Gutter Ballet
| Gutter Ballet | ||||
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| Studio album by Savatage | ||||
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Publication |
1989 |
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| Label (s) |
Atlantic Records WEA Records (D) |
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Format (s) |
CD, LP, MC |
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Title (number) |
10 |
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running time |
52 min 25 s |
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| occupation |
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Gutter Ballet is a music album released in 1989 by the band Savatage .
It is the band's fifth album and marks a change in style from simpler songs in the early stages to more complex arrangements and a stronger emphasis on balladic moments.
Origin and background
After singer and composer Jon Oliva visited the musical Phantom of the Opera with producer Paul O''Neill in 1988 , Oliva decided to bring about a stylistic change. For the first time, O'Neill worked as a songwriter on the album.
The recordings took place from February to July 1989 in the 321 studios and the Record Plant studios in New York . Additional keyboards were played during the recordings by Bob Kinkel , who would later play a leading role in the side project Trans-Siberian Orchestra . The cover artwork is by Gary Smith. Initially, the album title Temptation Revelation was planned. At the suggestion of drummer Steve Wacholz, the name Hounds of Zaroff was planned, but was later discarded.
The title song, which did not yet exist at the time when the name was planned, was basically a ten-year-old composition that was originally intended for a musical composed by O'Neill. The musical concept later became the follow-up album Streets - A Rock Opera ; the song itself was recorded in the studio by the Oliva brothers and O'Neill alone; Jon Oliva used the keyboard instruments as well as the drums and bass.
The album was released on December 1, 1989 and reached number 124 on the Billboard charts . Later, the songs Gutter Ballet and When the Crowds Are Gone were decoupled as singles , but did not reach the charts. Music videos were also made for both songs .
A curiosity is the mention of Chris Caffery as a band member in the booklet; he had accompanied the band on the tour of the previous album Hall of the Mountain King and played rhythm guitar on stage, but had left the band after the tour and was not involved in the recordings. Subsequently, Caffery also took part in the tour of Gutter Ballet , but left the band again after the end of the concert tour and did not return until 1995.
Track list
- Of Rage and War - 4:47
- Gutter Ballet - 6:20
- Temptation Revelation (Instrumental) - 2:56
- When the Crowds Are Gone - 5:45
- Silk and Steel (Instrumental) - 2:56
- She's in Love - 3:51
- Hounds - 6:27
- The Unholy - 4:37
- Mentally Yours - 5:19
- Summer's Rain - 4:33
- Thorazine Shuffle - 4:43
All songs were composed and written by Jon Oliva, Criss Oliva and Paul O'Neill; the only exception is Silk and Steel , written by Criss Oliva and Paul Silver.
Thorazine Shuffle was not included on the LP version. A new edition of edel music from 1997 contained as a bonus track a version of the song All That I Bleed (from the album Edge of Thorns ) accompanied only on the piano . Another remake that SPV released in 2002 included live recordings of Hounds and When the Crowds are gone .
Meaning of the songs
- Of Rage and War is a politically engaged song; it addresses the fixation of decision-makers on nuclear weapons and the simultaneous inability to solve social and cultural problems.
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Gutter Ballet and When The Crowds Are Gone were among O'Neill's original Streets concept, also the lines of text "I never wanted to know / Never wanted to see / I wasted my time / Till time wasted me" why in the final song Believe on the Streets album. Musically characteristic of both songs is the first-time use of the classical concert grand .
Lyrically, Gutter Ballet deals with an everyday street scene in a big city, while When the Crowds Are Gone describes the fear of an artist, especially a rock musician, about the end of his career. - Temptation Revelation and Silk and Steel are instrumental pieces, the former being carried by electric guitar, piano and keyboard orchestration, while the latter is only played on an acoustic guitar. The subtitle 12/17/1988 by Silk and Steel , printed on the CD but not in the booklet and on the record sleeve, is the date of birth of Paul O'Neill's niece.
- She's in Love sarcastically depicts the love life of a woman who is exclusively sexual.
- Hounds and The Unholy have fantasy and horror texts, respectively.
- According to the band, Mentally Yours , Summer's Rain and the original CD bonus track Thorazine Shuffle form a trilogy that tells of the life of a boy named Timmy. Timmy had a difficult childhood full of conflicts between his parents and ran away from home with his girlfriend. But even there he doesn't get along and hits his girlfriend so that she finally leaves him. In addition, his madness and sadism manifested in the fact that he doused a cat with gasoline and set fire to it. In the end, Timmy is admitted to a mental hospital, where he develops hallucinations under the influence of the drug Thorazine , but is ultimately not cured. The song also reflects the own experiences of Jon Oliva, who had been in a rehab clinic in the summer of 1988 before the start of the recording.
reception
The album was very positively received by fans and the international trade press. For example, the German magazine Rock Hard gave the editor Götz Kühnemund the highest rating of 10 points. In 2001, the editorial team of the magazine selected the album as part of the Top 300 series - the strongest records of all time - as the highest-placed work of the band at number 37 out of 300. It was commented that the band had entered the "Metal- Olymp ”and Gutter Ballet was the ticket to get there.
The album's influence on the band's history is also unanimously asserted. Jochen Lohr from the progressive rock database Babyblaue Seiten summarizes in his review that the title song is “a piece that basically defines the symphonic metal style of the band.” The reviewer Charles McLachlan from the Webzine Metal Observer also comes to his Contributed to the album to the conclusion that "Gutter Ballet" became what many describe as their defining song.
Web links and sources
- ↑ a b FAQ on the band's homepage
- ↑ Review in Rock Hard , accessed November 13, 2007
- ↑ Rock Hard No. 176, October 2001
- ↑ Jochen Lohr: Review at Babyblauen Seiten , accessed on November 13, 2007
- ^ Charles McLachlan, Metal Observer Review , accessed November 13, 2007