One of the most underrated concept albums and releases from the 1990’s was made by the always amazing Savatage!
While Queensrÿche and Rush are always hailed for their impressive range of storytelling and rightfully so, Savatage deserves the same spotlight under their 1991 effort titled Streets: A Rock Opera.
This dark narrative takes listeners through the highs and dangerous lows of protagonist D.T. Jesus who lived a sad cliche that takes so many musicians in their prime. The same tale of an aspiring rock star who goes too far on self indulgence and ends up at rock button.
But we’ll get to that later…
This beast opens up with arguably the peak of the entire record. The title track starts slow but not for long and quickly picks up the tempo to the band’s signature tone, subtle time signatures and tons of atmosphere. This is a song that perfectly captures the sinister city life of broken dreams with a heavy rhythm section and catchy lyrics. Thanks to the chilling vocal performance from Jon Oliva who sounds better than ever with high shrieks all over the place. Criss Oliva’s lead guitar can be found providing some of the most melodic and memorable solos of his career.
Jesus Saves sets the plot in motion as D.T. spirals out of control following his success and becomes a shadow of his former self. This track lightens the mood with a more melodic guitar tone and uptempo vocals.
Tonight He Grins Again and Strange Reality depict the tragic state of D.T.’s fall from grace. The former being a piano ballad while the latter is a lot heavier thanks to Oliva’s blistering licks and outro solo. Both display a dark reflection on his past and being washed up on the streets after pushing everybody out of his life until he was all alone.
One of the usual complaints about Streets is the amount of ballads that prelude to the metal songs including A Little Too Far and Heal My Soul. While it may be the least favorable songs on the album, they aren’t bad by any standard.
Another interesting touch that many listeners seem to miss is the Christmas theme emphasized on specific tracks. Strange Reality is the first time where it sounds the most obvious with the melodic main riff. You’re Alive is the most distinctive example with a more upbeat rhythm section and positive lyrics delivered in the same tone as Christmas carols. This theme comes full circle with the religious references and main character’s name stated throughout the album.
Sammy And Tex is the climax in terms of the story line and musically depending on who you ask. It’s the ultimate action movie song. Complete with its brilliant pacing and rapid fire precision, the sequence of events is perfectly laid out for the turning point in the life of D.T. After witnessing a murder, the protagonist finally gets the message and really starts to repent his sinful life and lead a new one.
This results in the next two tracks, St. Patrick’s Day and Can You Hear Me Now, calling out to God to forgive him for his downfall. However, the tone takes a sharp turn going back to the opening track. New York City Don’t Mean Nothing is driven by a call to action for listeners who haven’t reached rock bottom yet, D.T. advises everyone to watch themselves on streets and not trust anyone with the following statement:
“Don’t believe in T.V. preachers
Don’t believe in talk show stars
Never follow trends if they turn on your friends
Just to be sure you know who your friends are!”
Plenty of clever lyrics and major highlights from songs like this make Streets: A Rock Opera a memorable work of art and one of the best concept albums of all-time.
It all concludes with a positive ending with the catchy closer, Believe. The message of this track is one of the oldest pieces of advice ever told, but it’s very compelling and worded perfectly as a summary to the album as whole.
Despite the story line, this is an album that can be enjoyed when casually listening to it without reading the lyrics. Building off of the incredible symphonic metal effort beginning with 1989’s Gutter Ballet, Savatage continued to refine their songwriting capacity with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra sound in full effect.
The best takeaway overall is the visual storytelling from start to finish. From D.T. yelling at the world, “Am I losing my way?” in Strange Reality to the stop-and-start chain of events in Sammy And Tex, there is no doubt why Paul O’Neill’s book was chosen by Criss Oliva to be reinvigorated by Savatage.
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