Prog rock group Saga formed in 1977, originally in the iteration of the band, Pocket, which was developed from several members of the group Fludd. Michael Sadler (singer, keyboard, bass guitar), Ian Crichton (guitars), Peter Rochon (keyboards), Jim Crichton (bass guitar), and Steve Negus (drumbs),AKA Saga, released their self titled debut in 1978, finding mild success in Germany and Canada.
Rochon would leave the band in 1979 to become a full-time executive for a music equipment company, and his departure made space for Gregg Chadd, who took over duties of keyboards. With their new member in place, they returned to the studio to complete their second album, 1979's Images At Twilight. The album would also produce their first chart topper, It's Time, which peaked at number eighty-nine on the Canadian charts.
The bands success continued internationally with their 1980 released, Silent Knight. However, this resulted in yet another change of keyboard players, when Jim Gilmour replaced Chadd. There doesn't appear to be any information floating around the inter-web as to why he left.
With the now "classic line-up in place, Saga set about to record their breakout album, Worlds Apart, which was released in 1981. One of the biggest changes for the album were Sadler's vocals. Producer, Rupert Hine, told the singer to stop sounding like a choir boy, a style notable on previous albums.
It's here where we pump the brakes for today's Retro Spin.
I personally bought this album when I came across the track, Wind Him Up. It was a song of epic proportions, both in instrumentation and vocals. If you haven't heard this tune, I definitely recommend, at minimum, that you check it out.
As a whole, the album definitely screams of rock opera, and it's pretty enjoyable. The problem is that this also makes it difficult to pull certain tracks from it for a shuffle list. It would be like taking Rush's epic, 2112, and picking it apart in sections. Yes, you would still get good songs, but the tale would no longer unfold coherently.
Though my personal favorites from the album are, Wind Him Up, and Amnesia, it's actually On The Loose, which is the groups biggest chart topper, reaching number twenty-six on the Billboard charts. The singles success was greatly attributed to the music video, which was played in steady rotation during MTV's infancy.
Worlds Apart would also complete the "Chapters" story, which was spread across the group's prior albums. Initially, the arc was considered to be eight parts, but would ultimately grow to sixteen as the years would pass.
As for those years, though members continued to come and go, Saga have consistently released albums through 2021, with no signs of stopping any time soon. However, their biggest success continues to come from their Germany audience, the only country where their albums continue to chart consistently.
I don't know if I'll personally continue my journey through their music. I suppose if I saw an 80's album from them in the wild for relatively cheap, I would probably pick it up, but I won't necessarily be actively looking for any.
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS February 13, 1982 |
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| THIS WEEK ON THE CHARTS February 13, 1988 |
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