A little history:
I had heard the song "On the Loose" a thousand times and always kind of dug it, but never really listened to what was going on musically. I recently heard it on the radio and REALLY listened. Wow, I was stunned; great voice, great musicians, fantastic layering good lyrical concept, seamless segues.
I recognized / noticed (for the first time) that the keyboards were up-front in the mix, which isn't really a mixing practice aimed to please mainstream Amercans, traditionally, that is more geared towards European audiences. I suddenly understood that THAT mixing practice was the very reason that I had subconsciously dismissed this song and band so long ago.
Upon hearing it again a few weeks ago (in the car) I turned it up and found myself enamoured. Furthermore, I thought that SAGA was a one hit wonder and was over and done. On the contrary, SAGA has put out well over a dozen studio albums and several live albums with the newest studio release, "The Human Condition", coming out this month. I now own 4 SAGA albums, I have 2 more on order. SAGA is currently signed to INSIDEOUT RECORDS, which is pretty cool! The new record is the first with someone other than the original singer, Michael Sadler, doing lead vox. The new guy sounds similar to DC Cooper - for you fans of power metal - (a mixture of Geoffe Tate, Rob Halford and Dennis DeYoung for those of you who don't know DC).
On any given album you will hear parts that remind you of STYX, QUEEN, RUSH, ASIA, THE CARS, UTOPIA, MARILLION, and many more. This is a WOW band that is very popular overseas, hails from just to the north of us and most americans have either forgotten or have never hear of. That, is a travesty. If you like the above bands and / or are a fan of stellar musicianship, Check SAGA out, you'll be glad you did.
Anybody else into SAGA??? Please comment.
I had heard the song "On the Loose" a thousand times and always kind of dug it, but never really listened to what was going on musically. I recently heard it on the radio and REALLY listened. Wow, I was stunned; great voice, great musicians, fantastic layering good lyrical concept, seamless segues.
I recognized / noticed (for the first time) that the keyboards were up-front in the mix, which isn't really a mixing practice aimed to please mainstream Amercans, traditionally, that is more geared towards European audiences. I suddenly understood that THAT mixing practice was the very reason that I had subconsciously dismissed this song and band so long ago.
Upon hearing it again a few weeks ago (in the car) I turned it up and found myself enamoured. Furthermore, I thought that SAGA was a one hit wonder and was over and done. On the contrary, SAGA has put out well over a dozen studio albums and several live albums with the newest studio release, "The Human Condition", coming out this month. I now own 4 SAGA albums, I have 2 more on order. SAGA is currently signed to INSIDEOUT RECORDS, which is pretty cool! The new record is the first with someone other than the original singer, Michael Sadler, doing lead vox. The new guy sounds similar to DC Cooper - for you fans of power metal - (a mixture of Geoffe Tate, Rob Halford and Dennis DeYoung for those of you who don't know DC).
On any given album you will hear parts that remind you of STYX, QUEEN, RUSH, ASIA, THE CARS, UTOPIA, MARILLION, and many more. This is a WOW band that is very popular overseas, hails from just to the north of us and most americans have either forgotten or have never hear of. That, is a travesty. If you like the above bands and / or are a fan of stellar musicianship, Check SAGA out, you'll be glad you did.
Anybody else into SAGA??? Please comment.
