Martien's Review

Back in the good old days of 1978 I bought my first Saga album (I was 19 then) and ever since I have followed the musical career of these melodic rock Canadians. It really is a long musical career and it has had its ups and downs, but Crichton, Crichton, Sadler and Gilmour have always stood the test of time. Newer albums like House Of Cards (2000) and Marathon (2003) still belong to my personal Saga favourites and last year's live-release of the Chapters was also a real musical treat.

Trust is their 16th studio album and it is definitely not their worst, although there are two songs on the album which do not really fit in with the rest of the excellent song material. So, let's start with those two mediocre songs. Especially My Friend is almost an absolute horror to my ears as it is a rather lame folk rock ballad with high-pitched vocals by Jim Gilmour (I think), and a couple of woodwind players do even more damage to this song. The second mishap is called Footsteps In The Hall which is a rather dull song with no special features whatsoever.

Fortunately I can tell you that the other nine songs are sheer Saga brilliance. The new songs feature that typical old Saga sound with lots of progressive elements. So, you get well played symphonic rock filled with loads of keyboard and guitar melodies, creative rhythms and as always, driven vocals. The highlight of this album is Back To The Shadows, which starts with howling guitars and keyboards and then later the catchy melody, the keys and guitar solos grab you by the throat during the entire 5 minutes of this amazing song.

The title track is typical classic Saga stuff, sing along progressive rock, bringing back memories of songs like Don't Be Late or Scratching The Surface. Ice In The Rain also has a rather addictive chorus that wanders through my mind for days now already..... The album ends with the marvellous On The Other Side which kicks off like an Irish folk rock tune with accordion and then features a funky bass riff, lots of nice melodies and a rather sparkling guitar solo.

This is Saga at its best and on the whole this album is much better than their rather disappointing previous album Network. The songs, except for the two mishaps, are more mature and more varied. I never thought that I would say this, but Saga are back and they are back with a vengeance!!

Dave B's Review

As often seems to be the case I'm doing another CD review of a band I've never heard of before and on this occassion I deliberately kept myself ignorant of Saga's history and listened to the CD free of any pre-formed opinions. The CD hit the spot almost from the off - my initial thought was that here we had a new softer edged, prog-metal band with a well-developed sound, strong melodies, great musicianship and some interesting influences from the 70's and 80's. Now, imagine my shock when I discovered that they've been going for 30 years and this is their 17th studio release! Thirty years? Which stone have I been under all of that time?

Obviously then I took the time to catch up a bit on what has gone before and gleaned the key information that with this release the band have explicitly tried to recapture the sound and feel from their earlier recordings. Whether this is the case I couldn't personally say but comments I've read from others appears to indicate that they have been successful. I can't imagine that the original albums back in 1978 sound quite like this, obviously the recordning, production and keyboard technology has moved on a lot since those days. There's no doubt that Saga have a trademark style and sound but this CD has a distinctly modern feel and doesn't seem out of place alongside the more gentle tracks by bands like Threshold whilst at the same time evoking memories of great bands from the past - I was distincly reminded of Utopia in several songs.

It was Ian Crichton's guitar that really made me think this was a CD by a new band, it sounds so fresh and modern throughout - no signs of a world-weary group going through the motions here, this is excellent playing! Following that, the keyboards dominate - there are three credits for this on the CD: Ian's brother Jim, who's also playing the bass, Jim Gilmour (when did you last see a band with two Jims?) and singer Michael Sadler (also playing some bass). I couldn't say who's the main player but they keyboards are good, very good in fact, working very well with the other instruments, utilising some nice patches and taking the lead when necessary. Apparently drummer Brian Doerner is new to the band but he's combining well with Jim C's busy bass. Finally we have the vocals of Michael - he has a great voice, quite a lot of character and with the ability to belt it out on the louder tracks or keep it soulfull when necessary.

Generally speaking you could classify the music as melodic, power prog - the pacy opener That's As Far As I'll Go with it's strong riffs, sing-along chorus, layered keyboards and a cracking guitar solo (very technical but very short also and never self-indulgent) sets the overall feel for most of the CD although It's Your Life is perhaps the most indicative track of the CD as a whole. There is variation though, Back To The Shadows is a little slower paced with more memorable molodies and a great little guitar hook through the main verses. I'm OK and On The Other Side are the two tracks that make me think of Utopia, circa Oops, Wrong Planet era. I also get a very faint sniff of the late commercial work of Gentle Giant although it's only a lingering scent - like when a beperfumed woman passes you in the street.

Time To Play is my least favourite track on the CD, it has a slight funky, rappy feel and I don't really like it at all. My Friend is a pleasant prog balad with some great singing and nice piano work and You Were Right has a piano line that's highly evocative of Clocks by Coldplay although the comparison ends there! The title track delivers more pacy power prog and Ice In The Rain again gives a hint of funkiness in it's verse but has a more convetional chorus. The absolute stand-out track on the CD is Footsteps In The Hall, from the delightful keyboard and guitar opening through the superbly catchy verse, the heavily riff-laden chorus and the guitar/keyboard unison solo it's a real treat!

As a first exposure to this Canadian band it has been a pleasure. I'm not feeling the urge to rush out and buy their whole back-catalogue but I'm certainly enjoying listening to this CD and am pleased to have it in my collection. Surely serves as a great introduction to anyone out there who's Saga-curious.

Conclusions:

MARTIEN KOOLEN : 9 out of 10
DAVE BAIRD : 8 out of 10