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Album Reviews
# of "Main" reviews: 359 (mean score: 8.5)
# of additional "User" reviews: 547
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http://www.saga-world.com/
Origin: Canada
As twenty year veterans, Canada's Saga is sometimes credited as being the first neo-prog band. They've put out over a dozen albums in their career, the beginning of which dates back to their self-titled 1978 release. Much like Asia and Genesis, Saga's later work is generally disregarded as being more straight-forward and pop orriented. In 1995 the band came back with the well received concept album Generation 13, which returned the band to their progressive roots.
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Worlds Apart (1981)
B 8.3
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Saga found commercial success on Worlds Apart in the form of semi-hits "On the Loose" and "Wind Him Up". (To this day, I can still come across "On the Loose" from time to time on my local rock station.) It is these two popular songs that kick off the album; "On the Loose" electrifies the listener with colorful, uplifting pop savvy while "Wind Him Up" employs a slightly proggier composition to achieve similarly delightful results. The next two songs hold up their end of the bargain, standing up as well-crafted neo-prog-meets-80s-pop material. After this first block of four songs, however, the remaining five songs are a drastic let down. The fun, excitement, power, creativity, magic of the disc's first half just vanishes, which is sad because it forces down the value of the overall album. The drop-off in song quality not withstanding, I generally like the mood and style of the album -- sort of like Alan Parsons Project with a sound more akin to something you'd associate with the soundtrack from an 80s movie. A pleasant listen from start to finish, but its bright spots are front-loaded. (1/21/2006)
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Generation 13 (1995)
B+ 8.8
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After my first listen to Generation 13, I thought I had just heard the newest addition to my top 10 list. However, somewhere in my subsequent listenings -- for whatever reasons -- my interest in this album diminished. What captured my attention most that first time through was this concept album's dramatic, cinematic flow that seemed to create what I thought was one of the most fascinating albums I ever heard. With repeated listens, however, Generation 13's multitude of short, seemingly unfinished songs really became too much of a distraction. Of the album's 25 (!) tracks, very few are actual "songs" -- ie, many of the tracks are just one or two minute bits and pieces. I also found the concept to be a little too strange and undefined to be fully appreciated. And on top of all of this, their liberal use of effects I found to be more annoying than effective. On the plus side, however, the "actual" songs here are very well arranged with gorgeous melodies (my collection would no longer be complete without "I'll Never be Like You pt II"), and the exhilirating and subtle guitar work of Ian Crichton is some of the best I've heard from a neo-prog act -- ambitious, busy, and classy all at once. The soaring yet somewhat bluesy vocals of Michael Sadler, for the most part, were a pretty big plus, as well, and the instrumental segments on the album I found to be very well composed. On the whole, I'd say it's a recommended buy, but I think it could have been made even more memorable. (9/16/2000)
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