Nostalgia

This is a review I wrote back in June 2001 in some site. It's a little histrionic in tone, and although my musical horizons have diversified since, it does reflect the honest enthusiasm this recording instilled in me. And no, a link won't do.



In every musical genre there’s an album that’s so unique, emotional and sincere, that no context can possibly make it justice. That kind of album that comes out of nowhere and that, as soon as you get it, makes you want to fall down to your knees and thank the heavens. The kind of album that makes you cry with joy, laugh in despair, and shake your head in disbelief. The kind of album that makes you write praises like these.

There’s only four albums that have had this effect on me: The Cure’s Disintegration, Cowboy Junkies’ The Trinity Session, Faith No More Angel Dust and Streets by Savatage. Four very different bands whose previous releases, albeit solid, never hinted the kind of potential that was furiously unleashed in the aforementioned recordings. And yet, out of the four, Streets is the one to take with you to the desert island.

I won't take time detailing the concept of Streets (the rise and fall of a musician), not only because it seems so mundane, but also because it is absolutely secondary to what makes this album what it is. The musicianship also, if well above average, can't be the reason to buy it. The sheer force of the compositions, the ridiculous beauty of the lyrics, and above all, the crude, heartbreaking emotion that runs through it its what will tear you down.

The album begins in a rather solid, calculated manner, with the opening track, Streets, setting the context of the story. From then on, the album moves back and forth from a controlled third person narrative (Strange Reality, Ghost in the Ruins), to a much more personal approach (Tonight He Grins Again, A Little Too Far, St. Patrick), where the story ceases to matter. Is as if watching a man on the edge, trying harder and harder not to break down, until he just lets go. The tracks that close Streets are to be listened, not explained.

Many have said that this is the perfect introduction to the music of Savatage, and I can't agree with that, since it will then generate expectations that are impossible to be met. Savatage is a fantastic band, maybe the best in its genre, but Streets is such a vital, visceral experience, that there can't possibly be a second part to it.