Savatage "Gutter Ballet (2011, CD, earMUSIC, Digipak, Remastered)"

Gutter Ballet is the fifth full-length album produced by the American progressive metal band Savatage. This was the second album created under the direction of producer Paul O'Neill and was initially released in December 1, 1989.

This album was a true turning point for the band, as the sound transitioned from a heavy metal to experiment with a more progressive sound, which is reflected in songs such as "When the Crowds Are Gone" and "Gutter Ballet". During the final recording sessions while Criss was tracking guitar solos, Paul O'Neil 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 title track. 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.

Many additional songs already written, before the decision of the change of style, were unused and subsequently published as bonus tracks, in 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".

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.

Track listing

All tracks are written by Criss Oliva, Jon Oliva and Paul O'Neill, except "Silk and Steel" by C. Oliva and Paul Silver.

1. "Of Rage and War" 4:47
2. "Gutter Ballet" 6:20
3. "Temptation Revelation" (instrumental) 2:56
4. "When the Crowds Are Gone" 5:45
5. "Silk and Steel" (instrumental) 2:56
6. "She's in Love" 3:51
7. "Hounds" 6:27
8. "The Unholy" 4:37
9. "Mentally Yours" 5:19
10. "Summer's Rain" 4:33
11. "Thorazine Shuffle" 4:43
12. "Alone You Breathe (Acoustic Version)"  4:38   
13. "Handful of Rain (Acoustic Version)"  5:31  

Time:   01:02:14  

Includes a 12 page booklet with liner notes, pictures and lyrics for all the songs except the bonus tracks.

Music videos were made for Gutter Ballet and When the Crowds Are Gone.

The band had originally recorded demos of a different bunch of songs for this album, but most were scrapped. From those that weren't, "The Gates of Hell" was retitled as "The Unholy", and "Thorazine Shuffle" was used as a bonus track on the original CD.

The remaining songs remained unreleased for about a decade, until they appeared as bonus tracks on reissues of "Sirens" and "The Dungeons are Calling".

Chris Caffery was credited with guitars and keyboards and is 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", but did not participate in the recording.

Though uncredited, Jon Oliva plays drums on some of the album tracks, and Criss Oliva plays bass on the same tracks.

Recording information:

Recorded and mixed at Record Planet Studios, NYC Feb.-July '89.

Paul O'Neill – producer, arrangements with Savatage

James A. Ball, Joe Henahan – engineers

Teddy Trewalla, Deek Venarchick, Jay DeVito, Dave Parla – assistant engineers

Dan Campbell – studio technician

Jack Skinner – mastering at EuropaDisc, New York

Gary Smith – cover art

Dennis Osborne – photography