WORLDS APART REVISITED (CD)

Saga is one of those bands that I never listened to, despite being an avid record buyer since the late sixties (damn, I'm old!). When this album was released, I saw it was on sale at my friendly neighborhood CD store (actually, I received an email newsletter) at a temptingly low price. So I checked out the band here at ProgArchives, and made the investment.

The first advice I would give to the band and thier road crew: learn how to do a sound check! The album begins with a mix that Charles Barkley would call "turrible". The guitar is too loud, the keyboards are not loud enough, and the lead vocal is booming and distorted. Because of this, the instruments don't blend well. The sound gradually gets better until it levels around the halfway point of the first disk. It's astounding that a band that's been together for thirty years could be this unprofessional.

Secondly, and this is more of a personal issue: I hate when a live album features a lot of audience singing. I suppose that it pumps the band up to know that an entire hall full of people knows the lyrics to their music, but on a live album it should be used sparingly. On this album, over and over again, Michael Sadler goads the audience into singing along, and stops singing himself. Used sparingly this is tolerable, but not to this extent.

On the whole, I find, at least on this album, which is primarily a live recording of "Worlds Apart" (I presume that was one of their most successful albums - I remember On The Loose getting airplay), that Saga's songs are not that well written. Mostly they are perdictable arena rock anthems. What saves them, and the album, in the band's proficiency at adding interesting flourishes around the 4/4 beats and standard chords. And the soloing by guitarist Ian Critchon and keyboardist Jim Gilmour also keep it slightly interesting.

Conversations, on the other hand, is a good song, and makes me wonder if the group has more albums with songs of it's stature.

2.5 stars, rounded up.

No regrets

It has been a trend in recent years for bands to perform their classic albums live in their respective entirety. The present live album documents Saga's first attempt at doing this (they apparently did it once more recently with Heads Or Tales). Not surprisingly they chose Worlds Apart the first time around, which is after all their most popular album. Personally though, I would have preferred them to perform the conceptual masterpiece Generation 13 or the self-titled debut album from 1978.

Thankfully, we get not just Worlds Apart in its entirety, but also a whole bunch of other classics, most of which are from the band's first five albums. Ice Nice is a great surprise for Prog fans. Everything is performed with competence and passion which makes for a wholly enjoyable live album. However, there are better live albums in Saga's discography. The classic In Transit as well as Detours are more interesting.

Still, this is a good and recommended live set full of classic songs.