Saga are Canada’s best kept secret. Other than Germany, they were virtually unknown outside their own country, which has always amazed me. One of the reasons is that they are quite hard to categorize. Is it Prog Rock? Pomp? New Wave? Who knows?! Anyhoo, they hail from Oakville in Ontario, which is basically a suberb of “Tronner “.
First track in is Flyer – a great song with a great chorus, great melody, and some killer guitar courtesy of Ian Crichton, the band’s secret weapon. It’s Crichton that drew my attention to the band. I caught a live show on TV and was blown away by how he played. Catwalk is next and again a killer tune with some amazing guitar. These are two amazing tracks to open an album, that’s for sure. The Sound of Strangers is next up, with an off-groove, and it has some great interplay between Jim Gilmour on keys, and Crichton’s guitar. A very Styx-esque beginning to The Writing, which is an ok song that is lifted with some great playing. Side closer, Intermission, an odd song that feels as though it should have been on a Tears For Fears album.
Side 2 begins with one of the bands more famous tunes, Social Orphan, a decent tune with a big chorus, and again, some great musical interplay. The Vendetta starts with an overload of keys, and sounds very of it’s time – but is saved by a ripping solo. Scratching The Surface, with the robotic keys intro, is next and if I’m honest it is a bit meh! The Pitchman closes things out, and thankfully is a kick ass tune to end things on a high. Plenty of keys and melody, and most important of all, more ripping guitar. There is an epic ending to this song that is worth buying the album alone.
If you are anyway interested (as I am) in great guitar players, then you should definitely check out Saga and the amazing Ian Crichton.
8.5/10 from The Grooveman.
