about a long lost girlfriend.  One of the more commercially friendly tracks on Streets, "If I Go Away" would most certainly have been a single had the album been released less then a year earlier.  The Olivas share the spotlight on this song, with some rather nice soloing by Criss complimenting Jon's singing and particularly emotional piano work.  The song ends on a strangely unsettling note, no doubt to set up listener for the most metal of Streets' tracks that is to follow.

   An especially sinister riff and psychotic vocals brings us to D.T.'s lowest point as he battles with his addictions on "Agony and Ecstasy".  The band lets loose on this track, with Criss, Middleton and Wacholz tearing up a metal storm as Jon delves deep into the darker portions of his psyche to sound particularly malicious.  "Agony and Ecstasy" takes the listener on a three and a half minute hell ride before bringing us to yet another abrupt transition, this time to a piano and vocal ballad, "Heal My Soul".  Jon performs this song solo, save for some choir vocals in the background, telling how D.T. experiences a spiritual awakening as he witnesses a ghost arise from the body of a recently deceased street bum.  Based off an Welsh folk song, "Heal My Soul" would later be re-recorded by TSO for a 2007 Wal-Mart CD sampler.  A gentle and haunting number, "Heal My Soul" brings the story of D.T. Jesus to a close, leaving our main character to reflect upon his previous experiences.  Said reflection takes place on the following track, "Somewhere In Time".  The band goes all out Broadway on this track as D.T. asks some rather poignant "big questions" to which mere mortals will never know the answers while vowing to turn his life around.  A grand climax, one would expect a track like this to be the albums finale, but for Savatage, there would be one more song to play before bringing Streets to a close...

   A gentle Jon Oliva vocal and piano performance bring us into the album's final song as D.T. looks back upon his life and considers his own mortality and his new-found spiritual awareness as he hears the voice of the divine.  The band then explodes into an epic, sweeping ballad as Jon delivers an impassioned plea from heaven to earth, asking it's people only to believe in something more.  As the song reaches it's midpoint, a awe-inspiring choir lifts up the band to lofty heights and Jon takes us back to a lyrical reprise from the last record's ballad, "When the Crowds are Gone" (which was also based off Paul's original Gutter Ballet story).  Here, Criss opts to take the route of subtlety, and the beauty and grace of his solo on "Believe" cannot be adequately described in words, and can only be experienced.  Even for the cynical unbeliever, there is just something about this song that cuts straight to the very soul, and it is truly one of the most heartfelt and resonant lyrical things Paul would ever craft.  Yet it is the band that makes it all work.  Jon's vocals, Criss' guitar, Middleton's bass and Wacholz's drums, all in unison here as Savatage closes out their greatest album to date in style.  While the band would make many records after Streets, none of them would ever end on such a perfect track as "Believe".  Jon Oliva would later say that no less then Ronnie James Dio would call this his favourite Savatage song, and it's power would be brought to the TSO crowd when the track was re-recorded for the Night Castle album.  Savatage would later become very strongly associated with the strength of their ballads, and no other song would so perfectly capture their melodic side better then "Believe".
   

[The Dark Master]

Part 7 – I never wanted to go, always wanted to stay... (cont.)

   Of the tracks that were cut, at least six can be confirmed to exist.  "Larry Elbows" is a somewhat jazzy rocker detailing an early failed attempt by D.T. to pull himself out of the gutter thanks to the efforts of a friend, Larry, that most likely takes place between "Jesus Saves" and "Tonight He Grins Again".  The song makes much use of the ending riff from the unused Gutter Ballet demo, "Stranger in the Dark", a riff that would reappear in the ride out of the track "Follow Me" on the subsequent album, Edge of Thorns.  Jon Oliva's performance is especially potent here as he cries out for Larry not to give up on him.  "Larry Elbows" was the last song to be cut before Streets went to press, and demos of it floated around on bootlegs for years before the song finally got an official release as a bonus track on the narrated version.  Much of the song's verses would be mashed up with the Gutter Ballet demo "Before I Hang" to form the JOP song of the same name on the Global Warning album.  Of the other lost tracks, two would later be re-recorded as acoustic bonus tracks.  "Stay" is a haunting guitar ballad in which D.T. wanders into a bar and is tempted by a character named Duke to stick around and drown his sorrows in booze.  According to the band, this song would have been placed after "Ghost in the Ruins".  "Desiree" is another lost song that was re-recorded as a bonus track, this time with Zak on vocals, for the 1997 re-release of Streets.  The song appears to feature D.T. thinking about his long lost girlfriend, and would most likely have preceded "If I Go Away." 

  As for the rest, they were truly lost, although small snippets of them can be found on some bootlegs.  "Sanctuary" and "Beyond Broadway" are lyrical reworkings of older Savatage songs, with "Sanctuary" being a revised version of the Gutter Ballet demo "Target" and "Beyond Broadway" being, at least in part, a modified version of "Before I Hang".  The acoustic riff from "Sanctuary/Target" would find it's way into the Handful of Rain track "Symmetry", and the song's verses can be heard in the song "Nowhere to Run" off the debut JOP record, 'Tage Mahal.  The main riff, and possibly other parts of "Beyond Broadway" would later form the basis of the JOP song "Lies" off their Festival album, while much of the original "Before I Hang" was incorporated into the JOP song of the same name on the Global Warning album. 

   The final lost track, "Tonight I Would Be King", was apparently a guitar driven power ballad, and has, as far as I can tell, not reappeared in any form.  Aside from a small clip from a bootleg, I have not been able to find any other trace of this song, and have little to no idea of where exactly it would have fit into the Streets story.  From the small clip I do have, it sounds as if D.T. is making some sort of resolution, so it might have been intended to fit between "A Little Too Far" and "You're Alive".  As for "Sanctuary" and "Beyond Broadway", based on the small clips I have, as well as the demos of "Target" and "Before I Hang" and the JOP versions of "Before I Hang" and "Lies"  both songs, if placed in a Streets context, sound as if D.T was reaching the end of his rope with all his troubles.  "Target" was about a man feeling hunted while "Before I Hang" was about a man about to die reflecting upon his past life.  Both songs could easily have fit in before "Agony and Ecstasy", although it is possible "Sanctuary" could have taken place at a myriad other points, such as before "St. Partick's", or perhaps a little afterword as D.T. searches for new meaning in his life.  Likewise, "Beyond Broadway" could have been made to fit in a variety of places, from very early in the album around "Tonight He Grins Again" and "Strange Reality" to around the time of "Ghost in the Ruins."  Unfortunately, we will probably never know the exact running order of the original tracklist.

   Chris Caffery would opt out of Savatage during the Streets era, a decision he would much later regret, and would go on to join his brother's short lived band before reconnecting with Jon on the Doctor Butcher side project a few years later.  For the Streets tour, Savatage would enlist John Zahner, who would perform rhythm guitars and most of the keyboards.  Zahner would much later join Jon Oliva in his new band, JOP.

   Streets would do well, although not quite as well as the band or the label had hoped.  Awash with keyboards and ballads, the album was very much at odds with the direction music was taking at the time, as bands like Guns 'n Roses, Metallica, and Nirvana steered mainstream rock towards a rawer and simpler sound.  It's also possible that given Queensryche's popularity at the time, many considered the album to be an imitation of Operation: Mindcrime, and dismissed Savatage as just another band attempting to cash in by releasing a big rock opera. Nevertheless, the album's sales were at least consistent with those of Gutter Ballet and Hall of the Mountain King, so the band at the very least remained profitable.  The airplay "Jesus Saves" received on MTV at least kept the band in the public eye, and the critical response was generally positive.  But Streets was, ultimately, considered to be a disappointment, and it would not be until much later, after the band had returned to their rock opera ambitions with Dead Winter Dead and TSO, the former achieving massive success overseas while the later became an American musical phenomenon, that fans would look back at Streets and come to appreciate the scope of ambition the band had possessed even then, albeit in an embryonic form.  At the time, however, sensing the limitations of just how far they could go as Savatage, Jon and Paul would take their rock opera ambitions elsewhere, writing the epic Romanov for Broadway, a project which would later become the foundation of TSO. 

   As for Savatage, the band would, for a while, return to a slightly simpler sound.  While this decision may have been due to the lack of mainstream exposure Streets had received, it was also motivated by Jon's decision to step down from lead vocal duties.  After having been singing lead vocals in Savatage and it's previous incarnations for over a decade, Jon's bad habits of drinking, drugs, smoking and a lack of formal vocal coaching had finally caught up with him, the severe state of his voice illustrated by his vomiting blood after shows on the Streets tour.  While Jon would remain very much involved in Savatage, he would assume a more background role as he gave his voice time to heal and pursued other projects, and would not even be counted as a full member of the band for several years.  The band was faced with the prospect of a lead singer transplant at a time when they could ill afford to risk whatever fans they had.  It would only be after finding a suitable replacement in former Wykked Wytch frontman Zak Stevens that the band would realize the opportunities a new singer could give them, and, for a brief while, enjoy a degree of mainstream attention they had never experienced before...

[TAC]

Damn, that's a lot of words, brother!

I have a day off on Wednesday, so I should be able to read the writeup and listen to the album. I have listened to it once about 5 or 6 years ago, and I don't remember a thing about it.

[Deathless]

I love DM's writeups not just for the treasure trove of information they contain... but because they make me go back and listen to each Savatage album all the way through!

Well done again my friend.

[The Dark Master]

I love DM's writeups not just for the treasure trove of information they contain... but because they make me go back and listen to each Savatage album all the way through!

Well done again my friend.

Thank you, glad you like them!   

Damn, that's a lot of words, brother!

I have a day off on Wednesday, so I should be able to read the writeup and listen to the album. I have listened to it once about 5 or 6 years ago, and I don't remember a thing about it.

Streets takes a few listens to fully sink in.  Other then "Jesus Saves" and "Believe", there are few songs on there that stand out at first glance.  Like many concept albums, it is definitely a case of the whole being greater then the sum of the parts, and it's only after you've come to fully appreciate the entire piece that you begin to spot little highlights here and there within the larger context.

[bl5150]

  Other then "Jesus Saves" and "Believe", there are few songs on there that stand out at first glance.  Like many concept albums, it is definitely a case of the whole being greater then the sum of the parts

I generally dislike concept albums for that very reason - I want the songs to stand on their own for the most part.  And in the case of Streets, although not quite as popular with me as Gutter Ballet and HOTMK , I think most of the songs stand up well.

I would like songs like Ghost In The Ruins for instance whether it was part of a concept or not.

[wolfking]

Gotta put aside some time to read that haha.

Perfect album and one of the greatest all time concept albums.  Was number 20 in my top 50, so that pretty much says everything.  Absolute magic.

[Kwyjibo]

Another really great album. Streets, Jesus Saves and Ghost In The Ruins would be my favorite picks and there are no really weak songs on the record.

That said, I couldn't really connect with the concept/story, I always felt it was too disjointed and didn't flow well. For me the songs on their own mostly work better than in connection with the concept.

And my '91 released cd had some tracks thrown together (Track 3: Tonight He Grins Again/Strange Reality, Track 5 You're Alive/Sammy and Tex, Track 11 Agony And Ecstasy/Heal My Soul and Track 12: Somewhere In Time/Believe). To this day this really annoys me, because it seems so random, and you can't skip to all individual tracks.

But, as I mentioned, I really like this one, strong album and good continuation from Gutter Ballet (which, for me is still slightly better)

[Podaar]

At this point of my life I love every moment of this album. It always surprises me (pleasantly) how much metal is within. At the time of its release I kinda pushed it to the back shelf with the feeling that it was light weight for 'Tage. I can only assume that at the time I just wasn't as receptive to the ballads, but now I find them wonderful with their Broadway stage aesthetic. Mixed with the metal, the ballads create a truly unique experience that is very entertaining.

Great record and a fantastic achievement. I think it deserves much more love but...tastes.

DM, thank you for the thought provoking, thorough, informative and entertaining write-ups.

BTW, how metal is, "...vomiting blood after shows on the Streets tour."?