Not having chucked a pen at a Saga album for many years, it is timely that their new effort crossed my path sooner rather than later. An impressive 2006 return from a band I was totally in love with back in the 80’s.
Written by: gdmonline
ARTIST: Saga
ALBUM: Trust
LABEL: SPV
SERIAL: SPV 48842 CD
YEAR: 2006
CD REISSUE: Discogs Reissue List
COUNTRY OF ORIGIN: Canada
LINEUP: Michael Sadler – vocals, keyboards * Ian Crichton – guitars * Jim Gilmour – keyboards, vocals * Jim Crichton – bass, keyboards * Brian Doerner – drums
TRACK LISTING: 01 That’s As Far As I’ll Go * 02 Back To The Shadows * 03 I’m Ok * 04 Time To Play * 05 My Friend * 06 Trust * 07 Its Your Life * 08 Footsteps In The Hall * 09 Ice In The Rain * 10 You Were Right * 11 On The Other Side
RATING: 80/100
WEBLINK: Site Link
Background
Not having chucked a pen at a Saga album for many years, it is timely that their new effort crossed my path sooner rather than later. An impressive 2006 return from a band I was totally in love with back in the 80’s.
Many found Saga’s style of progressive rock unusual, to the point of being off putting, but if you hung in there long enough, you eventually got what they were about. The band have made an attempt to ‘go back to the future’ as it were, casting their previous musical heritage onto new material.
They do so with just about the same classic line-up as from the glory-days, with the exception of new drummer, ex Refugee skinsman Brian Doerner. We don’t go quite as far back as their earlier epics such as ‘Images At Twilight’.
The sound is lean, in fact to my way of listening, guitarist Ian Crichton is quite subdued on this release than on recent past efforts.
The Songs
Some distorted synth leads introduces ‘That’s As Far As I’ll Go’, the familiar vocal strains of Michael Sadler welcoming everyone onboard for the next 49 minutes.
‘I’m OK’ is the closest thing to the older Saga material, sounding very like a ‘Silent Knight’ offcut – Brian Doerner is even doing his best Steve Negus impersonation! ‘Time To Play’ features some Rhodes keyboards parts amid a very Genesis (circa 80’s era) like arrangement.
‘My Friend’ is a near-folk excursion with a woodwind theme and stands out as the ‘odd-man-out’ here, while the title track is a brash sounding anthemic piece with a ‘shout-it-out’ styled chorus.
My favourite track is ‘It’s Your Life’, the punchy synth/guitar combination in tandem with some tight drumming from Doerner makes this one a stand-out.
Gilmour lays down a nice synth bed on ‘Footsteps In The Hall’, allowing the Crichton brothers to come in over the top with cutting guitar blasts and pulsing bass lines.
‘Ice In The Rain’ is another (excuse the pun) cool song. The arrangement smooth – with enough room for both a synth and guitar solo.
Somewhere slightly left of center is ‘You Were Right’, the arrangement slightly quirky as it drifts in and out of the prevailing theme/melody. The aptly named ‘On The Other Side’ is the proggiest track on the album, with many different passages contained within.
In Summary
‘Trust’ is the sort of album that you need to escape with for a good solid hour or more. Saga’s music has never been about instant musical gratification, and you certainly won’t get it here.
However, the familiar themes that have populated their albums since Day One are all here, albeit wrapped in new clothing. One or two of the songs don’t hit the mark admittedly, but many others do, and that is enough for me.
Listening to ‘Trust’ should not take you too long to re-familiarise yourself with one of Canada’s essential rock music icons.
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