Swedish vocals, instrumental
International relevance: ***
November is generally known as Sweden's
finest heavy band (although I personally don't agree) due to three
albums, a handful of singles, and live shows remaining cherished memories
by those who attended them. When the power trio disbanded, bassist
and singer Christer Stålbrandt formed a new band on New Year's Eve
1973, Saga. They released only one album, but what an album it is!
Of course they share some traits with
November including the melancholy moving close to the surface, but
Saga's overall sound is more developed and complex (but seldom over-complicated) than Stålbrandt's former band's. ”Saga” is slightly symphonic
in style, certainly progressive but more important: always
interesting. Stålbrandt also sings better here than in November,
possibly because the songs demand more focused performances. Kenny
Bülow is an asset to the group, with a heavy yet lyrical, powerful
yet economical guitar style that taps perfectly into the nature of
the songs. The weakest link in the musician's chain is drummer Sten
Danielsson, but that's marginal criticism because the playing is
really on a generally high level.
It's hard to mention any particular
track because all of them are good, making for an album
that puts many other album's in the progressive vein to shame. An
excellent effort!
Originals are very expensive but the
album's been reissued a couple of time. There's a 1000 numbered copies Record Store Day
edition on the original Sonet label from 2013 that's both good and
still affordable. Reissue label Mellotronen has also put out several
albums with previously unreleased material from the Saga archives.
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