Saga
10,000 Days

Inside Out

Michael Sadler knows when to call it a day: After a couple of so-so studio albums and a pair of live releases (the first a fair performance of 1981′s "Worlds Apart" LP, the second an excellent harvesting of all the "Chapter" songs originally strung out across seven nonconsecutive albums), the master of the bombastic vibrato is leaving the Canadian prog-rock group.

But he's going out on a high note, turning in as good a vocal performance as ever for an album of excellent new material that distills the high points of Saga's 30-year career into one neat, nonconcept album. Perhaps showing his humble side, Sadler even steps back from the microphone to let the band rock out on the seven-minute instrumental "Corkentellis."

All the cool keyboard styles are there (including the occasional just plain piano), and that crunchy staccato guitar still sounds great. When it gets into keys-guitar call and response and double lead, as in "Book of Lies," the listener is transported to seventh auditory heaven.

The remaining band members intend to carry on, as they've put out an open casting call for a new lead singer, asking aspiring singers to download backing tracks and post their auditions on YouTube. Saga can go the Sadler-clone route or opt to pick someone original, but either way, the replacement will have some big shoes to fill.gnm_end_bug

Tracks
1. Lifeline
2. Book Of Lies
3. Sideways
4. Can't You See Me Now?
5. Corkentellis
6. More Than I Deserve
7. Sound Advice
8. 10,000 Days
9. It Never Ends

Total time: 50:56