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Saga: "House of Cards" |
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Saga was formed in 1977 from Toronto musicians Michael Sadler (lead vocals), Steve Negus (drums), Jim Gilmour (keyboards,vocals), Ian Crichton(guitars), and Jim Crichton (bass, synthesizer). The band performed only original material, and found themselves unable to find a niche in North America. Their first studio album performed weakly in the U.S. and Canada, but sold surprising numbers in Germany.
Throughout the first half of the 80's Saga had one success after another. Their 1981 album World's Apart gave them gold or platinum awards in both North America and Europe and produced several top 20 hits. Riding on the success of World's Apart, Saga reeled in a Juno Award for Most Promising Band.
Their next two releases, In Transit and Heads or Tales, spawned even more prolific achievement, including "The Flyer," the group's biggest hit in the United States. After the relative failure of their seventh album however, band members Steve Negus and Jim Gimour took a sabbatical, only to return in 1991.
Throughout the 90's Saga has remained stationed in Germany, touring and recording albums that receive little American or Canadian airplay, but are relatively successful across the pond.
In 2001 the band released their 16th studio album, House of Cards. The cover of the album, like many of their others, is a whimsical science fiction drawing.
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The image is dated, as if a relic from the days of leg warmers and Brian Mulroney. Sadly, the music on House of Cards is just as antiquated.
The poetic lyrics of House of Cards are nice enough, but are distant and nonsensical at times. And aside from the strong guitar playing of Ian Crichton, the group's musical abilities are mediocre at best. The synthesizers and background dialogue piled on top of their tunes only make for a cluttered recording.
Saga has a definite sound: a mix of New Age and hard rock. The two don't quite gel, making in hard to pinpoint exactly what type of band Saga is. Are they rockers perpetually trapped in the 80's, or are they merely catering to their European audiences? Is Saga actually a coalition of The Buggles and ZZ Top?
When comparing photos of Saga from their early days in the 80's to their current promo photographs, the band's style has remained static while the members have obviously aged. Saga's trend of clinging to an outdated image is not only present in their dress, but in their songs.
By Patrick MacDonald, CanEHdian.com
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