HEADS OR TALES

Saga reached here their peak, not for their progressive performance, but rather for the quality of the recording: indeed Rupert Hine produced a SUPERB atmospheric, flashy, echoed and powerful album: I have rarely seen a better recorded album than this one! Saga has a quite new style here: they substantially reduced their complex & anthemic progressive elements to the profit of accessible, dynamic, colorful, ambient, fresh and flashy textures, putting in evidence many powerful lead & backing vocals. There are some electronic drums parts like on "Scratching the surface". I hardly detected saxophones on the "Social orphan" track. There are omnipresent powerful rhythmic keyboards sounding like trumpets, a bit like on the Frank Zappa's "Easy meat" track: I wonder if there are not saxes included in these powerful arrangements. Even more than on the "Worlds apart" album, Saga here sound a bit like The Fixx of the 80's, as reveal the voices, some fresh keyboards and the varied guitars. However Saga is absolutely not The Fixx: Saga is quite less ethereal and subtle: they are still more progressive rock here than The Fixx is. Also, The Fixx is more ambient new wave oriented, so that their music is more simple. I give you the challenge to find a better recorded album than "Heads or tales" before 1984!

Rating: 4.5 stars