STREETS: A ROCK OPERA

From : Metal Matters
contributed by: Bryan Holland
HTML by: Ellen Bakvis

Savatage left an incredible mark in the pages of Rock History when GUTTER BALLET became 1989's #1 Metal Album Of The Year. This time around, the Floridian natives set out to eclipse the success of GUTTER with their most aggressive project to date, STREETS: A ROCK OPERA. As you could probably imagine, putting together a rock opera is no small feat. After spending seven months in a New York City studio shaping this mammoth project, guitarist Criss Oliva and bassist Johnny Lee Middleton emerged to eat some peanut butter M&M's and talk to METAL MATTERS about STREETS: A ROCK OPERA.

METAL MATTERS: Well, I suppose the first question on everyone's mind is why did you decide to record a rock opera?
Johnny Lee Middleton: Well, at the end of the GUTTER sessions we were talking about what we should do next and our producer Paul O'Neill suggested doing a rock opera.
Criss Oliva: We decided to do it because it was a challenge!!
JLM: In the traditional sense of a rock opera, no one had recorded one in the past fifteen years. Queensryche had a really successful concept album in OPERATION MINDCRIME, but a rock opera is slightly different.

MM: Wasn't a portion of STREETS: A ROCK OPERA written before the release of GUTTER BALLET ?
CO: Paul had the basic idea or storyline for STREETS years ago. Paul wrote the whole thing and he was looking for a band that he felt could actually pull it off.

MM: But didn't you end up using some of the material that was intended for STREETS on the GUTTER BALLET album?
CO: Yeah, WHEN THE CROWDS ARE GONE was part of this whole rock opera idea. Actually, GUTTER BALLET was supposed to be a rock opera, but we just didn't have the time.
JLM: We weren't prepared to do the full blown rock opera thing for GUTTER. We didn't have the time to put a project of that magnitude together. So,we waited until we had the time to get it right.

MM: What is STREETS all about?
CO: Basically, it's about a person who screws up in life and wants a second chance, and gets it.
JLM: It's about a guy who starts with nothing and becomes famous and powerful. He then runs into some bad friends from his past and the bad influences take over his life again and destroy it. But, he picks himself off the ground and he comes back to do it all again.
CO: I think this record is something everybody can relate to. I mean, I know that I've screwed up in the past and snapped out of it. I came back high and mighty!! (Laughter)
JLM: It's about every day decision making like crime, drugs, and trying to survive in the world we live in today. I think most people can relate to it.
CO: We wanted to do this project in such a way that people could relate to it, and understand it pretty easily. Some of the concept albums that have been done take a while to sink in, whereas, I think STREETS is pretty easy to comprehend from the very first time you hear it.

MM: How instrumental was Paul in the shaping of the project?
JLM: The whole opera was Paul's story, so he fed it to us and left it up to us to come up with the music.
CO: Paul had a lot of musical and lyrical ideas and he knows how to get the best out of us. He pushes us to our limit and gets things out of us we didn't even know we had!! (Laughter) I think Paul is a genius.

MM: How long did it take you to put STREETS together?
CO: We've been tossing around song ideas since the completion of GUTTER, but the bulk of the songwriting was done after our last tour. It took a full seven months in the studio to complete the project.
JLM: Recording here in New York gave us the whole vibe of the album. The story takes place here in the streets of New York so it was pretty weird.
CO: Somehow I don't think te album would have been the same if we were sitting home in Florida under a palm tree singing about the streets of New York. (Laughter) We were sort of living the story as we were putting it down on tape.

MM: SAVATAGE has been around for over eleven years now. How do you think your legion of fans will react to STREETS?
CO: Our fans have grown right along with us.If you've been to a SAVATAGE show, our fans are so into it they're like...like...SAVATAGES!! (Laughter) Every record we have done, you see the same kids come out to the shows and they have evolved with us. I think STREETS will win us over some new fans. Some people may not be into it, but I think our fans will love STREETS.
JLM: I think the music is more diverse than ever before. It's a record that covers the spectrum of musical styles; from piano ballads to heavy, guitar-laden rock tunes. We used horns, a cello, a children's choir, you know, to capture the emotions of the story. This isn't the same old chord progressions rehashed to death. We set out to do something different and I think we achieved our goal.

MM: Do you think STREETS will win over a new SAVATAGE audience?
JLM: Yeah, I think it will definitely broaden our fan base. There are songs like 'SOMEWHERE IN TIME' or 'A LITTLE TOO FAR' that could be played on adult contemporary radio. And songs like 'JESUS SAVES' and 'AGONY AND ECSTACY' are among the heaviest songs SAVATAGE has ever recorded.

MM: Did the departure of Chris Caffery change the way you approached the recording of STREETS?
JLM: Well, Chris never recorded anything with us, so there was never the feeling that someone was missing. Chris toured with us last time around and he is still a great friend, but his absence didn't really affect the recording of STREETS.
CO: We still love Chris!!

MM: With the big sound of the past two records will you need additional musicians out on the road with you?
CO: We are in the process of auditioning a keyboard/guitar player to play some of the fills live.
JLM: We would rather bring someone in to play rather than rely on samples and some of the crap other bands are using these days.
CO: There are more harmonies and backing vocals on this record, so I think it will help Jon (Oliva) to have an extra voice for backing vocals and to play some of the orchestral parts on keyboards.

MM: As of now, what are your tour plans?
CO: Well, in the middle of October we will begin a European tour with Alice Cooper.
JLM: There are a bunch of Alice Cooper dates and then we are going to do a bunch of headline dates. We have a great draw over there so we are psyched to play to the European crowd again. We'll be going to France, Denmark, Belgium, Germany and Sweden. It should take about 6 or 8 weeks!
CO: We'll probably come back right before the holidays and play some east coast dates, take the holidays off and launch an all out stateside tour sometime in January.

MM: Thanks guys, we'll see you on the streets!!!