Canadian prog rockers Saga have been around for nearly 30 years, and Trust is their brand new album that sees them both perfecting their established sound and adding in new elements. The result is an album rich in melody and dynamic in production. Michael Sadler's vocals are incredible; the man seems to get better and better, while Jim Gilmour absolutely steals the show on keyboards and backing vocals. It's been a long time since he pulled out so many varied sounds out of his keyboard, opting for expressive atmospherics and some of his finest lead work in years.

Joining the band is new drummer Brian Doerner, who does a great job on the melodically driven "Back to the Shadows", which touches on AOR, pop, rock, and even the band's earlier prog releases, with excellently performed multi-vocal harmonies, both guitar and synth solos, and millions of keyboard-generated melodies overdubbed by three of the five members. The piano playing on "I'm OK" is agile and finds Saga going back to their earlier symphonic roots, highlighting Sadler's brilliant vocals. The guitar work on this song recalls Neal Schon on the first Journey album, utilising lots of tapping harmonics that are surrounded by sweet synth tones.

There is so much diversity here. The intense sound effects on "That's As Far As I'll Go"; the blues licks on "Time to Play"; the ballady acoustic number "My Friend" (complete with woodwind players); or the retro-prog heard on "On the Other Side" all contain elements that would normally never be combined on prog albums. But it's the Saga guys' years of experience and ear for melody and arrangement that blends everything together, where heavy, rumbling bass lines are juxtaposed with AOR-tinged vocals, acoustic interludes, and staggering interplay between guitars and keyboards. Aside from these easy-listening yet quite complex numbers, the band also rocks out on the catchy "It's Your Life", marked by a huge chorus that will make for a great live song. "Footsteps in the Hall" is the band's shining moment, as they play at least half a dozen synth melodies interacting with each other, extracting all kinds of sounds and tones, and soloing magically into the stratosphere, yet doing it all without overplaying.

Feel free to add Trust to Saga's consistent back catalog. It's a gem. Also note that the limited edition of the album comes with a DVD of the making of the album.

Track Listing

That's As Far As I'll Go
Back to the Shadows
I'm OK
Time to Play
My Friend
Trust
It's Your Life
Footsteps in the Hall
Ice in the Rain
You Were Right
On the Other Side
Added: April 19th 2006
Reviewer: Murat Batmaz
Score: ♦♦♦♦