I'm about to download "World's Apart" (avoid "Revisited"?)
What's the next step from there? How's 'Generation 13'?
I'm about to download "World's Apart" (avoid "Revisited"?)
What's the next step from there? How's 'Generation 13'?
Coming from a long-time Saga fan who preferred their rock side and not the pop side of the band, I recommend two older albums ("Images At Twilight" and "Silent Knight") as well as two newer ones ("Full Circle" and "House Of Cards"). Also check out "The Chapters Live" for some good recordings of all 16 chapters in the "Saga".
Saga lost me for several years after the dreadfully boring and pop "Heads Or Tails" and several other equally bad albums.
As for "Generation 13", many fans loved it. I tried to like it but just couldn't get into it.
Another long time Saga fan here. If you have not downloaded World's Apart yet, I would start with Silent Knight or their debut album first, followed by Images At Twilight and/or World's Apart. First four studio albums from Saga have their best work. After World's Apart there was a lot of hit or miss with more misses than hits. Never got into Generation 13.Originally Posted by Rickenbacker
A great band to see live if they are playing in your neck of the woods. I have seen them many times since their Images At Twilight tour and they have always delivered.
Although an interesting concept for an album and decently recorded, the performances common with Saga's In Transit album pale in comparison.
ABSOLUTELY AGREE! Have to name one more album for my list of Saga faves - '10 000 Days'.
Saga must haves...... the first 4. Gen13, Full Circle, House Of Cards, Network & Trust
I have Loved Saga for a long long. I absolutely Love Behavior. One of their best.
G13 is very good, but somewhat different from most of their other albums. I'd get Silent Knight and their 1st album next, then maybe House of Cards or 20/20 for newer stuff.
For me it was a big disappointment of 2012.
You can't go wrong with nearly any Saga but their highlights are their first 4 (all named already) and then the stretch of Full Circle, House of Cards, Marathon and Network. Gen 13 is very good but isn't as good as these. 10,000 Days is also excellent. Stay away from Steel Umbrellas and Pleasure and Pain. In Transit is a nice live sampling from their earlier period but they now have many live CDs which are better. I would suggest The Chapters Live (although it is somewhat flawed as they struggle through a few of the earlier chapters).
I prefer live versions of most of their material to the studio tracks. To this day these guys are really "on" in a live setting and can generate a lot of excitement with the material.
I would start out with the 2 great CD + DVD packs "World's Apart Revisited" and "Contact Live in Munich". Both present a wide range of material including all the "hits". You can then go from there to track down the albums of most interest to you.
One that is interesting and I like is "Heads or Tales Live". It's an excellent rendition of the album played very well and featuring Rob Moratti on vocals. This was recorded just prior to Michael Sadler returning to the band. Rob put an interesting spin on the songs and does a generally great job with the vocals, much better than his one studio album with the band. I happen to like HoT, and was pretty impressed with this disc. Otherwise, I generally agree with everyone else that the first few studio albums and the last string of albums that began with Full Circle are the best. I also like Gen 13 very much.
"So...you seek understanding. Then listen to the music and not the song..." - Kosh
I went up to Worlds Apart and stopped. I didn’t regret it. Images at Twilight and Silent Knight are probably the best ones. Beware, the debut has some disco-y beats on it, but some of their greatest tunes as well (“Ice Nice” is Moog Nirvana).
-------------
MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")
"That's my purse! I don't know you!" --Bobby Hill
N.P.:“Kazoo”-Ashra/Belle Alliance
Me too. IMO it continues the strong melodies and hooks of Worlds Apart with what could have been cheezoid 80s digital production. To me it's one where the whole Rupert Hine thing actually worked. The only downside were some regrettably low-budget videos that nonetheless got steady rotation on MTV back in the day.
Rounding out the top 3 for me is the debut. I agree with Progbear that it's Moog heaven.
early period: “silent knight”
heyday: “heads or tales”
trio/interim: “beginner’s guide”
90s/experimental: “gen13”
chapters-revival: “marathon” (an odd choice, but in a strange way this is the one that held up best. i quickly lost interest in the saga-by-numbers of “fc” and “hoc”)
late period: “network” (poor production, but compelling material”) & “10.000 days” (sadler’s exuberant farewell)
honorary shout out: “the human condition” which is, in fact, a damn good album.
didn’t bother with 20/20. “one of these days” is quite nice, i suppose...
With the exception of the sequencer type sound used at beginning of How Long (One of their most popular songs in their catalog), I can't recall anything disco-y like on Saga's first album.
For my money, the first album and Silent Knight are the best Saga albums. No weak tracks on any of them. The first one is more guitar driven, Silent Knight more keyboard driven. Images At Twilight has some great tracks like It's Time & Images, but it also has Slow Motion which I consider one of the weakest if not the weakest track out of Saga's first four albums. World's Apart is a very good album, but I was not a big fan of Rupert Hine's clinical production and a lot of the electronic drums used. Time's Up being one of the few exceptions. I preferred Paul Gross grittier and organic production on the first three albums.
From the debut,SAGA is this awesome tune,Climbing The Ladder. Ian's guitar parts are pure genius. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=0hp9IDWU0po
disco may be a bit far fetched ... but SAGA have always had a certain funkiness to them. “humble stance”, anyone?
Agree
I kind of saw the "funkiness" you refer to in Humble Stance as a reggae influence. Another great track from the first album and one of my favorites from Saga.
A local audiophile store used Humble Stance's guitar/keyboard solo as background on their radio ads shortly after Saga's first album came out. That was my introduction to Saga and high end audio. The same store also used the beginning of Perfectionist for another of their radio ads. I don't think the store was ready or expecting so many teenagers at their place asking for Saga's first album, since they used to cater to an older and more affluent crowd. They did not sell that much stereo equipment, but sold tons of Saga albums.
speaking of Saga....... did their new album 20/20 & cover influence Justin Timberfag's new album?
"Let me just try to awkwardly sneak a sip of Poland Spring water here..."
Oh heavens, a human being needed a sip of water. Let me swoon onto my fainting couch with the vapors.
High Vibration Go On - R.I.P. Chris Squire
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature...&v=jJOSNQ7S_tE
My cd cover doesn't look like this.
It looks like this:
Avoid:
Generation 13
Steel Umbrellas (1 decent track)
Pleasure & Pain
Network (3 good tracks)
10000 days
Marathon
Full Circle
The Human Condition
20/20
Trust (originally missed off my list)
Recommended:
Saga
Images at Twilight
Silent Knight
Worlds Apart
The Security of Illusion
Behaviour
The Beginners Guide to Throwing Shapes
House of Cards (originally missed off my list)
Middling:
Heads & Tails (5 decent tracks)
Wildest Dreams (5 decent tracks)
Last edited by gingernut; 02-18-2013 at 04:24 PM. Reason: Mised albums off. Doh!
Everyone will have varying opinions,but I have to say that is a harsh avoid list. 1,4,5,7,9 I would highly recommend. Steel Umbrellas isn't bad music,it's songs they wrote for a movie that never got made. Generation 13 is "their The Wall or Subterranea and the theme is somewhat depressing,the music is killer Saga. Pleasure and The Pain is them being goofy to fulfill a contract. It does contain their only cover tune,The Beatles-Taxman which I posted above earlier. Not much of a fan of Marathon,but Network and 10,000 Days are real good albums. Full Circle is their comeback album as they were MIA for several years. You forgot to mention Trust,which is a very strong and heavy Saga album. The Human Condition is good except it has the stigma of being a transitional album because of new singer Rob Moratti. He does a good job,but the fans missed Michael Sadler who was busy taking more time with his family and recording his excellent solo album,Clear. I do agree with the recommended list. Heads Or Tales is to me,a great album. You compare that with everything else that came out in 1983 and you'll see it's better than most. Wildest Dreams is pretty commercial and dull,but it does have ex-Passport,ex-Triumvirat drummer Curt Cress. The songs don't seem to notice him and therefore he really doesn't get the chance to show his brilliance.
To me, the absolute highlights are the S/T debut album, along with Worlds Apart, The Beginner's Guide to Throwing Shapes, The Security of Illusion, and House of Cards. Those five albums all balance strong melodic songwriting with remarkable instrumental textures and interplay. The lowlights, to me, are Steel Umbrellas, Wildest Dreams, and Trust (with the former two characterized by synthetic pop sounds and the latter going in a bland, harder rock direction that unfortunately their latest, 20/20, also follows). The others are somewhere in between for me, with the ambitious Generation 13 having some of the highest highs and lowest lows (including the ridiculous adolescent computer voice that practically ruins the album).
For all those who share my high opinion of the debut, I'd have to say that my favorites on it are the subtly psychedelic pair of "Give 'Em the Money" ("...walking slowly helps your day...") and "Ice Nice." All of side 2 of Worlds Apart is stunning, IMHO. Beginner's Guide has the amazing "As I am" and one of their best album closers ever in "Giant" (a tribute to Gentle Giant). Security's title track is probably my favorite ballad by the band, and its closer ("Without You") features some of Ian's most mind-bending guitar playing ever. It's hard to pick highlights from House of Cards, in that it sounds almost like a greatest hits album to me, but the two "chapters" tracks especially stand out.
Anyway, these are just some of my favorites. Saga fans (like those of Marillion) are often pretty diverse in how they rate the band's albums, so a consensus is unlikely.
Last edited by NorthNY Mark; 02-18-2013 at 11:38 AM.
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