STREETS - A ROCK OPERA

For an album of sixteen tracks, you would think there would be at least one song that really stands out, and could be called a really great song. Especially in the case of a highly acclaimed and influential band like Savatage, on one of their most popular albums. While people might think of this as a high and mighty album, I personally cannot find a reason why this album would be a masterpiece in the slightest.

What attracted me to this in the first place was the fact that it's a rock opera. Rock/Metal operas in the past I've listened to include the works of Ayreon, Avantasia's 'Metal Opera Pt I & II,' and Dream Theater's 'Scenes From A Memory' among many, many others. For the most part, I've found them very enjoyable, and the addition of a storyline to the music to bind it together is always a plus in my books...

But what we have here is an album that sounds like a more hard-rock oriented version of Journey at their most commercial and mainstream. While Savatage is a band that certainly has used progressive elements in their music, theres nothing to be seen here that makes me think 'wow, that was creative and original!' The storyline is sort of lame and feels like a happy and bouncy version of 'Operation: Mindcrime' (by Queensryche) minus the complex, psychological factors.

It's not braindead by any stretch of the imagination, and I'm sorry I can't agree with everyone else and say this is some magnificent masterpiece, because it honestly isn't. There's alot better for Savatage, and there's certainly alot better for progressive metal in general.

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