Per chi non conoscesse i SAVATAGE questa è una buona occasione per cominciare a farlo.
Metal band della Florida fondata nei primissimi anni 80 dai fratelli Oliva, Jon e il compianto Criss, ma la storia si può trovare ovunque.
L'album è, a detta di molti, il più bello da loro mai pubblicato, o almeno quello che meglio li identifica. Batteria potente, basso incisivo, chitarre semplici ma armoniose e poi l'accoppiata stupefacente piano/voce dell'immenso Jon Oliva.
Streets è un concept-album che narra la storia di un immaginario chitarrista che passò dalla strada, dove smerciava droga, al successo grazie al suo talento con la 6 corde, per poi crollare nuovamente nel nulla. Proprio per la sua attività di spacciatore veniva definito "Il Messia della Avenue D" e chiamato DownTownJesus (letteralmente Gesù dei bassifondi).
Ascoltiamo l'album: la title-track apre le danze, e ci porta nelle strade di New York, dove DTJesus vive, e ci racconta il suo stato d'animo pieno di rimpianti e pentimenti. Jesus Saves ci spiega il personaggio, racconta la sua storia, è un pezzo ormai diventato un classico della band, altra pietra miliare di Jon Oliva. Tonight He Grins Again ci fa finalmente assagiare lo spettacolare piano di Jon, e Strange Reality ci propone i dubbi del protagonista che si ritrova in un mondo, quello dell'alcool e della droga, che non gli appartiene.
A Little Too Far è l'essenza della creatività di Jon Oliva: un pezzo di soli piano e voce da far rabbrividire, con la voce, la sua, tanto dura quanto dolce. Spettacolare.
You're Alive è un breve brano che racconta il ritorno sulle scene di DTJesus, e apre a Sammy and Tex, un pezzo potentissimo e di incredibile velocità, dove si capisce perchè questi di, gli Oliva, erano fratelli non solo di sangue ma anche di creatività... la potenza della voce di Jon è quasi pari a quella della chitarra di Criss. St.Partrik's non è altro che una serie di domande che il protagonista fa a Dio, e dove il Piano la fa sempre da padrone. Can You Hear Me Now è di Criss, un pezzo dove il compianto chitarrista esprime tutto se stesso e toglie ogni dubbio sul suo talento.
New York City Don't Mean Nothing è l'ennesimo pezzo targato Jon Oliva, assoluto protagonista, che ci spiega come la grande City e il suo lusso non valgano come pensava. Ghost In The Ruins è un brano intermedio, condito però da un bell'assolo di chitarra accompagnata da un basso consistente. If I Go Away, con l'immancabile piano di Jon, è un pezzo strappa lacrime, dove DTJesus ricorda il suo ultimo amore, e si chiede cosa le rimarrebbe se lui se ne andasse, pur non avendo risposta.
Agony and Ecstasy è l'ultimo brano potente dell'album, e parla di come DT ormai sia tentato di tornare nel mondo sporco. Heal My Soul è un'altra poesia di Jon, e mostra la compassione del protagonista. Somewhere in Time è il penultimo brano, biglietto da visita della band che ci mostra tutte le sue qualità melodiche in fatto di potenza e orchestralità, ma è solo il preludio alla canzone simbolo dei Savatage... arriva Believe... un brano tanto banale (tecnicamente parlando) quanto struggente per rabbia, dolcezza, significato e melodia, un brano destinato ad entrare nel cuore di tanti, con un testo perfetto che se tradotto nella nostra lingua quasi lo si può cantare perfettamente... Believe è unica, non può lasciare indifferenti, e, piccola nota di cronaca che mi prendo la libertà di fare, è la canzone della mia vita...
I'll be right there
I'll never leave
All I ask of you Is Believe
Elenco tracce testi e video
01 Streets (06:48)
==========
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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