I’m sure I share the opinion of a lot of Saga fans when I divide Saga’s carreer into three major periods. The first period from “Saga” upto “Heads or Tales” was certainly their best and afterwards it went downhill to a middle period, which was clearly a valley in their musical lifes, although there were also a few better moments, for example “Generation 13”, an album which I still consider as a pioneer for Spock’s Beard and Transatlantic. And then came the third period, starting with “Full Circle”. Meanwhile, we are already three albums further down the line and I’m listening to studio album 15. Of course, the big question rises, are they still in that better Saga era?
And I can only assent to this question. Although many will say that Saga will never be the early Saga again. And yet, there’s no other band which is so easy to recognize from the first tones of an album on. But maybe that’s also a bit of a disadvantage after 15 albums.

About half of the tracks are about TV and the effects that it has on people. “On The Air”, the great opening track – there isn’t a more typical Saga song than this one – is about people for whom the TV is their only purpose in life and because of that they live in a fantasy world, losing touch with reality. While “Live at Five” criticises the excesses of sensational journalism. This two tracks are bound to get some movement in the audiences during their live performances.
“Don’t Look Now” is some sort of medley of references to earlier Saga tracks. Not that you find any known pieces in it, but you will certainly recognize the atmosphere of certain passages. And even Ian is once again showing his fingerspeed on his guitar. ‘Live at Five” also points to their heydays. And they are clearly aware of their come back if you look at certain songtitles like “I’m Back” and “Back To Where We Started”.
Ian Crichton is obviously back with his guitar solos. Not as prominent as on their first albums but a lot more than on their more recent CD’s. At least, he proves that he’s still can play them. And Jim Crichton conjures a whole arsenal of new sounds out of his keyboards, once more.
Although Chirstian Simpson delivers some beautiful work on the drumkit, I slightly miss Steve’s electronic drumpads, which made part of the Saga sound.
As usual, Michael Sadler is playing a star role. He seems to improve on each album. The way he lets his vocal cords vibrate during “If I Were You”, is surely an example for a lot of younger vocalists.

The other ballad “Believe” is one of the few superfluous tracks on the album. Maybe I can say the same about “Don’t Make A Sound”. Although it’s a typical Saga track, I get the feeling I have heard this once too often.

So it’s clearly a Saga album from their later, better period, with some references to their heydays. A great asset to a Saga fan’s collection, who hopefully will be satisfied with this new little (net)work.