Streets: A Rock Opera

Streets was the first unified concept album from Savatage, to be later followed up by titles like Dead Winter Dead and Wake of Magellan. While there were certainly some recurrent themes on prior efforts, this is the first case of an actual, straight narrative coursing through. They wrote up a bunch of characters and a sequence of revelations and events that would create the same level of drama you'd find in an old Broadway show, so of course it's set in the stereotypical New York City location with a story of drug dealers, poverty, and redemption. To be fair, this is by no means an awful album, and it largely continues the legacy of its predecessor Gutter Ballet, but therein also lies my primary issue...

I already got just about all I need, or could ever desire of Savatage performing this transparent, sentimental 'sorry for myself' pandering through tracks like "Gutter Ballet" or "When the Crowds are Gone". All Streets really ever amounts to is "Gutter Ballet" expanded outwards into nearly 70 minutes of inconsistent material, some decent and some swill. Sure, there are some touching moments for our protagonist D.T. Jesus in this story, but it's hard not to feel like the Floridians are projecting here, that this is somehow about their own addictions and coping with the fact that they just weren't seeing the critical and financial success they had deserved (and they did, with Hall of the Mountain King and Gutter Ballet). Granted, most musicians are reaching for the same personal space when creating their art, but I just couldn't shake the impression that this was a safety pitch meant to walk or single the batter up to first base. Aside from the narrative solidarity, there is nothing new here which wasn't already performed better on the previous album, and though I do love a handful of the licks, the endless tirade of piano balladry puts me to sleep (I'm sure it does wonders if played in a TSO set, but I don't listen to that band).

I could compact my personal highlights of this album down to about 20 minutes. "Sammy and Tex" is a nice, dirty speed metal piece with some guitar acrobatics. "Ghost in the Ruins", "Agony and Ecstasy" and "Jesus Saves" have hooks that are impossible to deny, and the orchestration and dark vocal arrangements of "Streets" itself are also quite impressive. Apart from that, I have to pick and choose moments of interest, because uplifting bedtime pieces like "Heal My Soul" and "Believe" are lost on me. I'm a thoroughly evil human being, after all, and the thought of children holding hands and singing hymns to Jesus or their orphan matron are most repulsive. I would have taken after Gargamel if he wasn't always getting punked by blue fairies. My children will listen to Marduk and (early) Gorgoroth as I rear them to become despots and fiends. I rarely speak in this same, sweet emotional language, so it's not often a banal radio ballad is going to effect me. I laughed a half dozen times when I first heard this album at the ripe age of about 17. Savatage seemed to me on the precipice of becoming pansies, sprouting petals...while I was privately crossing my fingers for a few Sammy/Tex rematches.

The production here didn't seem nearly so powerful and effective as Gutter Ballet, either. Oh, it's plenty atmospheric, and there are places where you feel like you're out on a city street with snow trickling down on you while surrounded by Holiday wreaths and lights, but the rhythm guitars are often too subtle behind the grit of Jon Oliva's vocals, and the keys here seem a little overdone, where they were an excellent addition to the prior albums. The drums and bass hardly have to do a fucking thing, so simple are most of these tracks, so they're never exactly a factor beyond their vapid rock pummeling. A lot of the leads are teensy, more like little melodies you'd find on an AOR track, and most of the songs move along in very predictable chord patterns, with a dearth of those savage grooves that I so lusted to hear. In the end, this is a soap opera with a few watered down ideas from Gutter Ballet spent to exhaustion. I mean, where's the power? I want "Sirens", man. Fuckin' "Legions". "By the Grace of the Witch"! Where do you go after such a drippy album as this one? Christmas carol covers with guitar solos?

-autothrall
http://www.fromthedustreturned.com

When I look at Savatage's discography with Criss, it's mostly highlights. The parts on Gutter Ballet that I liked (which were a bit more operatic than the previous output), and the lighter sounding Edge of Thorns both kicked major ass. In between those albums, they put out THIS.

It's a rock opera...duh. It straddles the line between rock and opera, and pretty much fails at both. Which is a real shame, because there actually are some great moments on here.

Even if we don't look at the music, the main, most glaring problem with this album is its length. I don't think that I've been able to sit through Streets more than once or twice in the 15 years I've owned it. The only other album that's had that sad honour is St. Anger. And Streets is not exactly abrasive on the ears as it is just drawn out and boring as all hell.

Length wouldn't be a problem if it contained nothing but solid songs, or rather, songs that flow into one another. This is not The Wall. This is not even Nostradamus. It would have been really helpful to have some sort of theme, whether it were melody or even background noises to bring this together. I'm serious.

I'm not even going to go into how shitty the lyrics are. It vaguely follows the story of some dude that is a musician turned junkie turned musician then his best friend gets killed and he talks to God and...okay, it's long and retarded. Read it yourself.

The ballad to rockage ratio is way the fuck out of whack. Over half of these songs are ballads, and not good ones. Stupid, Broadway piano singing crap! Maybe I just am not in touch with my inner dude, or my vagina, or my secondary sphincter muscles, but most of it is not touching, just insipid and self indulgent.

There are some gems in the doo-doo though. "Ghost in the Ruins" features a fucking killer guitar solo and a lazy off kilter Savatage shuffle. "Tonight He Grins Again" is catchy, in spite of the horrible lyrics. Even though I care for neither, "Jesus Saves" and "Sammy and Tex" are heavy songs.

"If I Go Away" is a ballad done right. And goddamn is it done well! This does get me in touch with my feminine side and causes me to almost shed a tear. Almost. Simple, yet effective lyrics. This would work anywhere in Savatage's discography. "Believe," is also a solid ballad, but not quite as touching as "If I Go Away."

The biggest problem with all of these songs from a performance standpoint is Jon's vocals. I would still hold Streets in extremely low regard even with Zak Stevens, but Jon's screechy, degraded vocals do not fucking work here. He sounded all right on Gutter Ballet, but here he's just shot.

The rest of the musicianship is top notch. Criss is Criss. Any of his solos are excellent. The rhthym section is the same as it's always been...nothing to write home about.

And there you have it. An album I can recommend to no one. Down load a few of the songs, ignore the rest. It's drivel.

With much respect to Pink Floyd, Ayreon, The Who, Dream Theater, Queensrÿche or whoever else is known for making strong emotional concept albums, no one will ever be able to match the perfect balance of human emotion and story-telling that is contained on this one 68 minute release. Packed tight with memorable ... everything, from the textured keyboards giving profound depth to drums providing an excellent source of consistent rhythm with the bass to the extraordinary Criss Oliva slamming us or bringing us to tears with riffs and solo deeply embedded in the depths of human emotion. To the highly influential voice of Jon Oliva as he proves once again how he can only be a vocalist but carry an entire album, or in this case, story, on his shoulders and deliver like no other vocalist can do.

What makes Streets the ultimate human concept album is a number of factors. First the songs are constructed in a concise, precise, and memorable progression. The album is the epitome of the human equation and consistency, and each individual song here could be considered the best song on the album. Another big factor is the variety, where the songs range from furious speed metal numbers like, "Sammy and Tex", "Agony and Ecstasy" and "You're Alive" to the melodic sing-along orchestrated-metal of the title track, "Jesus Saves" or "Strange Reality". Now while the heavy keyboard with lamenting vocals tracks like, "A Little Too Far," "Tonight He Grins Again," and "Somewhere In Time" depart from the old-school Savatage the most, the epic ballads "If I Go Away", "St. Patrick's" or "Believe" stand out the most and rank with the bands early death metal style.

Another huge factor though is that Streets was and continues to be highly revered. The album may have been recorded in 1991 but the amazing music could have easily been released in 1981, 2001 or 2011 and though it is a very influential album to whoever hears it, its influence is not as regarded as the music itself, which has a universal feel. Finally, Streets is one of those rare albums that can touch the heart in the deepest ways without coming across as "lifeless" or "sappy", one so emotional it can make even the most heartless person brought to the point of tears. Captured in a explosive backdrop of a luscious production job, the album’s soul is more morbid that millions can handle, hence why it’s almost complete lack of sales upon release yet ensuing legendary status.

Now whether this sudden stroke of genius after so many years was a result of the lambaste towards their previous album, Gutter Ballet, which was a more primitive version of what is attempted here. Or the addition of having a strong story right from the beginning, thanks to extraordinary producer Paul O'Neill, or just the final product of a band that had been progressing towards this album their entire career, is unknown. Whatever the reason for this album being made, it will always be viewed as amazing for it's strong compelling power that comes straight from the depths of emotional turmoil...

No one would've predicted all of this when a still young and still in prime Florida band went from being ghosts in the ruins to an emotional sophisticated band that forever upped the standards for all styles of metal. The stand-out tracks are all of them, you need to hear the album in full. Be alone, put yourself in a quiet and relaxed setting, turn the lights down low and begin the album and who knows - you may feel yourself, beginning to "Believe".

In the now 20 years since this took the world by storm, Savatage has faded into somewhat of an obscurity, while still moving forward. But is this Metal's greatest human concept album? Well everyone who has heard this album know they'll NEVER come up with something this masterful again. But you shouldn't worry yourself with that, because whether it be a metal band or not, NEITHER WILL ANYONE ELSE.

Savatage…man, what a band! I still remember how amazed I was when I bought the Hall of The Mountain King album. It had so much power and energy and it showed that their destination was at the pantheon of heavy metal. Then came Gutter Ballet, which indicated the change in their style and what was about to come. Savatage were no more the astonishing power metal band most of us loved. Unfortunately, their next release, Streets a Rock Opera, destroyed all our expectations of revival.

Still, when you come to think of it, Streets is not such a horrible album. It has got some nice songs and some beautiful ballads but it is NOT heavy metal. Maybe it has to do with the fact that this time they had only one guitar. No, who am I fooling? Jon Oliva, the leader of the band, decided to show us his real influence as a musician, classical music. I don’t know if his brother and the other members of the band agreed with him but I’m pretty sure they could do nothing about it.

Streets is a concept album and it speaks of the rise and fall of a rock star, named D.T Jesus. Nice concept indeed. The story begins with the self-titled song and a choir of children chanting. Mid-tempo song, like most of the album and a great guitar work from the master, Criss Oliva. Wacholz and Middleton are performing well too. Jesus Saves features a very fine riff and Jon’s usual beloved vocals. Definitely, one the albums best moments.

Next we have an eight-minute song, divided in two parts, Tonight he Grins Again/Strange Reality. A fine sample of rock but not Savatage. Once again Criss delivers brilliantly and his presence is really what saves the day. On the other hand, his brother does everything he can to make things worse. A Little too Far is played on the piano and suites perfectly in a pop album or I don’t know where else. Please Jon, tell me why did you take advantage of the popularity of the band to do things that you could do on your own? Are songs like You’re Alive/Sammy and Tex worthy of being under the Savatage label?

St.Patrick’s, Can you Hear me Now and If I Go Away are all ballads. They are melodic and emotional, especially the last one. Of course Savatage have written masterpieces like When the Crowds Are Gone and these ones look like left-outs but I’ve got to hand it to them that they know how make good ballads. They fit in and they create a nice feeling but why so many of them in a total of twelve songs?

Ghost in The Ruins is, however, quite nice. Not fast but not too slow either, with a divine solo by Criss and a killer bass and drum playing from Wacholz and Middleton. Probably, the best thing you’ll hear on Streets. The only thing that smells like metal in this album, in my opinion, is Agony and Ecstasy. It sounds like it was composed back in the early days of Power of The Night. Needless to say that I’d prefer something like this rather than Heal my Soul. As the booklet says, it is based on a Welsh traditional tune but to me it sounds like they are trying to put us to sleep. Ridiculous!

The last song, also divided in two parts, is Somewhere in Time/Believe. And it’s truly amazing, mostly the second. I don’t know why but the lyrics give me the feeling that it is somehow written as a tribute to Criss. Could it be that Jon Oliva felt the loss of his brother years before it happened? So much emotion in a ballad is very difficult to find. And Jon probably gives the best of himself in this one.

Many of you may argue with me on this review. Don’t get me wrong. I haven’t regretted buying Streets and I can listen to it with ease or when I need to relax and clear my head from problems. But I will not do it when I want to listen to heavy metal or when I want to drive my neighbors crazy. It’s just that it is so much different from what I liked about them in the past. It’s not horrible but it’s not great either.
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With the release of this album, Savatage has almost totally abandoned their heavier sound of old and fully embraced the symphonic style that was somewhat awkwardly introduced on 1989's "Gutter Ballet." The keyboard/piano playing and melodic vocals are made more prominent, the guitars tend to be more in the background but still provide melodic riffs and solos, and most of the songs are fuelled by emotional choruses and introspective. This was also intended to be the final release to feature Oliva on lead vocals until 2001's "Poets And Madmen" though he stayed on as a keyboardist/songwriter and even provided lead vocals on a song or two during their late 90's period.

Even with the numerous changes reaching their completion, the band manages to sound more comfortable than they had on "Gutter Ballet." The vocals in particular are much stronger when compared to the last album's slightly limp performance and are also made clearer thanks to the improved production. Oliva also can play a pretty good piano and the orchestral elements on such tracks as "St. Patrick's" make things interesting. Guitarist Criss Oliva may be less prominent than on previous albums, but he still manages to provide some cool melodies on songs like "Jesus Saves" and "Somewhere In Time." Unfortunately, the bass and drums are pushed into the background even more than before and don't really stand out that often...

In terms of the songs, let's just say that you will absolutely hate this album if you have no toleration for power ballads. Over half of the songs on this album make strong use of emotionally vulnerable vocals, a simple but solid piano foundation, and lighter worthy choruses that provide occasional heavier guitar backing for good measure. While a number of tracks do tend to focus on Jon and his piano, every ballad is unique on its own terms. "Tonight He Grins Again" is made memorable by its tense vocals and moving refrain, "St. Patrick's" features a brief but powerful symphonic flourish during the instrumental section, and "Somewhere In Time" brings in an excellent guitar performance during its own solo section. "Believe" is my favorite of the lot and even manages to quote "When The Crowds Are Gone" without sounding forced...

Fortunately there are plenty of solid rockers to balance things out, though there's definitely nothing overwhelmingly heavy to be found. You've got a number of darker songs ("Streets," "Can You Hear Me Now," "Ghost In The Ruins"), bright and upbeat tunes ("Jesus Saves," "Strange Reality," "You're Alive"), and a few faster tracks ("Sammy And Tex," "Agony And Ecstasy"). "New York City Don't Mean Nothing" is the album's most unique song and features some solid guitar/bass riffs sandwiched between some interesting acoustic segments. While they're all pretty good songs, I do wish that they were delivered with a little more grit...

What really stands out about this album are the lyrics, which tell the story of a rock star who rose, fell, rose again, fell again, and sought the meaning of life somewhere in between. With the story itself getting lost somewhere around "Can You Hear Me Now?" (Just read the booklet's notes; they'll tell you everything you need to know...), the individual lines are what really seem to matter. Most of the lyrics are filled with heartfelt emotion and deal with themes relating to city life, reflecting on the past, and questioning what really matters in life.

Of course, there are a few lines that aren't quite as well written. I can agree with the reviewer who disliked the metaphors in the chorus of "Tonight He Grins Again" and the Star Trek references during "A Little Too Far" interfere the song's otherwise somber mood...

This is no "Operation: Mindcrime," but I do think that this is a pretty good concept album worth checking out for open-minded music fans. Just find a way to download "Jesus Saves" if you have a thing against ballads...

Pros:
1) The band sounds more comfortable than on "Gutter Ballet"
2) Improved production and clearer vocals
3) Great ballads and solid rockers
4) Nicely written lyrics

Cons:
1) I wish the non-ballads were a bit heavier
2) Sometimes the lyrics can get rather corny
3) The guitars and rhythm section could've been more prominent

My Current Favorites:
"Jesus Saves," "A Little Too Far," "St. Patrick's," "If I Go Away," and "Believe"

First off as some of my fellow reviewers have stated this is not the same Savatage that appeared on Hall Of The Mountain King. It's somewhat unfortunate that the golden era of Savatage ended on such a low note. Streets as the title says is a rock opera but its a very poor one. This is not on par with Tommy or The Wall. It tells of the rise(s) and fall(s) of a drug dealer turned rock star named DT Jesus. Its not an all together original concept, The troubled rock star character had already been used by Pink Floyd in the aforementioned Wall album, and Marillion's Fugazi album. The albums storyline is very vague despite the rather black and white and boring lyrics. Where the ambiguity of The Wall allowed the listener to identify easily with the character Pink Savatage merely manage to create a patchwork story that leaves the listener confused.

Musically Chris Olivia still manages to create some memorable riffs. Especially on Jesus Saves. Unfortunately the album is weighed down by too many out of place sounds. Piano, a Vagrant narrator, A childrens choir. Perhaps its just me but in an album that is intended to recreate a ruff and tuff city atmosphere these along with an over all over polished sound ruin it completely. There are far too many ballads on this album with the character "finding himself" or God I'm not sure honestly over and over again. I think that had all these ballads been scrapped in favor of one big climax perhaps the album would have been a little better.

Vocally this is not Jon Olivia's finest hour. I will always love his voice but there is something off putting about these songs. perhaps that is because of the excessive balladry or the lack of ferocity found on earlier albums. Honestly I can't quite place it.

But for all the faults musically I have to place most of the blame on Paul O'Neill. He wrote the basic premise behind this album in 79 with the intent of it becoming a Broadway play. I don't blame the band for following his direction because I must admit that I am a fan of his earlier work with the band but I just don't admire his lyrical skills. Perhaps this would work better had it been a play where the audience can visually witness the plot unfold but as a metal album this is just not a working formula.

I cannot totally dismiss the album because I do listen to a few of the songs on a regular basis. Sometimes I like a corny ballad and minus the intro Jesus Saves is a decent enough rocker. Had this album been by another band perhaps I would be more impressed but Savatage have proven that they are capable of so much more and that is what makes this album so disapointing

Artistic death is never a pretty thing. No one likes to see their heroic once-greats fall from whatever heights they had achieved into the mires of convention, so how much worse is it when they descend into the abyss of unabashed insipidity? You can ask Dave Mustaine, you can ask Scott Ian, you can ask Max Cavalera: they’ll all assure you that writing shitty music is not a good career move.

And, as anyone who’s listened to Savatage’s “Streets: A Rock Opera” knows, you can expect the same answer if you ask Jon Oliva the same question. “Streets” is a colossal letdown from the band that had just a few years before delivered solid heavy/power metal straight from the hall of the mountain king himself. It’s billed as a “rock opera,” but don’t expect Tommy to be making an appearance: this is the absolute nadir of Savatage, musically and lyrically.

The storyline follows one D.T. Jesus on his fictional path of rock ‘n’ roll excess. His musical career skyrockets, then his drug addiction follows. Then his musical career plummets, but no wait, then it skyrockets again. Then his pal Tex gets stabbed by a pimp from D.T.’s drug-dealing past and then D.T. finds religion and….I hope you read the rundown from the album’s liner notes, because you sure as hell won’t be able to follow these developments from the extremely vague song lyrics. Of the sixteen tracks (none of which are instrumentals), less than a third actually lend themselves to elaborating on the actual album plot, most being content to simply reflect the unlikely protagonist’s feelings at any given moment. Besides this being incredibly uninteresting, it’s muddy, pompous, preachy, and absurd (not all at once, now that would be interesting). D.T.’s plight falls on deaf ears, partly due to the ironically alienating lyrics and partly due to Jon Oliva’s unconvincing vocal delivery.

Of course, no matter how inane the lyrics are (not to mention cheesy as fuck), my policy has always been to place more weight on the music. The following description of the album is as accurate a depiction of Savatage’s musical failure as any I could give:

Things start off with a title track that acts as an overture of sorts for the trainwreck that is to follow. It’s actually not that bad at first: the keyboards layered with the riffs is classic Savatage, and kind of like a Christmas carol from hell. Jon Oliva’s vocals are okay too, as he throws in some of those trademark yelping falsetto notes and the album hasn’t been playing long enough for him to get annoying. Things start to go amiss about halfway through this track, not just from the child choir chorus harmony, but from the fact that this song never fucking ends. Nearly seven minutes of the same repeated parts makes a decent song go to shit. But then, THEN we get treated to the introductory segment before the next track starts. Seriously, what the hell is this shit? Like the introduction of some horrible movie that takes place in some sappy loser’s flashback sequence, this has all the social awkwardness of actually being told this story by some over-dramatic street urchin. What had initially been anticipation of a Savatage concept album that went to skepticism during the title track has now dissolved into utter disgust. Holy shit that part was dumb. Doesn’t matter how cool the main riff to “Jesus Saves” is (even though the horns backing it makes it sounds like Extreme or Aerosmith or something), it’s totally negated by that intro.

It’s at this point through the album when the listener is reminded of at least one positive aspect of the album: Criss Oliva’s guitarwork. Though they are few in number (he spends a lot of time playing rhythms that aren’t at all elevated above glam level), there are a few very choice riffs at play that actually work, as well as a number of exceptional guitar solos. The acoustic crap that’s regularly incorporated sucks, but his distorted tone is razor sharp.

But anyway back to the tracklist. “Tonight He Grins Again” gives us our first taste of the piano work involved in this “rock opera” and one of many reasons why this album sucks previously unheard of amounts of ass. Jon Oliva (on this album anyway) cannot write piano parts to save his career. At around this point of the album, the ballad-y tracks will begin appearing around every other song, and these are the shittiest, cheesiest, shittiest bullshit piano ballads I’ve ever heard. And this is coming from a self-proclaimed sucker for cheesy piano balladry (non-believers can peruse my Sonata Arctica reviews, where the shameless fellating of ballads goes virtually un-policed. Additionally, “Heart of Steel” has long been my favorite Manowar song). Everytime I hear pseudo-emotive bullshit like “A Little Too Far” and “Heal My Soul,” I feel my insides assume the ‘projectile vomit’ position. Black Sabbath called: “Changes” is only supposed to be played once, not eight fucking times. But I digress. This song also has the benefit of this lyrical gem:

Time, time, time again
I'm just looking for a friend
But no one seems to be around
Just this monkey that I've found
Still he is my only friend
And tonight he grins again

I suppose the ‘monkey’ in question is metaphorical (ie: monkey on your back, as a reference to drugs and shit), but goddamn that line is dumb. Only three songs in and I’m already feeling déjà vu from the abundance of stupid, stupid ideas employed by a band I generally respect.

It’s also around this time that the listener realizes that Jon Oliva is just trying too damn hard. His raspy-ass voice was perfect on Sirens: here he sounds absolutely horrible, especially as his sense of dynamics and theatrics goes to shit. Speaking of bad theatrics, the whole album sounds like a shitty Broadway production of “Streets: A Rock Opera” rather than a heavy metal concept album. Note how the mood quickly shifts from upbeat and hopeful in “You’re Alive” to menacing in “Sammy and Tex.” The main riff in the latter is so horribly blatent it’s almost like Savatage are telling the listener “Look, look! The bad guy’s on stage! Hear the scary music?” Never mind subtle shifts in presentation, Savatage want their opera to be so comprehensible that even a child could approach it. Oh wait, then they probably should have made the plot coherent and excluded the violence and drug references. What’s the age of this album’s target audience supposed to be anyway?

Back to the track list, everything that’s wrong with this album continues in a similar fashion up until somewhere around the semi-decent “Ghost in the Ruins.” It’s at about this point where the already struggling Criss Oliva declares riff bankruptcy. Instead of just cutting the story off and ending this already deplorable album, however, the remaining five tracks are given to Jon Oliva to fill with more bullshit touchy-feely spiritually-minded balladry (technically “Agony and Ecstasy” isn’t a ballad, but it’s still bullshit). This is the anti-climax of anti-climaxes: ending with a sequence of ballads no more potent than the ones administered a dozen tracks ago. One horrific final decision with which to end a horrific album.

Clocking in at just under an hour and ten minutes in length, listening to “Streets” in one sitting is a major accomplishment. The same band that excels on albums like “Edge of Thorns” and “Sirens” is almost completely impotent on this long, pretentious, glam-inspired shitfest. If you ever cared about Savatage’s music or good heavy metal in general, you’d be wise to avoid these Streets. Newcomers to the band should keep a good safe distance as well, lest the Oliva brothers’ mighty rock opera scare off any more potential fans.

Seriously, what the fuck is this crap? I'm appalled that Savatage could craft such a bland, boring, over-long piece of drollery. Their previous album Gutter Ballet was a bit of a step down from the magnificent heavy metal behemoths they had been cranking out beforehand, but it had some really stellar cuts on it like the title track and "The Unholy." There were a lot of fillers, though, and that trend continues here on Streets: A Rock Opera, with an entire album of songs that sound like B-side reject tracks from Gutter Ballet, only a lot worse. This album is the lowest of the low, rock bottom, the alpha and omega of uninspired, pretentious mediocrity.

If this were a debut album by an unknown band, then perhaps it would be more tolerable, but it's not. It was the sixth album by a prolific, veteran heavy metal band that had several classic headbanging metal records under their belt already, so there's no excuse for the levels of banality reached here. This album is over an hour long, and throughout all 60+ minutes of this disc, not one inkling of emotion is raised. Savatage just seems to be going through the motions here, with longer songs than usual and a lot less energy put into them, and additional doses of "we're so artsy" pretentious wankery. Criss Oliva's guitar playing is obviously excellent as it always was, and that makes this album listenable at some points, but he sounds subdued and even bored here, in contrast to how energetic and lively his playing was on Savatage's more guitar-driven albums. That's pretty much the same story for the whole band on this album; it's just Savatage playing at 75% of their power, if even that. Listen to a tried-and-true heavy metal classic like "24 Hours Ago" or "Gutter Ballet" and compare it to weak, ball-less tunes like "Jesus Saves" or "Tonight He Grins Again." The difference is painfully clear.

A large part of why this album sounds so flat and dull is Jon Oliva's vocals. Jon has never possessed one of heavy metal's best voices, but his voice worked wonders for Savatage's pugilistic, raw, chaotic early material, before they started using keyboards and writing pretentious, "insightful" lyrics, back when they still wrote killer tunes like "Beyond the Doors of the Dark" and "Legions." In a similar fashion to that of Ozzy Osbourne, Jon Oliva possesses a voice that is not technically good, but really goes well with a certain style of music (as Ozzy's did with early Sabbath, that is). His harsh, demonic shrieks fit like a glove with the heavy, catchy riffs and upbeat, energetic songwriting style that Savatage so embraced in their early days. However, they changed their style to a more polished, romantic, keyboard-driven style of metal that most would think required a smoother, cleaner, more technically proficient vocalist, as Jon's rasping simply doesn't fit with this kind of music. Maybe I'm simply too jaded or maybe I just don't have the right ears for this, but Jon Oliva's voice on this album is terrible. They've put him up pretty fucking close to the front of the mix, and we can hear exactly how much he sounds akin to a dying, withering cat taking a shit. There are a few tunes where he still manages to sound cool, like "Sammy and Tex" for one, but on most of the other songs here, he sounds positively cringe-worthy. I never thought it'd get this bad. He sounded pretty limp on a few songs from Gutter Ballet, but those tracks sound absolutely golden compared to his pained, agonized, strained yowling here. Good fucking grief.

The sound on Streets is much more of a hard rock/prog rock sound than a heavy metal sound, as even the heaviest songs here tend to sound more Led Zeppelin or Deep Purple than Iron Maiden or Omen. That wouldn't be so bad, as there are several bands who have gone from heavy metal to prog rock and done it well (Savatage did it pretty fucking well themselves in the 90s, ironically), but the fact is, Savatage didn't do it well on this album. Operation Mindcrime this is definitely not. Aside from a few good tunes like "New York Don't Mean Nothing" and "Sammy and Tex", and the riff on "Strange Reality", this is pretty much total shit, and I can't even single out one track as the worst. "Ghost in the Ruins" is an easy contender, with some atrocious sleazy, glam-esque vocal lines and a chorus that came straight out of the depths of Def Leppard's discography, and so are all of the ballads (they take up half the album - great fun!), which pretty much all sound like lullabies you'd sing to a kid trying to go to sleep (how did this same band write masterpieces like "When the Crowds are Gone"?). "Jesus Saves" is boring and uninspired, and the title track even moreso, with some operatic choirs that try to be epic, but just come off as boring and extremely arrogant and pretentious. "St. Patricks" and "Can You Hear Me Now" both veer in an insane half-lurch between ballad-esque and dull to heavy and dull, and the vocal lines still suck more than a back-alley hooker, but that's no surprise by this point in the album. "Agony and Ecstasy" has cool guitar lines, but the chorus is more arena rock bullshit that the band should be ashamed for even thinking of, which sends the whole thing in flames down to Hell. Pathetic.

I'm not sure exactly what went wrong here. Savatage were at the pinnacle of their career, releasing album after album, year after year. They had a tight, functioning band and several indisputable, masterful classics in their lengthly repertoire, so how did this travesty come to exist? A lack of inspiration? Frankly, I think this is just far too pretentious, that's the main problem. I rarely enjoy "rock operas", and this is no exception - a self indulgent and overly self gratifying piece of work that is not all it wants to be or pretends to be. Savatage had hit a real bump in the road with this one, and I'm at a real loss for words at this point - there's no real explanation that I can think of for why this album is as bad as it is. But as you hear Jon Oliva's "dying cat" impression shrieking his way through the last notes of "Believe", you'll know, and then you'll hopefully burn this pretentious, overbearing, mediocre piece of gutter trash, dispose of the remains, and then go listen to Hall of the Mountain King again.