Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Saga
Label: SPV Records
Release: 2004
Rating: 4/5
(review author #2: Peter Podbrežnik)
Legendary Canadian art rockers Saga have aged like fine wine with every album they’ve put out in the new century. After a full renaissance of their sound on “Full Circle” (1999), the masterpiece “House Of Cards” (2001) and the excellent “Marathon” (2003), they carried on at an undiminished pace, mixing their trademark sound with a few ideas, rare as they are, that they’d never used before. “Network” is a kind of sonic bridge between classic Saga of the ’80s and their more modern sound, with a production that punches up the hard-hitting lines of the individual compositions a bit more, which the more than fitting, symbolic cover nicely illustrates, with old and new woven together. “Network” is thus yet another fairly traditional, classic Saga album with their signature blend of melodic hard rock and symphonic progressive rock, though with its load of complex, unpredictable time changes and symphonic bits on sophisticated keyboards, they lean a touch more toward the latter, even if they again make sure they don’t drift too far out into experimental “space”. As for potential hits that could break onto the local radio charts, there are none to be found on the album this time either. Ambitions like that more or less died off after the ’80s, and if a song did have hit potential, it was purely by accident.
Compared to its predecessor “Marathon”, “Network” has somewhat fewer mid-tempo songs, while the rhythm section has noticeably gained punch and heft, thanks mostly to American drummer Christian Simpson, who replaced original drummer Steve Negus, who decided to retire. The latter was, in my opinion, an important part of their recognizable sound, and losing him wasn’t without noticeable consequences. Simpson’s hard rock drumming style is noticeably more hard-hitting than his predecessor’s and at times he lays into the kit with almost too much gusto, which could irritate quite a few of the band’s older followers. His weak spots show mostly in the instrumental sections, where he often sounds not dynamic or witty enough and just too stiff. Simpson’s stint in the lineup was short, since illness forced him to leave the band after only a year. Personally, I didn’t grieve much over his drumming approach, even though it’s one of this album’s key recognizable elements. Luckily, the other sonic elements stayed intact, and Saga keep their recognizable style throughout the album, with Sadler’s charismatic vocals and the interplay between Ian Crichton’s punchy guitar passages and Jim Gilmour’s keyboards playing the central role.
The individual songs are solid at the very least, if not exactly very catchy, but there’s no real masterpiece or classic this time. “On The Air” flows, after a witty radio announcement, into a building rhythm with subdued vocals and sound samples on the keyboards that create a mysterious, melodramatic mood. The moment a bouncy guitar riff and a sharpened rhythm kick in, the song gets swept off into completely different waters. As expected, the song is strongest where Ian’s guitar passages and the symphonic keyboard textures wash into each other, tied together by Sadler’s dramatic vocals. The “radio broadcast” continues with “Keep It Reel”, which surprises with an extremely punchy and ominous guitar riff, backed by a heavily grooving rhythm. Sadler’s vocal performance is marked by undisguised sarcasm, which was typical of plenty of their past output. Some of the time changes in the rhythm and the guitar even have a few parallels with some older work by their Canadian comrades Rush. Melodic layers of synths bring just the right amount of subtlety to an otherwise quite hard-hitting piece. “I’m Back” opens with an almost epic layer of synths, followed by a mid-tempo rhythm and a pretty standard, multi-voice chorus. There’s no shortage of nice keyboard ornaments and a very good guitar solo.
“If I Were You” is a romantic ballad on acoustic guitar with lots of symphonic keyboard arrangements, where Sadler’s vocals shine in all their glory when it comes to conveying subtle emotions. “Outside Lookig In” has a good dose of symphonic ambience, mostly thanks to multilayered keyboard textures, the ethnic sound of the percussion and a dreamy multi-voice chorus. “Don’t Look Now”, one of the better pieces on the album, turns after a short intro into a wound-up energy charger with raw hard rock solos from Ian and an epic chorus. Saga wouldn’t be Saga, of course, if they hadn’t thrown in a short symphonic instrumental section with lovely synth textures along the way. “Live At Five” has a hefty neo-prog rock component, mostly thanks to the synth sound, though there’s no shortage of sharp, almost metal guitar passages (Ian was always the most “bloodthirsty” member of the band, after all). The instrumental section is again very good, even if the stiff, not dynamic enough drum sound occasionally gets in the way. “Back Where We Started” is another fairly solid creation, with keyboardist Gilmour in the leading role, once again proving himself on lead vocals, though the chorus is nothing special and the rhythm is a bit too monotonous. “Believe” is another subtle (power) ballad with lovely piano arrangements, which with anyone other than Michael behind the mic would’ve been pure saccharine pathos, but as it is, it’s always a pleasure to listen to. In the beautiful finale, Ian casually slips in another one of his trademark guitar solos. The closing “Don’t Make a Sound” is one of the album’s best moments, with a prominent line of Jim’s bass that, after a mysterious intro, shifts into an energetic section where the epic vocals, potent guitar passages and some interesting keyboard motifs shine. The song really comes alive after the second transition, where ambient keyboard layers come crashing in beautifully, followed by an instrumental section that builds up on drums, sonic curtains and guitar acrobatics.
“Network” was, as expected, a worthy successor to “Marathon” and yet another very solid album from a legendary band that hasn’t stopped wowing us with splendid records since the late ’90s, even though in my view it brought nothing particularly new to their musical expression so far, and you can almost feel an excess of caution on it, a wish to please the traditional fan base as much as possible without taking any risks. You miss a bit more experimentation and their trademark wit in certain motifs, since at times it seems they’d rather stay within the lines than allow themselves a bolder prog rock venture. Still, for a band that was rarely inclined toward excessive experimentation or pushing sonic boundaries, this was certainly much better than accidentally making a fool of themselves with another debacle like the catastrophic album “Pleasure & Pain” (1997), while their conceptual prog rock peak “Generation 13” (1995) simply couldn’t be topped when it comes to the heights of their sonic experiments and departures from the classic sound. “Network” will thus undoubtedly satisfy all their traditional fans, who value melodicism and directness most in them, but to reach masterpiece status like “House Of Cards” did, it’s missing a bit more rhythmic wit and unpredictability.
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(review author #1: Aleš Podbrežnik)
There’s no longer any doubt that the legendary Canadian progressive art rock band Saga are enjoying a new spring! That unfortunate shot in the dark, the electro-synth-pop “Pleasure And The Pain” (1997), which would have been better off simply called “The Pain”, has finally been put to rest for good.
With “Network”, Saga don’t just confirm one more time that they’re back on their (real) tracks, the tracks where they’ve always done best. They’re hitting with a new album harder than I can remember since “Worlds Apart” (1981) or “Heads Or Tails” (1983). “Network”, as the successor to “Marathon” (2003), which carries all the excellence of typical Saga creations, tops its predecessor in that this time Saga aren’t just concerned with the compactness of the songs. They took a full run-up, and so they sound even more progressively daring and hit even livelier! “Network” is wound up even more in a “rockin'” way than the last three Saga “post Pleasure And The Pain” albums. So the album breathes with full lungs, carries a greater measure of variety and unpredictability, which, in the right hands, are the trump cards that tip the scales for prog acts, the difference between bands (written in capital letters) and (the rest of the) bands.
Wildly catchy melodicism, for the ear, is present throughout every point of the new album. The approach is uniquely “Sagarian” with Ian Chrichton’s unmistakable sharp guitar “jangle”, brilliantly wrapped in a massive curtain of synthesizers, into which extra synth tunes and computer samples are once again woven most tastefully, surprising the listener over and over with their inventiveness. Singer Mike Sadler is as expressive as ever, his vocals tender, sophisticated, thin, melancholic. When he hits the heart of the matter with that heartfelt sensuality, it lands like a bolt from the blue.
One of the album’s most impressive moments is caught in the second song, where Saga equipped the track Keep It Reel brilliantly with an “air raid” siren. The alarming backdrop of the song literally scares the listener with its drama, and thanks to the atmosphere it conjures up, the song truly sounds uniquely progressive.
On “Network” we can enjoy typical Saga rhythm tempo changes, lightning-fast guitar runs over the basic motifs that make sure “something’s always going on”, and a massive curtain of keyboard sound that keeps the mood high all the way through. The bass in the production firmly ties the other instruments together and plays an especially pivotal role in the bouncy moments of the album like I’m Back, Don’t Look Now and Live At Five. Saga brought a new drummer into the ranks, Christian Thompson, who replaced longtime band member Steve Negus. Christian’s lightning-fast drumming brought an extra dose of energy to the sound, which “Marathon” didn’t get on the drumming front. Saga flip all kinds of high moods upside down like it’s nothing. Seasoned old cats do it with ease, and Ian Chrichton’s hard-hitting solos deserve special blame for it.
After the blistering start of the first three songs, Saga slow the ball down with the excellent half-ballad If I Were You, led by acoustic guitar. The atmosphere is at one of its peaks and carries on through yet another superb half-ballad “stunner”, Outside Looking In. The contrast between the acoustically arranged guitar, the solid curtain of synthesizers and heavy drums is phenomenally topped off by Sadler’s sorrowful, fragilely sensual vocals, which gives the Saga story a completely unique dimension again and again. The mid-tempo track Back Where We Started is an excellent example of the dual nature of the mood, between the subtler pre-chorus and the cannon-fire metalized riff of the chorus. This band is graced by extraordinary magic, a reflection of long-standing partnership and exceptional chemistry that works among the members unsurpassed.
Bands usually show that they’ve got perfection of expression in rock music precisely in how they handle ballads. And the ballad Believe confirms that for a band of Saga’s caliber. Classical piano and Mike’s vocals play an integral role in it, and later whole orchestral violin arrangements join the song. The fantasy of melancholy and unsung pain is broken through by rock in the middle, which blasts the listener off toward new spheres. The album closes with the most beautiful composition possible, called Don’t Make A Sound, which practically rounds up everything Saga are. The opening motif alone, just by its “feel”, even brushes up against Purple’s Child In Time. So in this song Saga are presented in miniature! If you don’t know the band, then when trying out the unknown in a record store, spin this track first, since it’s a textbook example of everything Saga are and have ever been.
Sadly, there’s no room today for music like this to be played on the radio. We people today don’t even know anymore what beauty our organs of reception pass by far too often. Sadly. So “Network”, despite all the superlatives used in this review, will remain an overlooked masterpiece of rock music of our day. On the other hand, the ever-faithful base of Saga fans (“Sagarians”) will be endlessly happy with “Network”.
Lineup
Michael Sadler – vocals, keyboards
Ian Crichton – guitar
Jim Crichton – bass guitar, keyboards
Jim Gilmour – keyboards, backing vocals
Christian Simpson – drums
Production
Jim Crichton
Tracklist
1. On The Air (6:25)
2. Keep It Reel (4:18)
3. I’m Back (5:01)
4. If I Were You (3:48)
5. Outside Looking In (4:13)
6. Don’t Look Now (5:05)
7. Live At Five (5:15)
8. Back Where We Started (4:16)
9. Believe (4:56)
10. Don’t Make A Sound (6:18)
Album length: 49:44
