Streets: A Rock Opera (often simply shortened to Streets) is the sixth studio album by the American heavy metal band Savatage and is a rock opera dealing with the rise and fall of the fictional musician DT Jesus. It was originally released in October 1991 on Atlantic Records. The album took almost a year to record, with pre-production beginning in October 1990. It was also Jon Oliva's last album as lead vocalist until 1995's Dead Winter Dead and 1997's The Wake of Magellan, where he shared lead vocal duties with Zak Stevens (singing lead on two songs from each album). He resumed lead vocal duties exclusively on 2001's Poets and Madmen.
Story and concept
The story features a fallen rock star called DT Jesus (DT is short for either De-Tox or Down-Town), who has hit hard times. He is a drug dealer as the story begins and just another lowlife on the streets of New York City. Streets recounts the story behind DT Jesus and his rise to fame again and his second fall.
The concept of Streets is based on a book written by Paul O'Neill in 1979 as a Broadway play and stored in a drawer at O'Neill's home until guitarist Criss Oliva found it and suggested it be Savatage's next album. It was never meant to be an autobiography and it is considered coincidental that the life of lead vocalist Jon Oliva mirrored that of the main character DT Jesus at the time.
Production
Savatage had thought about writing a rock opera after their successful collaboration with O'Neill in recording Hall of the Mountain King. During the recording of its follow-up in 1989, Criss Oliva found a play and accompanying music written by O'Neill, which the band intended to use on their album. Soon after, however, the band felt they were not ready yet, and postponed the idea for their next record.
After the tour supporting Gutter Ballet however, rhythm guitarist Chris Caffery left Savatage on friendly terms to rejoin his brother's band, where he could play lead guitar instead of rhythm guitar.
The band recorded a music video for the song "Jesus Saves" which received some airplay on MTV. It featured long-time Savatage cover artist Gary Smith playing the role of DT Jesus.
| rev2 =Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal
| rev2Score = 7/10
|rev3 = Metal Hammer (GER)
|rev3score = 7/7
| rev4 = Rock Hard
| rev4score = 9.5/10
In 2005, Streets: A Rock Opera was ranked number 310 in Rock Hard magazine's book The 500 Greatest Rock & Metal Albums of All Time.
Track listings
All music composed by Paul O'Neill, Jon Oliva and Criss Oliva. All lyrics written by Paul O'Neill and Jon Oliva, based on a book written by Paul O'Neill.
Personnel
;Savatage
- Jon Oliva – vocals, piano, keyboard, drums on "Jesus Saves" and "Can You Hear me Now"
- Criss Oliva – guitar, backing vocals, bass on "Jesus Saves" and "Can You Hear me Now"
- Johnny Lee Middleton – bass, backing vocals
- Steve "Doc" Wacholz – drums
;Additional musicians
- Robert Kinkel – keyboards, Children's Choir conductor
- Children's Choir – intro (Mozart's Magic Flute) and background vocals on "Streets"
- Elena Doria – Children's Choir director
- Abi Reid – female background vocals
- John Zahner – keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals <small>(touring member)</small>
;Production
- Paul O'Neill – producer
- John Kayne, James A. Ball – engineers
- Scott Burns, Judd Packer, Noah Baron, Tim Hatfield – additional engineering
- Joe Daley, Scott Pizzo, J'Kael Trstram, Jay DeVito – assistant engineers
- Greg Calbi – mastering at Sterling Sound, New York
- Chris Fountain, Kurt Johnson – technical assistants
- Bob Defrin – cover design
- Tory Chartier – cover development
- William Hames – photography
- Gary Smith – back cover illustration
Charts
{| class="wikitable"
|-
!Year
!Chart
!Position
|-
|align="center" |1991
|align="center"|Billboard Heatseekers Albums (US)
|align="center"|31
|}
{| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center"
|+ 2022 chart performance for "Streets: A Rock Opera"
! scope="col"| Chart (2022)
! scope="col"| Peak<br />position
|-
|}