This is the first concept album of this American band ("Dead Winter Dead" and "The Wake Of Magellan" are the others). You might say this album is autobiographical for the singer Jon Oliva. It's about the life of a rockstar crawling from the gutter to the stage (the perfect title for Savatage's compilation album). Typical for the music of this band is the contrast between heavy, pompous guitar riffing and emotional piano parts. On this album the lead vocals are completely taken care of by Jon Oliva, later albums feature another lead singer in the band, Zachery Stevens, who switches leads with Jon. Also important to mention: Criss Oliva, Jon's brother, plays all (electric and acoustic) guitars. A few years later this very talented and sympathetic guitar player was killed in a car accident caused by a drunk driver. A great loss for the band and the fans. But this album was made with this horrible accident still lying in the future. Great band, great album!