SAGA

A great debut, this one. A prog debut that managed to attract attention in a time when prog was slowly dying. Why ? Well, for one, Saga showed that a band can have it's own sound from the first album. Two, Michael Sadler's voice was (and still is) so amazing, no one could've been indifferent to it. Three, the songwriting was inventive, original, and even though the sounds they used sound a bit dated today, they were clearly ahead of their time back then. Four, the top notch musicianship is there for all to witness. The guys are tight, disciplined and creative. Five, the beginning of what will later be known as 'The Chapters', released in disorder from 1 to 16 on a lot of albums from this one until 2003's 'Marathon'. Chapters found on this album are 'Will it be you? (Chapter Four)' and 'Tired World (Chapter Six), both of which have that sci-fi approach typical to Saga. Six, the songs themselves. Some songs from this album are still played in concert today, classics like 'How Long ?', 'Humble Stance', the aforementionned 'Chapters', 'The Perfectionnist' and 'Ice Nice' sound as good played live today as they did back in the day.

Those not familiar with Saga's sound should check here first to have a good idea of what they did back then. One can discern various influences such as Gentle Giant, Camel, Pink Floyd, Styx, etc...

Truly an excellent addition to ANY prog collection. Four solid stars. The debut of a great Saga, indeed.