PLEASURE & THE PAIN

The Members of Saga have a strange sense of humor: after producing one of their most original and creative album in Generation 13, the band then decided to celebrate its twentieth anniversary with the worst album of its career! With the "Pleasure & The Pain", they're trying to sound like an alternative-nu metal band and it really doesn't suit them well. Michael Sadler's voice is no longer in the foreground and is often filtered, which gives very strange results ("Welcome To The Zoo"). The keyboards are altogether absent, and Steve Negus (who was still part of the band at that time) has been replaced by a session drummer who simply bashes his skins like a beginner. They even add insult to injury with a new "alternative" version of their classic You're Not Alone, a tasteless version of Taxman by The Beatles, and what appears to be a techno track. Add to that the horrible cover, and well, it doesn't look good.

But, isn't there at least a good song on this musical Titanic? Yes, one and a half even! The first song, "Heaven Can Wait", reminds me a bit of the "Heads Or Tales" album and "Gonna Give It To Ya" might be another "Wind Him Up" were it not for the awful disco beat in the background. Aside from that, "Pleasure & The Pain" is a disaster and completely forgettable. At least, this experiment lasted only one album, because they came back in force with the pretty good "Full Circle" two years later.