Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Saga
Label: SPV Records
Release: 1997
Rating: 3.5/5
“Phase One 1978” is a collection of previously unreleased recordings and demo versions of some already-released songs that Saga recorded in 1978, while working on their second album “Images At Twilight” (1979). Back then, the band felt most of these recordings weren’t good enough to earn a spot on that album. For a long time they were the holy grail for the band’s devoted fans and assorted music collectors, and for years they were pretty hard to get hold of. Since they were reissued on CD during the mid-1997 tour, though, they’re no longer hard to find in well-stocked music shops (at least in musically developed countries, which sadly doesn’t include our little sub-Alpine Šentflorjan valley, where you can hardly find even their studio releases).
The production (at least by Saga’s usually high standard) isn’t exactly enviable. That’s most obvious on the demos of the three tracks that made it onto “Images At Twilight”. These versions are very much demos, and only slightly different from the ones released on the album. “You’re Not Alone” has extra backing vocals in the choruses, “Mouse In a Maze” has a somewhat murkier sound and more synths, while “Hot To Cold” has more synth parts and the occasional extra backing vocal. None of them, of course, comes close to the quality of the final versions. Still, all five of the as-yet-unreleased tracks are worth the fans’ attention, since most of them rank among the band’s most experimental and unusual work. “Half the Time” has almost space rock elements on the keyboards, right up until a punchy guitar riff kicks in and carries it into more hard rock waters. With Ian Crichton’s excellent guitar soloing and great ambient keyboard motifs, it’s one of the bigger prog rock moments from their early days. “Old Man” sounds quite neo prog, mainly thanks to the bouncy rhythm and numerous symphonic keyboard textures. Some of the synth passages recall a saxophone, while here and there you can catch an interesting bluesy motif. “Hangman”, at almost eight minutes one of their longer pieces, is another fairly interesting prog rock creation. Broad layers of ambient keyboards give it a space rock and even slightly psychedelic vibe. A calm, slow rhythm and melancholic vocals run through the song. A few interesting psychedelic instrumental bits, rather atypical for Saga, come as a surprise. The rhythm section even reminds me slightly of their Canadian comrades Rush, specifically some of the rhythm sections of “Cygnus-X1 Book 2” from the album “Hemispheres” (1978). The resemblance isn’t even obvious, but still, it’s better they didn’t put it on a studio release. “Don’t Bother” is a fun, utterly unserious circus burlesque that recalls the movements of Pinocchio or music from some Super Mario video game, with Sadler singing goofy verses through an effect, hand claps in the background, and the whole thing laid over a swaying rhythm. Bluesy keyboard parts create the atmosphere of some cowboy saloon. It also recalls some of those witty little tunes The Beatles used to make. “Don’t Step Out Of Line” is built on a lively rhythm with broad synth textures and a rather atypical, operetta-leaning chorus. Interesting that the synths here already sound quite typical of neo prog rock. It’s a song that offers a glimpse of what the first neo prog bands, with Marillion in the lead, would be doing in the 80s.
“Phase One” is really only for the band’s biggest fans who want to complete their collection of Saga albums, and for assorted collectors of rarities. These recordings from the days when they were still fighting for recognition and before they broke through in Europe reveal a band that, before their second album came out, had started to drop the classic 70s prog rock influences from their sound and steer toward their own brand of art rock, somewhere in the golden middle between prog, hard rock and pop.
Lineup
Michael Sadler – vocals, keyboards, bass guitar
Ian Crichton – guitar
Jim Crichton – bass guitar, synthesizer, Moog synthesizer
Jim Gilmour – keyboards, Moog synthesizer, backing vocals
Steve Negus – drums, percussion
Production
Saga
Track list
1. Half the time (7:09)
2. Old man (4:29)
3. Hangman (7:48)
4. You’re not alone (5:37)
5. Mouse in a maze (5:44)
6. Don’t bother (4:04)
7. Hot to cold (5:40)
8. Don’t step out of line (5:20)
Running time: 45:51
