WORLDS APART

Saga is one of the most underrated bands on the planet and unfortunately they will never be in the R&R Hall, not that anyone should care to be since it is all political and so many who are in it sure do not deserve to be. They have put out 22 studio albums and kept putting out good solid albums throughout that time. Of course they have had their duds.

Here we are at the peak of their popularity but don't tell them since they have been cranking out great albums (mixed with a few not so good ones) for a while. What makes this album great? For starters they finally nailed a good producer Rupert Hine. He produced Genesis and Rush and so many other acts. the only thing I don't like about his productions is that they tend to be thin and the low end suffers and that would be the case here. Another great thing about this album is that the writing was on target where they hit a good consistent stride. There is not really a weak track on this album.

This record is also their most popular due to the first track "On the Loose" which charted in the US and other places. It is a great track to start the album with a great drive and climactic dual soloing between keys and guitar and the explosive final verses. Track 2 "Wind Him Up" really is wound up as it seen by the tight arrangement and added percussion events. "Times Up" is just a mediocre track but still not bad. "Amnesia" comes right back and hits solid though there was a great opportunity for a great solo but nothing came. "Framed" shows Ian Crichton using the "tapping" method on the guitar and then song has good prog leanings. Like other Saga tracks the last half is mostly instrumental.

"The Interview" is a good track with good drive. We have 2 new Chapters in this album including that track. They were marked by The Chapters which are songs that appeared on several of the first albums and then were brought back later. The band revealed these over a 28-year period in a mixed-up order, creating a conceptual puzzle. In its final form, The Chapters tells a science fiction story concerning the preservation of Albert Einstein's brain, aliens who are concerned with humanity's self-destruction, and the resurrection of the dead through technology. We have chapters 4 and 6 on this album. Being that I started listening to them early on, this story on the chapters was not ever revealed until after they were done presenting the songs so if you are looking for the meaning I recommend their live album titled none other than "The Chapters."

"No Regrets" is the first of the 2 chapters. This is a very interesting track as there are no drums and it has some real good sonic effects. "Conversations" is an instrumental track and very progish and well done. There is some great guitar work. The keyboard work often sounds like computers gone mad but then the song changes temp again. "No Stranger" the other chapter ends the album. It is a longer track with good rolling changes. The beginning 2 minutes has some great sonic sounds and effects. Then it rips into a fast paced song that works well. There is great guitar work in it and it gets to past hallway and it changes again and again. It is definitely the most prog song on the album.

This album marks the end of the beginning for Saga. They built each of their first 4 albums on each other. They would taste success and use that to put out the next record which was not as good as this one but yielded them some fame (Heads Or Tales).