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Rating: For those unfamiliar with SAVATAGE, this is a good opportunity to start.
A metal band from Florida founded in the early 80s by the Oliva brothers, Jon and the late Criss, but the story can be found anywhere.
The album is, according to many, the best they ever released, or at least the one that best identifies them. Powerful drums, incisive bass, simple yet harmonious guitars, and then the astounding piano/vocal pairing of the immense Jon Oliva.
Streets is a concept album that tells the story of an imaginary guitarist who went from the street, where he was dealing drugs, to success thanks to his talent with the six-string, only to collapse back into nothingness. Precisely for his activity as a dealer, he was called "Il Messia della Avenue D" and named DownTownJesus (literally Jesus of the slums).
Let's listen to the album: the title track opens the show, taking us to the streets of New York, where DTJesus lives, and tells us about his state of mind full of regrets and remorse. Jesus Saves explains the character, telling his story, it has now become a band classic, another milestone by Jon Oliva. Tonight He Grins Again finally lets us taste Jon's spectacular piano, and Strange Reality presents the protagonist's doubts as he finds himself in a world, that of alcohol and drugs, that he doesn't belong to.
A Little Too Far is the essence of Jon Oliva's creativity: a track with just piano and voice that gives you chills, with his voice, both harsh and sweet. Spectacular.
You're Alive is a brief track that tells about DTJesus's return to the scene, and opens up to Sammy and Tex, a powerful and incredibly fast piece where you understand why these two, the Olivas, were brothers not only by blood but also in creativity... Jon's vocal power is almost equal to Criss's guitar. St.Partrik's is nothing but a series of questions the protagonist asks God, where the piano always takes center stage. Can You Hear Me Now is Criss's piece, where the late guitarist expresses himself fully and leaves no doubt about his talent.
New York City Don't Mean Nothing is yet another track branded Jon Oliva, the absolute protagonist, explaining how the big City and its luxury aren't worth as he thought. Ghost In The Ruins is an intermediary track, however enriched with a nice guitar solo accompanied by a substantial bass. If I Go Away, with Jon's indispensable piano, is a tear-jerker, where DTJesus remembers his last love, wondering what would remain for her if he left, without having an answer.
Agony and Ecstasy is the last powerful track on the album, and talks about how DT is now tempted to return to the dirty world. Heal My Soul is another of Jon's poems, showing the protagonist's compassion. Somewhere in Time is the penultimate track, the band's calling card that shows all its melodic qualities in terms of power and orchestration, but it is only a prelude to Savatage's signature song... Believe arrives... a track that is as simple (technically speaking) as it is poignant for its anger, sweetness, meaning, and melody, a song destined to enter the hearts of many, with a perfect text that, if translated into our language, you could almost sing perfectly... Believe is unique, it cannot leave you indifferent, and, a small anecdote I take the liberty to make, it's the song of my life...
I'll be right there
I'll never leave
All I ask of you Is Believe
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
01 Streets (06:48)
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As darkness falls so hard
The children play
Somewhere
Out there
Alone and out of place
Streets of illusion
Sooth the shattered fate
I've been a runner
I've been a sinner
I've been inside my head
I sit here staring
Never quite caring
And this is where it has led
Chorus
These streets
Glitter in the dark
Don't sleep
Red eyes sunken and stark
Dream deep
In her arms where you are safe
These streets
Never sleep still never wake
Somewhere out there
Gardens bloom and grow
Children awaken
To a world they know
Somewhere the sun shines
Somewhere the light's kind
Somewhere they seek the day
Somewhere there's no scene
Somewhere the air's clean
But somewhere is so far away
These streets
Glitter in the dark
Don't sleep
Red eyes sunken and stark
Dream deep
In her arms where you are safe
These streets
Never sleep still never wake
Welcome children
From the other side
In the darkness
Your eyes are opened wide
Here there are answers
On the edge dancers
Here the night hides out sins
And if you listen
While the streets glisten
Here's where our story begins
These streets
Glitter in the dark
Don't sleep
Red eyes sunken and stark
Dream deep
In her arms where you are safe
These streets
Never sleep still never wake
05 Jesus Saves (05:27)
Jesus was a talker
Out of place New Yorker
Hung out on the boulevard
Sellin' nickel candies
Saving all his quarters
Bought himself a cheap guitar
Started playing' bars
The kids came in their cars
You'd hear them shouting at the stage
[Chorus]
Jesus saves
Jesus saves
Jesus started changin'
Things got really strange
He saw his tee shirts everywhere
Started missing shows
The band came down to blows
But Jesus He no longer cared
Things got out of hand
And so he quit the band
But still the critics they would rave
Jesus saves
Jesus saves
Her him cut through the night
On your late night radio waves
So the dice were cast
Today became the past
And Jesus He just disappeared
Headed for New York
Or so his label thought
And there he gave away the years
Last seen drinking wine
Beneath a flashing sign
Promising salvation to strays
Jesus saves
Jesus saves
Her Him cut through the night
On your late night radio waves
09 St. Patrick's (04:29)
Hey there Lord it's me
I wondered if you're free
Or not asleep
This just won't keep
It seems I just don't see
Why all the things we asked
Or prayed would come to pass
Have gone unheard
Like silent words
That slip into the past
'Cause Lord they're not schemes
Can't you tell dreams
Why do you let them slip by
Never even tried
It isn't you don't hear
There's far too many tears
Or can't you feel
Are we unreal
To one who knows no peers
You say we must pay dues
But still I am confused
I need to walk
And with you talk
Instead of to statues
'Cause Lord they're not schemes
Can't you tell dreams
Why do you let them slip by
Never even tried
'Cause you take all the fame
But who'll accept the blame
For all the hurt
Down here on earth
Unnecessary pain
Surely you must care
Or are you only air
Built in our minds
When we're in binds
Never really there
Can we be tired of you
Is that something we're allowed to do
For even the blind change their views
And it's time we tried something new
So I've pled my case
I'll now pull my escape
Didn't mean to doubt
What it's all about
Seems I forgot my place
But if you find the time
Please change the story line
Or give a call
Explain it all
I'll even leave the dime
10 Can You Hear Me Now (05:11)
=======================
If I closed my eyes
Would it all subside
To an echo in the night
Of a distant fading light
Then a stranger's silhouette
A burning cigarette
And somewhere in the haze
A passage through the maze
And can you hear me now
Or are there just too many doors
Between then and now
For me to ever reach on through
And pull you back somehow
But that can't happen anymore
Still still in the night
I think I hear you calling
I have walked this stage
As the music played
They knew every word
But they never heard
For they never changed
It's all very strange
As I'm standing here
Contemplating years
And can you hear me now
Or are there just too many doors
Between then and now
For me to ever reach on through
And pull you back somehow
But that don't happen anymore
Still in the dark
I'd swear I hear you calling
12 Ghost In The Ruins (05:31)
Got a limousine
I wanna show it
Future's looking good
I'll probably blow it
Had some parents once
But you'd never know it
Bank roll oversize
So what if I stole it
But who am I foolin'
I'm the king of the ruins
But I'm doin' well tonight
Got dreams to sell tonight
Got to belong
Try to hang on
Got to belong
Ghost in the ruins
I'm runnin' the street scene
Ghost in the ruins
Burnin' like gasoline
Ghost in the ruins
I'm takin' you in deep
Ghost in the ruins
East Side West Side playin' for keeps
See the runaway there on the corner
Just a throwaway but somebody's daughter
Had a pretty face so somebody bought her
Sellin' her soul away so put in your order
She knows what she's doin'
She's a ghost in the ruins
She's doin' it well tonight
She got dreams to sell tonight
She wants to belong
She knows what to do
She's got to hang on
Ghost in the ruins
I'm runnin' the street scene
Ghost in the ruins
Burnin' like gasoline
Ghost in the ruins
I'm takin' you in deep
Ghost in the ruins
East Side West Side
Playin' for keeps
Playin' for keeps
Yeah, yeah
Wants to belong
Knows what to do
You got to hang on
Ghost in the ruins
I'm runnin' the street scene
Ghost in the ruins
Burnin' like gasoline
Ghost in the ruins
I'm takin' you in deep
Ghost in the ruins
East Side West Side
Playin' for keeps
You know
I don't know anymore
I know
I know that you know
I know
I know that you know
I know
I know that you know
I don't know anymore
I know
I know that you know
I know
I know that you know
I know
I know that you know
I don't know anymore
I'm tellin' you
I don't know anymore
No, no
I don't know anymore
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