Customer Reviews

Silent Knight

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Saga for some reason has a very regal and majestic vibe to them-very European. This lp is a great example-probably the epitome of a "Saga" record. You MUST own this if you like this group. Every song is great and the production's awesome as well. It's an amazing experience w/ headphones too!
Saga is soooo underrated it's sick! Virtually unknown in ignorant 'MTV America' (althought they got early airplay in '81 on that 'channel), this records holds up or is better than any group of the same style; ie) Rush, Yes, B.O.C., Queen, Uriah Heep, etc. Grab this cd!! The video rules too!

a masterpiece of the early 80's.nothing seems wrong with this album, the flow of each song is perfect,its magic from top to bottom. this album is one of the top prog albums of all time but most people dont know about Saga's music and still remains one of the best kept secrets in prog rock,in my list this record is right up there with Rush's 'moving pictures' no doubt about that.

After creating such a fine album just a year earlier (Images at Twilight), Saga went on to deliever what I believe is their most accessable and consistent work and what a fine album Silent Knight is.

Starting off exactly where Images left off, the band blows the listener away with Don't Be Late. That track alone is worth the whole disc, but wait there's more to come. In fact, all the songs are out of this world as the band manages at the same to stay true to their progressive roots and incorporate some of the radio friendly elements with the traditional song structure and keeping their songs under 5-6 minutes in length.

My other personal favorites are Help Me Out and Careful Where You Step, but once again, all of the songs are really of the highest quality - it's hard to believe the disc was released quarter a century ago.

The following year Saga would go on and release their most famous Worlds Apart that features my personal all time favorite song Wind Him Up that is very close to Silent Knight in style with the rest of the songs on WA leaning towards a new path the band would choose later on (progressive pop comes to mind) and stay with for the rest of the 80s, eventually returning to their roots in the 90s yet failing to match the quality of their earlier albums.

So there you have it folks, the album that should not be overlooked by you, progressive melodic pompous rock lovers.

Enjoy it!

Saga is remastering the whole collection but the amazon releases don't say it. basically if its 13.98 and released this year it is a saga remaster. This one sounds great. Dont miss the live bonus track.

This album sounds as good today as it did when it was first released. If you're into progressive style music, great lyrics, keys/synths, awesome guitar and overall brilliant musicianship then you should love this one. I think the only people who wouldn't enjoy this album are those that would listen to something more mainstream where creativity and imagination are virtually unfound. I highly recommend this album... Don't Be Late!!!

This record was THE RECORD for a whole generation of 'rockers'in my country. The SAGA MANIA broke all records and it all started with the song "dont be late"
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Having been a Saga fan (off and on) for two decades, and having purchased this album shortly after its release, this album, within the bands "learning curve", is one of their best, as many others have also attested to. Yes, most of the songs are earmarked as "early syth stuff" from a part rock, part pop sounding band from the early 1980's (this was released in 1980), yet there is always the majority who knows for sure what really sounds atleast somewhat well crafted. This is Saga's third release, and for a band that will have eventally been around for atleast 25 years (as of this year), you can be sure that atleast two or three songs off of "Silent Kningt" will hook you for a good long time, or atleast make you buy another two or three (or four) of their cd's over some time.
As with most bands or artists with something to say in their initial years, Saga surely had someting to say and play from the get go and for several albums afterward. In "Silent Knight", Saga was dripping with potential yet they were inches away from expressing the true spring/summer of what they could really pull off, which they did on their next release "Worlds Apart".
"Silent Knight" doesn't have too many moments you will want to skip past, but I'm willing to bet that the parts that you do decide to skip past will eventually egnrave its marks upon your brain only because they are, in the end, just interesting or nice to listen to only after you have digested all the other "really really good stuff" off of this release.

Saga's third album was initially disappointing for me. It has no catchy hooks for the pop-rock listener, nor does it have the nine-minute bombastic epics to satisfy the prog-rock freak. As a result it went virtually unlistened-to for its first few months in my collection. However twenty years later I regard it as one of the strongest of Saga's early offerings, and I will still gladly put on this album before any other of Saga's first five (I'm afraid the pop direction since the Worlds Apart album killed my interest in the band).

The majestic rock-waltz "Time to Go" probably best exemplifies this album as a whole: it's slow 6/8 tempo disqualifies it from being a hit single, and its 4:20 playing time hardly qualifies it as an epic, but its symphonic sweep and disciplined songcraft are as pleasing to the ear now as they were then.

Dedicated Saga fans will point you to "Don't Be Late" (chapter two of the bands "saga") as an album highlight, but I personally find it to be garden-variety prog; i.e., a bit plodding until the instrumental section finally gets the thing going.

The other song highlight is the power-rock gem "Compromise", but this album is not so much about individual songs as it is about a musical experience from beginning to end. In fact the strongest highlights of the album lie *within* particular songs, like the opening strains of "Too Much To Lose" or the butt-kicking ending of "Careful Where You Step".

Saga's first five albums display the band's musical journey from art to pop; their subsequent Worlds Apart album was their biggest success because the art served to give substance to the pop. In Silent Knight, however, the pop served to provide restraint and focus to the art, which leaves this album somehow grander and less dated.

If you are new to Saga you will first want to pick up Worlds Apart and then Images at Twilight (in reverse order if you are already a longtime prog fan). After those you will be ready to hear what this album has to offer.

I think this is the most powerful record in the history of canadian rock and progressive rock! Move over Rush, this is the recording of the decade. The futuristic keyboards are just excelllent, this is a sound you dont want to miss. This is 100 times better than Rush's 'Moving Pictures' and any Yes recording. Most underrated i do have to agree, they deserve the airplay in FM stations that other bands with less talent get. This is a 12 stars out of 10. AWESOME!

I had first heard SAGA on their first and second albums after watching them live in Mets Pavillion auditorium here in P.R., and even though I was completely blown away, when this 3rd album came out again I went on a trip to different places. Keyboard passages much more creative and beautiful than some of the masters at that time like Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis.... Wow, Saga was something else. This record is a must. I still have the original vynil recording in perfect condition as all others SAGA albums and CD's up to date. A musical group like this is something only a few will and can understand. And even though time has gone by,,, still this music stands alone created and played by real master musicians, and not by the fakes that we can hear these days where the only music they know are the programs and keys of a computer, where they even believe the big lie themselves that they are musicians - Uffff.
Behold a great masterpiece in this amazing progressive rock music that can make you dream, laugh and cry... Silent Knight