Saga ~ Canada ~ Toronto, Ontario

Silent Knight (1980)

Saga's third album demonstrates the gradual maturity of the band. The songwriting continues to improve and the playing is crisp and tight. The melodies tend to stick longer but they never let go of their progressive rock tendencies. 'Don't Be Late' was one of the group's signature tracks. This was to be Jim Gilmour's debut with Saga, and his keyboards were the final piece of the puzzle. Silent Knight didn't break Saga but their exposure continued to grow, playing live with other Canadian notables. Their next album World's Apart broke them out globally and they were to be one of the defining rock acts of the early 80s.

Ownership: 1980 Maze (LP). Lyric inner bag. 

1992 (first acquired); 6/28/24 (review)

Behaviour (1985)

By the time Behaviour was released I was an entrenched Saga fan. World's Apart and especially Heads or Tales were (and remain) very important albums in my collection. As mentioned many times here already, 1985 was a pivotal year for my musical development, and I consider it the time I began my deep dive into progressive rock. So when I saw the new Saga at the record store, I looked at it closely, and said no way. It just didn't feel right. 38 years later, I grabbed one for a buck at the Austin Record show to see if I had made a mistake all those years ago. Nope - it ended up sounding exactly what I thought it might sound like. My instincts proved correct. The production is completely overdone and Gilmour's keyboard tones are awful. And Negus sounds like he's drumming echoed pillows. Only Michael Sadler sounds the same, bringing his unique vocal style to what sounds like an Atari soundtrack. I found myself enjoying Side 2 more than the first - perhaps the shock factor had worn off by then. These guys could still write decent tunes even at this point, so it's a good album overall. Not enough to keep. And while I can be apologetic about it today, 38 years ago I would have abhorred it.

Source: 1985 Portrait (LP)

6/17/23 (review)

Saga (1978)

When I started crate digging again in earnest four years ago, I had my sights set on obtaining the first three Saga albums. Like just about everyone else, I discovered Saga on Worlds Apart. I tell that story on that entry, and I was a senior in high school when they broke big. That album along with the even better Heads or Tales sold gobs of copy, and are found in just about every record store. But the first three - similar to Styx in that way - sold enough to stay alive but weren't blockbusters. So they're far more elusive in the wilds (though not expensive if mail ordering).

Parallel to this is the music appreciation of these albums. I had been told - and I think many experienced this as well - that Saga started as a prog band. That they weren't near as commercial as they were to become. Well hot damn! I already really enjoyed Worlds Apart (more now than back then), so these must be magnificent. Ehh... no. Not no in that they aren't very good, but no in that they aren't any different. Which is the great storyline here. For 1978, Saga was predicting the future of music by at least four years. This isn't the Midwest pomp of Styx or Kansas, but rather the global AOR / MTV sound of 1982. Way ahead of their time, Saga were already using punchy guitar lines and synthesizers crammed into compact radio friendly tunes. And they were always good at adding a touch of sophistication to their compositions, going far beyond pandering to the masses. Which is their secret sauce and makes them so endearing all these years later. There's even a dash of Gentle Giant especially when you consider the counterpoint vocal lines. The verdict? This is exactly what I'd hoped to hear. When I first heard them in the late 80s I was mightily disappointed, mainly due to the poor expectation setting. Had I known that these early albums were very similar, I probably would have passed back then. But now I hear it as one more great album in their repertoire. 

Ownership: 1978 Polydor (LP). Lyric inner. 

3/25/23 (review)

Worlds Apart (1981)

Worlds Apart was my introduction to Saga, and I'd guess it was many American's first exposure to this fine band. I have so many fond memories of this album. I would go so far as to say that it defines the fall of 1982 for me, the first semester of my senior year in high school. Saga perfectly captured the era in which it lived. It's punchy and catchy, and the production and sound textures are early 80s all the way. Meanwhile they added just enough prog to keep it interesting for deep dive listeners like myself. I dubbed my LP copy onto cassette and used to play it in the car all the time - turned on many friends to Saga back in those days. I wonder if they remember that as well? Seriously doubt it. To reminisce on the car driving aspect, I listened to the CD around town while running errands. Good times. 

Ownership: 1981 Maze (LP); Portrait (CD)

9//82; 7/14/14; 2/12/22 (review)

House of Cards (2001)

Saga is one of those time-and-place bands for me. I'm not sure they would have registered at all had they not been part of a great time of my life. Worlds Apart is one of many albums that represents my senior year in high school. And Heads or Tales does the same for my freshmen year in college. Instincts told me to avoid Behaviour when it came around (1985), and it appears that was the right move (ed: confirmed in 2023). And that was it for me and Saga. A few years ago, I bought a CD collection that included Full Circle (1999). It was pretty good, but it didn't have the magic. It was still in the sell bin (gone now), and I thought to myself I should hear it one more time. Nope. It's just not there for me. For whatever reason I decided to pull for House of Cards anyway, since I saw it going for cheap. It's only two years later, how much better can it be? A lot. This is the Saga I know and love. They really recaptured the magic of 1981 to 1984. Maybe not every song is great as it was in the past, but mostly it has that staccato guitar, cheap synthesizer sound, and excellent melodies thing going on. And Michael Sadler sounds exactly the same. Made me feel 18 again. If you're like me and early 80s Saga is in your strike zone, and you forgot all about them since, this would be a good way to spend your loose change.

Ownership: 2001 Steamhammer (CD). Hardbound cover.

5/12/20 (review)

Other albums I own and need to review: Images at Twilight; Heads or Tales

5/12/20 (new entry)

Eric Johnson - Tones. 1986 USA-Texas

Eric Johnson burst onto the scene in 1986, seemingly out of nowhere. He was part of the mid to late 80s guitar fronted band scene along with many others such as Joe Satriani and Steve Vai. Like most folks, my introduction to Tones was the fine instrumental 'Zap'. In hearing this album for the first time all the way through, I didn't recollect anything else from the album, though I'm sure others were played on the radio at the time. Even though I enjoyed 'Zap' back then it never occurred to me to pick the album up. By 1986 I was moving fast and furious into the world of obscure European progressive, and underground music in general. I didn't think the guy with the spikey hair was going to give me what I wanted at the time. And in retrospect that would be a true statement. The time for me to hear this album is now, as I can reflect on the era in a more objective manner. Johnson's album is not really a guitar hero album, especially given the number of songs with vocals. It's AOR music for the most part, but with a definite slant towards the time and place. What I now call simply 80s Music. Most of the FM friendly tracks feature some excellent jazz fusion styled breaks, giving the music a fresh sound. Overall Tones is much better than I expected, and I've decided to keep it for now.

From the above, I purposely left out what I knew about Johnson's history. I said "seemingly out of nowhere" and that's exactly what I knew in 1986. But by 1988, as I'm now deep in the rare catalog world, I learn that Johnson was the guitarist for the very obscure - but very good - Austin based psychedelic band Mariani (1970). He was only 16 at the time, but clearly he was head and shoulders above most kids his age here in America. Then a couple of years after that, I learned he was the lead guitarist for Electromagnets, yet another excellent group, this time in the field of jazz rock (1975). So by the time of Tones, Johnson was a grizzled veteran at the age of 32. That experience really comes to fore on the album. Eric Johnson's path to stardom was circuitous, but fascinating. It was also fleeting. Though he enjoys a cult following to this day (especially considering the follow-up Ah Via Musicom, which I've not heard), Tones was to be his 15 minutes of fame. Good for him.

Ownership: LP: 1986 Reprise. Single sleeve with lyric inner. This came from last week's (rather small) haul of thrift shop pickups. I fast tracked this one to the front of the stack as I was most curious of the contents within.