Author: Peter Podbrežnik
Artist: Saga
Label: SPV Records
Release: 1989
Rating: 4/5
After a long flirtation with pop on “Behaviour” (1985) and “Wildest Dreams” (1987), which had quite a few interesting musical moments and brought the band noticeable commercial success, but left many longtime fans, who missed above all more progressive elements, pretty disappointed, Saga moved a bit closer to their prog rock roots again on “The Beginners Guide To Throwing Shapes”. At that point Saga were working as a trio of original members: singer/keyboardist Michael Sadler, guitarist Ian Crichton and his brother, bassist/keyboardist Jim Crichton. On drums, just like on the previous album, was the excellent jazz fusion drummer Curt Cress (Passport), who was somewhere between an official and a guest member of the band. With “The Begginers Guide” Saga decided to go back to their progressive origins and to the sound that had brought them nice commercial success in the early 80s, especially in central Europe. The Crichton brothers once again use the then-fresh, innovative sound of guitar synthesizers, or Synthaxes, on many of the album’s tracks (they were among the first musicians to start using the instrument back then). Thanks to Jim Gilmour’s (temporary) absence, the keyboards are fairly basic again, but individual arrangements are tucked effectively into the background. The essential building blocks of the band’s recognizable sound were always Michael’s vocals, which this time started to express more angry emotions again (as opposed to the romantic pathos he mostly stuck to on the previous two albums), and Ian’s trademark guitar wizardry. Ian got a bit more room again to show off his solo chops and to demonstrate some interesting riffs.
“The Beginners Guide To Throwing Shapes” is a concept album. The lyrics tell the story of a schizophrenic boy living in his own imaginary world. Nothing special, then, but definitely a step in the right direction and away from the love lyrics that dominated both predecessors. The album’s sound is still very much 80s, with a heavy emphasis on electronic drums and assorted sound effects on the keyboards. If you ignore the much less colorful keyboard sound, it’s a successful return to that classic Saga sound they wowed us with on their early albums. Pop rock moments are pretty rare this time around, and are usually just one ingredient of a bigger musical whole.
The opening art rock stormer “How Do I Look” already confirms that the chemistry between the Crichton brothers and Sadler is working again like in their best days. It’s got everything the average fan of the band could wish for – an electrified, unique guitar riff, a lively rhythm, intelligent keyboard textures and a melodic chorus that just won’t leave your head. “Starting All Over”, which kicks off with the sound of guitar synths, likewise has an exceptionally catchy, almost epic chorus, a seductively magical riff and a nice layer of keyboards in the background. The rhythm section joins Ian’s unique riff, followed by a very good guitar solo, the chorus and a sudden ending. “Shape” packs an incredible dose of energy, driven by an extremely charismatic vocal performance (those unique Sadler vocal sarcasms were often missed on the previous two albums), excellent instrumental sections with plenty of transitions on electronic keyboards, fiery guitar passages and synths. Again there’s Ian’s unique riff and an epic chorus, this time with even more dynamic instrumental bits. A creation that would sit comfortably on any of their early albums.
“Odd Man Out” is very much in the style of that classic, melancholic AOR ballad they loved making on both previous albums. The main curiosity is that Ian plays banjo on it, and in the middle section he pulls off a really great solo (then jumps straight over to a solo on electric guitar). Melancholic moments like this, which don’t sound saccharine, can be very welcome for calming the mood and giving you a bit of a “rest” on an album as dynamic and wound-up as “The Beginners Guide”. “Nineties” is a pretty interesting experiment, opening with a hymn-like multi-voice chant that also forms the main chorus. What’s interesting here is the varied use of electronic drums and sound effects, while the cheerful, dreamy, multi-voice chorus sounds rather silly. One of the album’s strongest moments, in my opinion, is definitely “Scarecrow”, with an excellent, really beautiful opening guitar riff, followed by a colorful rhythm section and the onset of energetic vocals. What I especially like about this track is how well Ian uses the guitar in the middle rhythm section, when his guitar starts to indirectly stand in for the usual rhythm section. The keyboards are also tastefully placed between the rhythm section, the guitar “sawing” and the main chorus.
The excellent “As I Am” is the closest thing on the album to a hit, even though it never was one. It’s graced with that magical, melodic Saga chorus that just won’t leave your head, and that gets even more charm from how nicely it weaves in a seductive layer of synths, a unique guitar riff and a mighty rhythm. There’s no shortage of excellent, complex progressive instrumental sections either, where we get fast, dynamic interplay between guitar and keyboards. With this mix of pop and prog elements they hit the bullseye again. A real treat and maybe even the best track on the album. “Waiting In The Wings”, alternating between dreamy calm and wound-up punchiness, is another quality creation with an interesting intro on electronic drums, joined by a mighty riff and expressive vocals. Once again it’s a good combination of pop elements (melodic, hypnotic chorus) and prog rock (a punchy riff, dynamic instrumental sections in duels between guitar, rhythm and keyboards).
The closing “Giant” is a closing progressive treat and the most experimental piece on the album. It opens in a really witty way – with an old man telling a story and an Asian motif on Ian’s banjo (this kind of humor was also missed on both predecessors). The composition wins you over mostly with its super dynamic rhythms (you can even hear a xylophone in there), expansive keyboard textures and some of the best guitar riffs and solos on the album. It’s also impressive how quickly they switch between individual motifs – as if they got bored of one in a flash before they’d even finished playing the previous one. The epic chorus with mighty vocals, harmonies, electronic drums, a snarling riff and a juicy layer of keyboards is finger-lickin’ good too. This is truly that progressive Saga again, the kind most of their fans love.
With “The Beginners Guide To Trowing Shapes” Saga very effectively returned to the old prog rock standards on which they built their best albums. Even though not all the sonic pieces of the Saga mosaic were in place yet (Jim Gilmour and drummer Steve Negus would return on the next album, though their arrival wouldn’t always bear only the best fruit in the years that followed), Saga showed, both as a trio and together with their excellent collaborator Cress, that they can make extremely polished work. “The Beginners Guide” is certainly no masterpiece, not for the band and even less for progressive rock, but it’s absolutely a must for all devotees of their first five classic albums and for those who were let down by the previous two, more radio-oriented releases.
Lineup
Michael Sadler – vocals, keyboards
Ian Crichton – guitar, banjo, guitar synth
Jim Crichton – bass guitar, keyboards, guitar synth
Curt Cress – drums, percussion
Production
Saga
Track list
1. How Do I Look (4:33)
2. Starting All Over (4:01)
3. Shape (5:10)
4. Odd Man Out (4:54)
5. The Nineties (4:16)
6. Scarecrow (4:20)
7. As I Am (5:15)
8. Waiting In The Wings (4:55)
9. Giant (7:10)
Album length: 44:34
