Author Topic: SAGA (the band) appreciation thread (Read 3263 times)

johnnysuperfan · « **on:** July 18, 2012, 06:10:31 PM »

Another one of my favorite progressive bands. Going to see them for the 1st time in Toronto this friday night, cd release party for their new album 20/20. I'm excited to say the least. These guys have been around since 1977. Images At Twilight released in 1979 being my fav.

jjrock88 · « **Reply #1 on:** July 18, 2012, 10:24:51 PM »

big fan, they are a very underated band.

Pols Voice · « **Reply #2 on:** July 19, 2012, 02:04:26 AM »

I only have their first album, but it's good and I can see myself getting a bunch more. Too bad most are out of print on CD (I demand physical media!). Just judging them from their first album, they have some really catchy tunes combined with proggy arrangements and instrumentation. Very distinctive vocals, too.

a51502112 · « **Reply #3 on:** July 19, 2012, 05:23:46 AM »

Yup. First time I heard I&W, I thought, "These guys sound like Saga". Lots of similarities, especially the dual keys and guitars.

Jaq · « **Reply #4 on:** July 19, 2012, 09:47:29 AM »

This is something I posted about Saga in Kev's thread about 80s songs, but it bears repeating here:

Quote

Let's flash back to the early days of MTV, shall we? Our wayback machine is set to late 1981, when MTV was young and having 20 some channels was state of the art. MTV back then was not the MTV we came to know, of course; it was twenty four hours a day, seven days a week of music videos, with only a couple of hours on Saturday nights devoted to whatever concert they could get their hands on. In 1981, there simply weren't that many videos, and most of them, the lion's share, came from British bands, which is where the form really came into being, which is largely why the British new wave invasion happened in the first place. MTV then had two methods of survival without boring you to death by playing a handful of videos constantly; the first was to cut up any of the concerts they played into single songs, which is why nine times out of ten in late 1981 you could tune into MTV and see a live REO Speedwagon video, as that was (1) MTV's first concert and (2) cut up into something on the order of 12 single song videos. The other method was to play any music video out there, and damn the genre. And the more videos an artist had, the better! This is why Rod Stewart was one of the champions of early MTV, why you could see Iron Maiden play Wrathchild live, the video for Juice Netwon's Queen of Hearts, Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes, and Turn it On Again by Genesis in a row. Followed by REO Speedwagon and something by Madness. In Fall 1981 you couldn't get out of an hour of MTV without something by Madness playing.

And in the midst of all of these videos, in the freewheeling, anything goes days of MTV, were two videos by a band called Saga: Careful Where You Step and Don't Be Late.

These days, Saga sounds like a meeting point between prog rock and AOR, but back when those videos were thrown into the fire just to fill a spot, they sounded otherworldly to young me. I loved these guys! Young me didn't realize you could have more than one keyboardist in a band, or the keyboardist playing unisons with the guitarist, and what are those spacey sounding vocals (they were vocoder vocals, for the record)? And what's more, a lot of people liked Saga here in my neck of the woods in Virginia. MTV, you see, wasn't available everywhere when it launched, so if you were fortunate enough to have MTV, you felt kind of like a colonist out on the edge of the musical frontier.

And then On The Loose came out, and that's when things got really fun with Saga. Saga played the Hampton Coliseum as an opening act three times on their tour for Worlds Apart, and for a while, they were sort of our band. I even think a member of the band married someone he met here on one of those tours. So it was kind of neat when Worlds Apart took off, so to speak. Because it felt like WE made a band, and it was quite possibly the last dying gasp of the more territorial music scene of the 70s, where a band could sell out arenas in St. Louis and play bars in Philadelphia. I'll always have a fondness for Saga for that reason...doesn't hurt that their first four albums are fuckin brilliant too.

I'll always have that soft spot for early Saga. Some of the best, most underrated prog out there.

johnnysuperfan · « **Reply #5 on:** July 19, 2012, 04:20:47 PM »

so many great CD's from SAGA.

Trust, Network, Silent Knight and Full Circle are amazing albums.

Some of my favorite tracks are: Don't Be Late (Chapter 2) (Silent Knight CD) ; Conversations (Worlds Apart CD) ; You're Not Alone ; Take It Or Leave It (Images at Twilight CD) ; Will It Be You (Chapter 4) ; Give 'Em The Money (Saga self titled CD) ......

Orbert · « **Reply #6 on:** July 19, 2012, 05:07:40 PM »

I like Saga. I'm more of a purist when it comes to prog, but I do like some bands that play song-based rock with real chops and some genuine prog tendencies. I like their use of keys not just as embellishment, but actually as instruments on an equal footing with the guitars in creating the textures and sounds.

My biggest problem is that Michael Sadler's voice eventually wears me out. It's a great voice and fits their music well, but it's somewhat limited and eventually it makes all their songs sound the same to me. I've always wondered what a full-blown prog endeavor by Saga would sound like. Real extended instrumental breaks that show off their chops, or actual instrumental tracks, that kind of thing. But they're clearly happy to straddle the line between mainstream and prog, playing "regular" songs and just showing off their chops a little bit once in a while.

ytserush · « **Reply #7 on:** July 21, 2012, 03:08:24 PM »

Didn't know they were on the road this year. I doubt they will be anywhere around here.

At one time I had about 15 Saga CDs. I've probably cut that down to almost half of that now because there are only certain ones I keep listening to these days. The older ones seem to be my favorites, but I still dig their live albums.

Didn't really like their move into adult contemporary in the mid-'80s though.

johnnysuperfan · « **Reply #8 on:** July 21, 2012, 06:20:48 PM »

Quote from: ytserush on July 21, 2012, 03:08:24 PM

Didn't know they were on the road this year. I doubt they will be anywhere around here.

At one time I had about 15 Saga CDs. I've probably cut that down to almost half of that now because there are only certain ones I keep listening to these days. The older ones seem to be my favorites, but I still dig their live albums.

Didn't really like their move into adult contemporary in the mid-'80s though.

there are a few tourdates :

https://sagaontour.moonfruit.com/#/tour/4519368549

johnnysuperfan · « **Reply #9 on:** July 21, 2012, 06:30:07 PM »

Some pics from last nights show at Toronto:

they played most of the classics from the earlier albums: You're Not Alone; Humble Stance; The Runaway; On The Loose; Wind Him Up;
Mouse In A Maze; The Pitchman and of course the highlight DON'T BE LATE (Chapter 2). Great show, Michael Sadler was on fire.

jjrock88 · « **Reply #10 on:** July 21, 2012, 06:32:22 PM »

I've heard that they are a great live band.

johnnysuperfan · « **Reply #11 on:** July 21, 2012, 06:38:33 PM »

Quote from: jjrock88 on July 21, 2012, 06:32:22 PM

I've heard that they are a great live band.

This was my first time seeing them live, and they put on a great show. Definitely will see them again in the future. The club they played was +19 and over, but I was suprised there wasn't that many younger fans (20 and up). Mostly an older crowd. It was still good though. The band rockkkkeddd.

jjrock88 · « **Reply #12 on:** July 21, 2012, 06:39:34 PM »

Good to hear, and thanks for posting the pics

ytserush · « **Reply #13 on:** July 30, 2012, 02:24:52 PM »

Quote from: johnnysuperfan on July 21, 2012, 06:20:48 PM

Quote from: ytserush on July 21, 2012, 03:08:24 PM
Didn't know they were on the road this year. I doubt they will be anywhere around here.

At one time I had about 15 Saga CDs. I've probably cut that down to almost half of that now because there are only certain ones I keep listening to these days. The older ones seem to be my favorites, but I still dig their live albums.

Didn't really like their move into adult contemporary in the mid-'80s though.

there are a few tourdates :

https://sagaontour.moonfruit.com/#/tour/4519368549

Cool pics!

I don't know if I want to travel to New York again since it's the same week as Flying Colors. Figures.

Lowdz · « **Reply #14 on:** March 12, 2014, 04:42:18 PM »

Just resurrected this thread as I stumbled across a live video of Saga playing Tired World and loved it. I have one album by them (House of Cards I think) that didn't leave much of an impression. Might have only played it once- it was bought on a whim in the dark days in the 90s when music was crap, so I'm looking for a starting point really.
I was aware of them early on in my Rush heyday but never heard a note by them at the time.

The only thing I remembered was the "Chapters" thing. Listening to a Youtube video of the chapters and liking it.

King Postwhore · « **Reply #15 on:** March 12, 2014, 04:45:32 PM »

One band I wish I could say I've seen live but have not.

Orbert · « **Reply #16 on:** March 12, 2014, 10:30:30 PM »

Yeah, the Chapters is an amazing concept, and all the more impressive because they actually pulled it off. The Chapters Live is a great live album.

Rob801 · « **Reply #17 on:** March 12, 2014, 11:17:56 PM »

Not sure why i havn't pursued this band more (something I'll have to change soon)... I saw them way way back when as an opening band for Rush and they were great!

Lowdz · « **Reply #18 on:** March 13, 2014, 03:33:32 AM »

Quote from: Orbert on March 12, 2014, 10:30:30 PM

Yeah, the Chapters is an amazing concept, and all the more impressive because they actually pulled it off. The Chapters Live is a great live album.

I plumped for this rather than a best of as it sounded good on the youtube mix and they also sounded pretty slick live on the vid I watched.

Orbert · « **Reply #19 on:** March 13, 2014, 07:16:57 AM »

The only thing I can think of that would've made that a better live album would be "On the Loose" as an encore. It was their only real hit in the U.S. and it seems that they'd include it just to bump sales a bit. We used to play it in a band I was in, and it was tons of fun to play. Very challenging.

I guess maybe they wanted to include The Chapters and only The Chapters, but after sitting through the grand concept of a 16-song suite composed over two decades, cut loose with a balls-out rocker to close the show. That would just be perfect IMO. Ah well. Still a great album.

TAC · « **Reply #20 on:** March 13, 2014, 07:31:07 AM »

Quote from: Jaq on July 19, 2012, 09:47:29 AM

This is something I posted about Saga in Kev's thread about 80s songs, but it bears repeating here:

Quote
Let's flash back to the early days of MTV, shall we? Our wayback machine is set to late 1981, when MTV was young and having 20 some channels was state of the art. MTV back then was not the MTV we came to know, of course; it was twenty four hours a day, seven days a week of music videos, with only a couple of hours on Saturday nights devoted to whatever concert they could get their hands on. In 1981, there simply weren't that many videos, and most of them, the lion's share, came from British bands, which is where the form really came into being, which is largely why the British new wave invasion happened in the first place. MTV then had two methods of survival without boring you to death by playing a handful of videos constantly; the first was to cut up any of the concerts they played into single songs, which is why nine times out of ten in late 1981 you could tune into MTV and see a live REO Speedwagon video, as that was (1) MTV's first concert and (2) cut up into something on the order of 12 single song videos. The other method was to play any music video out there, and damn the genre. And the more videos an artist had, the better! This is why Rod Stewart was one of the champions of early MTV, why you could see Iron Maiden play Wrathchild live, the video for Juice Netwon's Queen of Hearts, Bette Davis Eyes by Kim Carnes, and Turn it On Again by Genesis in a row. Followed by REO Speedwagon and something by Madness. In Fall 1981 you couldn't get out of an hour of MTV without something by Madness playing.

And in the midst of all of these videos, in the freewheeling, anything goes days of MTV, were two videos by a band called Saga: Careful Where You Step and Don't Be Late.

I'll always have that soft spot for early Saga. Some of the best, most underrated prog out there.

Jaq, thanks for that post. You are spot on about MTV in 1981. And hell yes for those Saturday night concerts. Brings back a lot of memories. We lived in the boonies and didn't have cable. I remember sleeping at my grandparents house in the city on weekends so I could watch the Saturday night concerts. I remember watching Exit Stage left at this time. WOW!!

I do remember the Saga videos. They really didn't do anything for me. They looked interesting, but I don't really remember connecting with the music.

ytserush · « **Reply #21 on:** March 14, 2014, 04:26:59 PM »

I keep meaning to pick up the Chapters live album for some time now, but you know how that goes....

The Walrus · « **Reply #22 on:** December 07, 2017, 08:29:46 AM »

I know this is a 3.5 year bump, but, bear with me. I've never heard of this band. I just found them yesterday when 'On The Loose' popped up on Spotify. And this is AWESOME. This is so my type of music. Saga fans... help me out. I need more. MORE!!

Orbert · « **Reply #23 on:** December 07, 2017, 09:46:36 AM »

I'd start from the self-titled first album and just go from there. Saga (1978) is a good album, and a good introduction to the band. It also includes the first two chapters (Chapter Four and Chapter Six, ha ha!)

outoftune · « **Reply #24 on:** December 07, 2017, 12:53:50 PM »

"In Transit": you'll just fall in love with the sound (1982!).

Seen them several times through the years, they kept coming back to my little country

MH

johnnysuperfan · « **Reply #25 on:** December 07, 2017, 09:24:37 PM »

Quote from: Kattoelox on December 07, 2017, 08:29:46 AM

I know this is a 3.5 year bump, but, bear with me. I've never heard of this band. I just found them yesterday when 'On The Loose' popped up on Spotify. And this is AWESOME. This is so my type of music. Saga fans... help me out. I need more. MORE!!

thanks for bringing this thread back to life, I forgot I even started it, lol

definitely the earlier Saga albums are timeless, some of the best prog ever made, you can't go wrong with Images At Twilght, Silent Knight, Heads or Tales, and of course World's Apart, speaking of World's Apart a favourite track of mine is "Framed" just amazing instrumentation on that track, also check out Careful Where You Step from Silent Knight too

axeman90210 · « **Reply #26 on:** October 11, 2018, 10:50:44 AM »

Thread bump!

Michael Sadler headlined the first night at Prog Stock this past weekend, and played one of my favorite sets of the weekend. He started out doing a few songs with just himself singing and Rachel Flowers on piano, then did a quick guitar duet with his young son, but the main chunk of his set was with Jimmy Keegan (ex Spock's Beard) on drums and basically the rest of Enchant as a backing band (except for when he left the stage to let Jimmy do a couple songs of his own, which I thought was odd). Anyway, he did a mix of Saga and solo material and just blew me away with his vocal performance. Will definitely need to start checking out some Saga stuff. And this version of Nights in White Satin with Rachael has been stuck in my head all week.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSBYMy40EWg

MinistroRaven · « **Reply #27 on:** February 02, 2021, 04:43:47 PM »

New single of the upcoming album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaT4rm2Y1FQ&feature=youtu.be

Orbert · « **Reply #28 on:** February 02, 2021, 06:14:56 PM »

Sounds pretty good. The strings sound so good that I can't tell whether they're real or synth. Gives it something of a Kansas vibe at first.

Lyric videos bug me. Great instrumental, though.

Edit: Okay, I caught the Chapters theme, but totally missed that this is basically a reworking of Chapter 6. Interesting that they would make the first single a retread.

MinistroRaven · « **Reply #29 on:** February 02, 2021, 06:42:36 PM »

From the press release:

Canadian prog-rock-band SAGA will release their new studio album Symmetry on March 12 via earMUSIC.

"Tired World," the first single from Symmetry, made its first appearance on the band's debut album as one of two pieces of the jigsaw puzzle that is The Chapters, a continuous narrative revolving around a central theme and character (Albert Einstein), and spread out over several albums throughout much of Saga's extensive body of work.

While "Tired World" is considered by many to be one of the band's iconic classics, this new interpretation of the song brings a new life and new energy to the track with its thoughtful and creative re-imagining — without sacrificing the integrity of the original recording.

This new version also features guest performances — as do a majority of the songs on Symmetry — along with new acoustic instrumentation and fresh perspectives, highlighting the intricacies and arrangement of the song.

After a Spring 2020 tour, SAGA went straight into their home studios. The result: An album full of acoustic originals.

Symmetry offers a unique listening experience by bundling complex and delicate arrangements with familiar melodies and sounds. It gives the listener the possibility to explore and discover SAGA classics like "Wind Him Up," "Say Goodbye To Hollywood," and "Tired World" once more — and in a completely new way.

SAGA have managed to create more than just new versions of their songs; they created a sonic world full of little details that invites the listeners to dive deeper into the complex musical phenomenon that is the band.

"After opening for 'ourselves' on our 2017 European tour acoustically, the decision to record and acoustic record was born," says Ian Crichton. "This is different Saga everyone! We invited from Ontario Canada, Shane Cook on fiddle, and Stefany Seki, Beth Silver on cello to accompany us on our offside interpretation of music we've played for years, had a lot of fun doing so! Acoustic Saga!?!?!... it's like construction work for an electric guitar player."

King Postwhore · « **Reply #30 on:** February 02, 2021, 07:35:52 PM »

On my birthday!!

Stadler · « **Reply #31 on:** February 03, 2021, 07:14:41 AM »

I've asked this before, but I forgot the answer... if one wanted to start with Saga, where? I'm familiar - vaguely, now - with the two or three video "hits" they had back in the 80's, but that's it.

Also, did they ever release a compilation of "The Chapters"?

Max Kuehnau · « **Reply #32 on:** February 03, 2021, 07:22:12 AM »

Quote from: Stadler on February 03, 2021, 07:14:41 AM

I've asked this before, but I forgot the answer... if one wanted to start with Saga, where? I'm familiar - vaguely, now - with the two or three video "hits" they had back in the 80's, but that's it.

Also, did they ever release a compilation of "The Chapters"?

You'll start with their first album (in 1977) up to Behaviour (in 1985) and then you'll go on with The Security Of Illusion (1993) up to Marathon (2003). (and please add in In Transit, the first ever fully digitally recorded live album. Wonderful sounding, that one) And yes, they recorded all the chapters live and in sequence in 2003 and released them afterwards.

Orbert · « **Reply #33 on:** February 03, 2021, 07:34:51 AM »

Stadler, this thread is only one page, and both of your questions have already been answered. Try to keep up!

Compiling the studio versions of the chapters probably wouldn't work, because of the differences in production values over the years and the jumping back and forth. But live, it holds together remarkably well because musically it's very consistent.

Stadler · « **Reply #34 on:** February 03, 2021, 07:52:53 AM »

My bad on the "where to start". You're right about that, it was asked and answered. I wasn't clear on the Chapters thing, though to your credit you answered THAT in your last post. I knew about the "Chapters Live", but was wondering about the studio versions.

News: Paralyzed official video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7m7l8iqGAk

Author Topic: SAGA (the band) appreciation thread (Read 3263 times)