Customer Reviews

Worlds Apart

5 star:		(34)
4 star:		(16)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I remember seeing the video for "On The Loose" on MTV back in '82 and instantly being hooked by the the big synthesizer sound the band had. Today, "Worlds Apart" still sounds unique compared to other progressive rock bands of the time. They don't exactly sound like Rush, King Crimson, Genesis, Yes, ELP. They don't sound like Styx, Supertramp, Journey, Survivor, Loverboy or Toto. I have most of Sagas albums and believe that "Worlds Apart" is one of their best recordings. Rupert Hine (Chris De Burgh, Howard Jones, Stevie Nicks, Rush, Milla and Duncan Sheik) produced, which probably helped the band. If you listen to their later recordings after 1985, their sound slowly diminishes in originality and catchiness. This album has great progressive pop songs like "On The Loose", "Wind Him Up", "Time's Up", "The Interview" and "No Regrets". If you like progressive pop or early 80's synth-rock music, you might enjoy this release.

SAGA...one of the most progressive and underrated bands of our time. Listen to "Wind Him Up" and "On The Loose" on this CD and I guarantee you will ask yourself, "I remember these songs! Whatever happened to those guys?" Well, they're still around and they are still making great music but unfortunately radio stations no longer play intelligent, riveting, songs anymore. So, if you're into groups like Kansas, Asia, Rush, Styx, or Yes, a new dimension of music awaits you...SAGA!

Bought Worlds Apart initially in the cassette format. I wore the darn thing out I played it so much. So in the mid to late eighies when I got my first cd player Worlds Apart was one of the first three cds I bought. It to this day is my favorite musical recording by any artist.

Purchased the remaster version a couple months back and the sound quality is superb.

You probably remember On The Loose and Wind Him Up if you are reading this review. And if you have not yet bought this cd SHAME ON YOU.

If you don't own any other Saga recordings this is the one to get you started. It was there fourth release, and they are still doing it to this day. Lost track of how many cds they actually have.

My favorite tracks are about all of them. No weak ones. But I would say after On The Loose and Wind Him Up I probably like Amnesia best. It was the third single off the LP. If you haven't seen the video you must get Saga's dvd. All videos are included (minus Only Time Will Tell of Wildest Dreams) and that will definitely give you a great overview of all of Saga's music.

But while we are on this cd, go out and get it. Also included on the remastered cd is the video for Wind Him Up - a very nice bonus. Enjoy!

In the history of the band Saga, this album must rank as the best representation of what the band is about. Their fourth album, it comes after three very progressive albums, and is sort of at the crossroads with the albums that would follow it. It has a more modern and powerful production than the first three albums, but still contains elements of the earliest progressive sound. The popularity of songs On the Loose and Wind Him Up brought name recognition in the US. Accompanying videos also helped. There are other great songs also such as Framed, Time's Up, and No Stranger.

If you are new to Saga, this is the album to start off with.

A brief song-by-song review of one of Saga's most popular albums:

1. On The Loose: A very popular track that received quite a bit of air play on radio and MTV. A great pop song with a twist of Saga.

2. Wind Him Up: Another track that received alot of air play. Drummer, Steve Negus, experiments a little more with electronic drums here. Great instrumental section.

3. Amnesia: Honestly, one of the weakest tracks, but it has its moments. The repeat to fade ending can be annoying.

4. Framed: Wow! What an adventure! Figuratively speaking, Clark Kent turns into Superman as this song transforms from an everyday pop song to one of the most awesome instrumentals that Saga has ever done! Superb guitar work form Ian Crichton. Lightening fast drum rolls from Mr. Negus.

5. Time's Up: One of the more mellow songs on the album. Simple yet interesting. It has a great keyboard bass line that appears in various forms throughout the song.

6. The Interview: More upbeat than Time's Up. Simple, but it has very atmospheric keyboard and guitar work.

7. No Regrets: Quoting Mike Sadler from Saga's In Transit, "Jim Gilmour on clarinet!" A great ballad from a band that's not known for ballads.

8. Conversations: Incredible! The battle between Ian Crichton, Jim Crichton, and Jim Gilmour to play the most innovative guitar and keyboard sounds makes this song a great instrumental with the occassional lyric of "conversations!" in a synthesized voice.

9. No Stranger: A true masterpiece! The innovative keyboard and electronic drum sounds and incredible transitions to more rockin' midsection and then acoustic closure make the song a real landmark for Saga.

This review came from a person who has been a Saga fan since original release of this album. If you're a novice, grab this album! If you're a veteran who might have lost touch with Saga due to lack of popularity in the States, check out *all* of their '90's releases! They're great!

This was Saga's big splash. Here it is remastered. It has the two songs played most on the USA radio on it On the Loose and Wind Him Up. The track order is slightly different from the other version I have of it. Time's Up is in the second slot insteade of Wind Him Up. The remastering allows it to be cranked a little louder than previous versions. The weakest song on it is Amensia but it still is a pretty good song. All in an excellent effort. The video for Wind Him Up was shot live in Montreal in 1984. I still think Silent Knight is their best cd.

Saga has always been an underrated prog band especially when you speak of them to many progressive fans, who tend to look down their noses at most everything. However Saga, to me, is a pure prog band because of the very definition of progressive rock and roll. "Worlds Apart" was commercially a high water mark for the band with the help of the fine songs 'On the Loose" and "Wind HimUp". The rest of the album lays flat at first, but as the best prog albums go, it grows on you like an tough case of the flu, meaning it don't give up. Each song offers much to the listener and never sells itself short forcing the listener to accept the idea presented. The key is the band's uncanny sense of complex melody, no big fat hooks to be found on this effort, nor with any Saga effort really, the progressions slowly seep in and become entrenched in your brain like a good complex melody should. Unparalleled musicianship is to be expected and is truly delivered here most notably the climax to "Wind him up" with intense guitar brining the thunderous sound of the song ending to life. "Wind Him Up" is easily the best effort here with perfect cohesion of programmed synth and keyboards mixed during the song's bridge and the album's best melody located in the lyrics. Saga has struggled to maintain quality throughout their career, but this is subjective as their fan base can never truly agree on the band's best effort to date. My favorite Saga effort happens to be Generation 13, an album recorded well into the band's career. Go Figure. That being said if your a fan of prog rock check out Saga, for sure, if you don;'t know the band your choice of albums to start with may be a crap shoot. Don't give up on Saga.

Few casual fans of Saga knew that they were actually a Canadian based band. While this keyboard dominated high-energy rock outfit played to thousands at the Olympic Stadium in Munich, they were more of an afterthought in North America. "Worlds Apart" was the peak of the bands popularity in the United States, with "On The Loose" reaching the top 40 and gaining regular rotation on MTV. The followup single "Wind Him Up", did not fare as well, although classic rockers in Canada such as CHEZ 106 (Ottawa) and CHOM 97.7 (Montreal) still occasionally play it.
The band sound is heavily dominated by syntheziers, as lead singer Michael Sadler, Jim Gilmour, and bassist Jim Crichton all take turns on the keyboards. Very gifted musically, the bands signature sound is the guitar-keyboard synchopated solos. Always on the cutting edge of technology, the recording was done in digital format, and features a heavy dose of PPGs and Moogs. "Worlds Apart" is no doubt their finest hour, and is perhaps their only substantial mark on North American audiences.

When I go for a long drive, this is always one of the albums that get some playtime.

Other reviewers here have better described the sound of this disc, so go and read those, I agree with most of them.

This album is a story. Each track contains a distinct part of it with an underlying theme and sound tying them all together to form a greater whole. You cannot just take tracks from this album and understand the quality. It is all or nothing. If this does not make any sense to you, then don't bother with this disc. You will not really enjoy it.

On that long drive, this is some of the story that plays through my head while giving this a spin. (Or two!)

1. On the loose. --Young and wild, our character is looking for a good time enjoying life without care.

2. Wind him up. --Got the drug and gambling scene riding the wave not seeing the crash. Naive and somewhat fearless our character is heading fast toward a crash, but the going sure is good!

3. Amnesia. --Whoa! What happened last night? Where am I now? What is this stuff? How did it get here? Our character asks for a moment, "Who am I really?"

4. Framed. --I swear it was not me! No I don't have proof, but just give me one more chance and I can find some, I swear! How could this happen so fast?

5. Times up. --Waiting your life away.... Prison servitude, who knows? It really does not matter, let your creative mind fill in the details, the important point here is that our character has to pay the price for their actions.

6. The Interview. --Now it is time to tell the story once again in the hopes that someone younger and innocent might not follow our characters footsteps. Our character begins to understand themselves and what that means for the future.

7. No Regrets. --Life is hard, lessons learned. It has been quite the ride. Better to spend time now sharing what has been instead of what could be.

8. Conversations. --Life is worth living if there are people to live it with. Kind of a musical perspective on two people sharing emotion and ideas combined with the making of new friends --interesting.

9. No Stranger. --Here we find out that the whole thing is the story of someone's life being told to another person they care about. Even though our character has not always been on the straight and narrow, we learn that they care and appreciate the time they get to spend with the younger one. Hoping the whole experience was for the best, our character expresses caring and love for the younger one with a bright future.

(End of movie filmstrip commercial mark and all!)

More artists should do what SAGA has done on this album. They combine strong emotional themes with good songwriting and musical creativity to create an intriguing and thoughtful experience that spans the entire album, not just a few good tracks.

It is a shame that SAGA did not get more exposure in the States. This work makes many others from the same time period look silly and thin in comparison.

It is hard to say how much I enjoy this disc. I will say that it gets played a few times a month and probably always will.

The best time to play this is when the current pop scene is sounding uninspired, dull, repetitive whatever. When you are done regaining your perspective on the current music scene, pop in a good FIXX disc or two and do it again!

Must have!

This classic has been my favorite of all times, I first bought it on tape, then on LP and now on CD. I Have all of Saga's records, and I can tell you this is the one that best defines Saga, the combination of Keyboards and Guitar is awesome even now, imagine what was it like in the early 80's! . If you have never heard Saga, this is the CD you must buy, once you have it you won't be able to stop buying the rest of their collection. Saga still rocks, and they just proved it in "Generation 13". I can't understand how somebody can describe this album as "cheesy", this a great album, trust me on this one and buy it now!