Beekstraat 1 - B-2640 Mortsel - Belgium

SAGA: Trust

Release

Style

I can hardly believe it. I started listening to ‘Trust’, thinking ‘what am I going to write about this one, what can be different to all their previous attempts to get the original Saga sound back together?’ It’s their 17th studio album and from ‘Full Circle’ on, every album was getting closer to that sound, but they never got all the way. I even started wondering if they really wanted to sound like on their early albums. But then I heard ‘Trust’ for the first time, and I immediately heard, knew and felt ‘this is it, Saga is back.’

I’m still flabbergasted by the first few auditions of this album. All the known Saga sounds, riffs, guitar and keyboard solo’s are suddenly back as if they always were there, but they didn’t want to play them anymore.
Every track on ‘Trust’ is top notch. Every song is a trip down Memory Lane, without sounding old-fashioned. Every Saga fan will adore this one. Or with the words of Michael Sadler: “It’s different in that we very deliberately made an attempt to revive a few of the more progressive elements from our earlier albums. It’s something that our fans have wanted us to do for a long time and we wanted to try this as much as possible without limiting our creativity.”

And indeed, no limits to their creativity, just listen to the last track ‘On the other side’, that opens as an Irish folk track with accordion to slowly evolve into the better known Saga sound. Most of the tracks rock as before, while others have that special emotional touch as in “My Friend”, a ballad with additional woodwind players to give that extra feeling.
‘Don’t Be Late’, ‘Scratching the Surface’, ‘Social Orphan’,… all these songs are somewhere hidden within the new tracks but who cares? That’s what we wanted, isn’t it?

The old sound, the years of experience, the new technology and production make this even better than their older work. It’s the very first time I give an album the maximum score, certainly because of the quality of the music and also a bit because of the relieve that I finally hear Saga again. Let’s show them our appreciation for their effort to please their fans, so, buy this CD and visit their live shows. For the first time in years, you won’t be disappointed.

Musicians

Michael Sadler: vocals, keyboards
Ian Crichton: guitar
Jim Gilmour: keyboards, vocals
Jim Crichton: bass, keyboards
Brian Doerner: drums

That’s As Far As I’ll Go (04:34)
Back To The Shadows (05:13)
I’m OK (05:34)
Time To Play (03:29)
My Friend (03:16)
Trust (05:42)
It’s Your Life (04:08)
Footsteps In The Hall (03:23)
Ice In The Rain (05:00)
You Were Right (04:04)
On The Other Side (04:56)

Saga (1978)
Images At Twilight (1979)
Silent Knight (1980)
Worlds Apart (1981)
In Transit (live) (1982)
Head Or Tales (1983)
Behaviour (1985)
Wildest Dreams (1987)
The Beginner's Guide To Throwing Shapes (1989)
The Security Of Illusion (1993)
Steel Umbrellas (1994)
Generation 13 (1995)
Pleasure & The Pain (1997)
Detour (live) (1998)
Full Circle (1999)
House Of Cards (2001)
Marathon (2003)
Silhouette (dvd 2003)
All Areas (dvd 2004)
Network (2004)
Chapters Live (2005)
Trust (2006)

Website in order to promote progressive rock to a broader audience in Flanders but also in the entire world. No part from this website may be used in any other publication whether in print or on the world wide web without the editor's consent - all material is exclusive to Prog-Nose and copyright protected.

Last updated: 10 april 2006 .
All rights reserved. Copyright © Prog-Nose 30/05/2001.