Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Saga
Label: Ear Music Records
Release: 2011
Running time: 42:50
Rating: 4.5/5
“Heads Or Tales” holds a special place in the hearts of all fans of the legendary Canadian prog rockers Saga, since the band was at the peak of its creative powers and commercial fame back then. Still, hardly any of them would have guessed that almost thirty years after its release, their heroes would be playing the whole 1983 masterpiece live. The decision to play all of “Heads Or Tales” on stage is even more surprising given that from 2008, meaning around the time they put out the studio album “The Human Condition” (2009), until 2010, Saga were in the middle of a radical lineup shake-up.
Longtime singer and founding member Michael Sadler decided to devote himself to his family for an indefinite period, and ex-Final Frontier vocalist Rob Moratti stepped in to replace him. Moratti, an exceptional vocal talent himself, found himself with the thankless job of filling in for the irreplaceable Sadler, without a doubt the main charisma and trademark of this unique band from Oakville. As expected, this stretch didn’t last long, and already in early 2011 Michael returned to his old pals, much to the delight of most fans, while Rob parted ways amicably with the Crichton brothers, keyboardist Jim Gilmour and drummer Brian Doerner and focused on his solo career.
Saga have long been known for their live albums being something special. In 2005, for instance, they released “Chapters Live”, on which they played the whole series of concept pieces known as the ‘chapters’, which wrap up the sci-fi saga about the theft of Einstein’s brain. Then in 2007 they made longtime fans happy with “Worlds Aprat Revisited”, on which they played the entire masterpiece “Worlds Apart” (1981). Plenty of the classics actually came out even more interesting and eye-catching live on these releases than in their studio versions. “Heads Or Tales Live” is no different, though it would be flat-out wrong, even borderline blasphemous, to claim that Moratti matches Sadler in how he handles these classics or that Sadler isn’t missed. Rob has a completely different, distinctly melodic-rock tone of voice, and his decision not to try to imitate his famous and vocally far more versatile predecessor turned out to be the right one.
The “Heads Or Tales” standards come to life in a totally different light, starting with the opening hit “The Flyer”, one of the most beloved classics in the band’s history. This timeless piece seems made for Rob’s voice, so it’s no surprise they opened the shows on “The Human Condition” tour with it. It goes without saying that his bandmates nail some of the pieces that hadn’t been played on stage in ages. It’s a real treat, for instance, to hear a forgotten evergreen like “Cat Walk” live again after so long, where they never fail to enchant with synth multi-harmonies and the closing guitar solo blowout courtesy of Ian Crichton.
Even “The Sound Of Strangers”, which thanks to its slower tempo and fairly repetitive lyrics is perhaps the least interesting track on the whole of “Heads Or Tales”, comes off really well in Rob’s rendition. The epic “The Writing” is finger-licking good in its reworked version, though it’s again one of those classics you can hardly imagine without Sadler’s contribution. On the complex ballad “Intermission” they predictably calm things down quite a bit, with the electrified atmosphere, partly thanks to the lively crowd, giving way to total melancholic subtlety. The ‘daydreaming’ is then neatly broken up by the punchy, fast-paced “Social Orphan”.
The short appetizer “The Vendetta (Still Helpless)” is mostly a chance to play around with witty synth textures and an overture to one of the highlights of this live release. That’s the solemn, almost sacred moment when longtime keyboardist Jim Gilmour takes over vocal duties on the brilliant ballad “Scratching the Surface”, one of the few “Heads Or Tales” classics that basically can’t be missing from any Saga show. The live run through the whole of “Heads Or Tales” wraps up with the brilliant art rock treat “The Pitchman”, where they once again show why they’ve always been seen as some of the most successful bridge-builders between prog rock and AOR.
The real quality of “Heads Or Tales Live” won’t be judged until years from now, but it’s already a one-of-a-kind live document of a short-lived era in the story of these Canadian prog rock legends, when they had to do their best to cope with a second singer for the first time and convince longtime fans that there’d been no radical shift in their creative vision. Plenty of longtime fans, or rather traditionalists, will no doubt grumble that it would all be even better with Sadler, but the true value of the whole recording lies precisely in its uniqueness, its almost exotic quality, which Moratti’s voice brought to Saga’s longtime classics.
Lineup
Rob Moratti – vocals
Ian Crichton – guitar
Jim Crichton – bass guitar
Jim Gilmour – keyboards
Brian Doerner – drums
Production
Saga
Track list
1. Intro (1:43)
2. The Flyer (4:03)
3. Cat Walk (4:21)
4. The Sound Of Strangers (3:55)
5. The Writing (4:06)
6. Intermission (6:14)
7. Social Orphan (3:27)
8. The Vendetta (Still Helpless) (1:56)
9. Scratching The Surface (5:17)
10. The Pitchman (7:03)
