Artist: Savatage
Label: Atlantic
Release Date: 1989
Rating: 5 Skulls
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Title: Gutter Ballet Artist: Savatage Label: Atlantic Release Date: 1989
Rating: 5 Skulls |
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Hel's Review:
Perhaps Gutter Ballet is my favorite Savatage album because it is the one that heralded my introduction to this awesome band. But that was over a decade ago, and they were securely perched in a top spot on my list of favorite bands for much of that time. A lot has happened to the band between then and now, and a lot of changes have occurred within the band. The loss of Criss Oliva is, without question, one of the greatest tragedies in heavy metal history. The effect it had on his brother, Jon, may just be another. Streets ended up being the final creation of both brothers and the band, to date, has never made another album that rivaled that standard.Gutter Ballet, however, set that standard. I think that this was where the songwriting took a turn toward being more epic and visual. And speaking of visual, this record also boasts one of my favorite covers of all time. But what truly pushes this album to favorite status over Streets is the vast array of tales and characters we get to hear and meet. While its concept made Streets great, I ultimately found I preferred the nonlinear storytelling of Gutter Ballet. Instead of following a set cast of characters through a specific story, you jumped from one fascinating world to another. On one song, "Mentally Yours," you hear the sad tale of a warped boy named Timmy as he grows to become a frightening man. In another, "When the Crowds Are Gone," we are lead through a vivid scene of an actor facing impending death after a long life and looking back on that life, analogizing between that day to day life and the life lived on the stage.
The true beauty of Gutter Ballet is that there is plenty of room for interpretation. It may well be true that you’ve taken something totally different away from those same songs and totally disagree with my interpretation. And that’s great. I also really enjoy lyrics from one song appearing in another and referencing from one to another. This is the first place I ever noticed this occurring in music, and the more Savatage I heard, the more references I caught. Not only within different songs on the same album, but on other albums. If you somehow never noticed, start with Gutter Ballet - listen to it beginning to end while paying attention to the lyrics. Then do the same with Streets immediately after. Once you listen carefully to both back to back, you should walk away with plenty of examples and the ability to find more in other albums.
Finally, with these two albums alone, Savatage achieved an amazing balance. They gave us both an album that you can spend days mulling over and interpreting and an album with an amazing story told in true concept album fashion. And if you want more of a truly heavy metal feel, you can reach even farther back to Hall of the Mountain King. Which is a whole other review. To wrap this one up, given all the factors above, now you should consider which side of Savatage is your favorite. And if you don’t know this great band at all, it’s time to go (start with the albums mentioned here) and figure out why not.
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