𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐌 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐂𝐑𝐘𝐏𝐓𝐒 - 𝐂𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐁𝐑𝐀𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐀𝐒𝐓 𝐀𝐋𝐁𝐔𝐌 𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄𝐒 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐈𝐒𝐓𝐎𝐑𝐘 𝐨𝐟 𝐇𝐀𝐑𝐃 𝐑𝐎𝐂𝐊 & 𝐇𝐄𝐀𝐕𝐘 𝐌𝐄𝐓𝐀𝐋…
On December 1, 1989, Savatage released their fifth full-length studio album Gutter Ballet via Atlantic Records.
This was the second album created under the direction of producer Paul O'Neill.
(Paul O'Neill)
Background:
Gutter Ballet was a true turning point for the band, as their sound transitioned from Heavy Metal to experiment with a more progressive sound, writing longer songs with more complex melodies and differing vocal styles, rather than the more straightforward Power Metal style that was apparent in earlier works. These changes were reflected in songs such as When the Crowds Are Gone and Gutter Ballet. During the final recording sessions while Criss Oliva (R.I.P.) was tracking guitar solos, Paul O'Neill gave Jon Oliva tickets to see Andrew Lloyd Webber's musical The Phantom of the Opera on Broadway. Jon was so inspired that immediately following the performance, he went back to the studio and wrote the music for the song Gutter Ballet.
Gutter Ballet is not a concept album, but the final three songs (Mentally Yours, Summer's Rain, Thorazine Shuffle) are a conceptual suite dealing with a single character as revealed by the band in interviews. The original title for the record was Temptation Revelation, but this was changed to Hounds of Zaroff which was a Steve Wacholz suggestion.
As late as May 1989, the eventual title track of the album had not been written and the band was having doubts surrounding the album title. The title Gutter Ballet finally came from that of a play producer Paul O'Neill had written ten years earlier and which would later make-up the majority of the band's next work, Streets. The song Gutter Ballet was written with just O'Neill, Jon and Criss Oliva in the studio.
Jon's drumming skill was competent enough to perform on the track and he also provided the bass guitar duties for the track. Had the band originally stuck with the story set-out in Paul O'Neill's original 1979 story, the song When the Crowds Are Gone would have followed Streets track A Little Too Far.
On the original cassette and CD releases, Thorazine Shuffle was a bonus track.
Two videos from the album entered rotation on MTV, Gutter Ballet (filmed at the beginning of 1990 in New York) and When the Crowds Are Gone. The former track became a staple of HeadBangers Ball and as a result, both Jon Oliva and Chris Caffery were invited to join host Riki Rachtman for an interview in 1990.
Headbangers Ball interview: https://youtu.be/zKWSFzeCnEU
Gutter Ballet music video: https://youtu.be/Ubmft9_LeE8
When the Crowds Are Gone music video: https://youtu.be/mv82_BvKjw0
Many additional songs already written, before the decision of the change of style, were unused and subsequently published as bonus tracks on the Sirens and The Dungeons Are Calling 2002 Silver reissues, some of them were also re-worked and published by Jon Oliva's Pain. Some titles were Before I Hang, Metal Head, Target, Livin' On The Edge Of Time, Stranger In The Dark and Rap.
Rage & War/Gutter Ballet World Tour:
The album was once again supported by a grueling tour, which took place in much of 1990, touring North America with Testament and Nuclear Assault, and Europe with King Diamond and Candlemass. They also toured the US with Trouble.
Chris Caffery, who had been playing with Savatage on the previous tour performing rhythm guitar and keyboards offstage, officially joined the band in 1989.
He never played on the Gutter Ballet album, even though he was credited with guitars and keyboards and was pictured in the album's booklet "both to prepare the fans for the line-up they'd see on tour and confirm his permanent member status". Despite this, Caffery left the band after the Gutter Ballet tour for personal reasons, but kept writing music with Jon Oliva and would later return to Savatage during the second half of the 1990s.
Paul O'Neill was planning a theatrical release under the Trans-Siberian Orchestra name, titled Gutter Ballet, including Savatage's music from this album and from Streets: A Rock Opera.
Critical Reception:
In a review for AllMusic, Geoff Orens wrote;
”Gutter Ballet marked the transition between earlier, straightforward, fantasy-themed metal and the more progressive direction the band took in the 1990s. Co-writing all their new material with producer Paul O' Neill, the songwriting on Gutter Ballet is leaps and bounds ahead of almost anything the group had recorded before. The arrangements are more complex, with the band finding new depths within O'Neill's productions. On Gutter Ballet and When the Crowds Are Gone, the addition of piano accentuates the songs' mournful sound. Both these pieces and Summer's Rain are light years away from Sirens or Dungeons Are Calling, featuring slower tempos, soaring guitars, and sophisticated, sensitive lyrics delivered touchingly by Jon Oliva. Criss Oliva's guitar playing has improved, as well, and his beautiful, acoustic instrumental, Silk and Steel, is a highlight on the album. Despite the change in focus, the band did not give up their edge, but several of the rockers show a newfound maturity in subject matter. Rage and War, Mentally Yours, and Thorazine Shuffle all tackle serious topics with tight, dynamic playing. While there is some material here that is a throwback to earlier days -- She's in Love is a sexually charged rocker while The Unholy and Hounds feature dark fantasy lyrics -- thanks to interesting tempo changes and more complex production, the tracks sound more epic in scope than most of the group's previous work.”
In Remembrance:
Note: The reviews shared here are for historical reference. The views and opinions expressed within are not always supported (in full or in part) by Into the Wells. — E.N. Wells
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