Saga - Heads or Tails Live

A decent live album that could've been a lot better. Pity they didn't wait a little later to have Sadler return to the fold.I was never the biggest Saga fan growing up, but have come to appreciate their music more over the past few years.  The first full length CD I had heard from them was their 2009 release, The Human Condition, and I gotta say I really dug it. So when their new live album was released, I knew I wanted to check it out.   Heads or Tails was the band's 5th studio album which came out back in 1983.  For the 25th anniversary of that release the band decided to do a live recording of the full album - but this time, with a different vocalist. 

Editor's Note: Rob Morratti replaced original vocalist Michael Sadler in 2008, but has since been replaced by the original vocalist Sadler, in 2011.

Sonically the CD sounds well, but it didn't do as much for me as the last studio release.  I'm not sure if it lost some of its flavor due to the fact that Sadler didn't sing on this release.  Moratti is a great vocalist, and sounded great on the last studio release, but on this one I think he was just weak in some areas.  Not being familiar enough with Heads or Tails, I can't really make the judgement, but something was definitely lacking on this live recording.  The band as a whole sounds great, and I did get into this record, but unfortunately it just didn't blow me away like I was hoping.

Bottom Line:  A good release from the band, but should have been done once Sadler was back in the fold.  Incredible musicianship throughout the disc, but some of the songs fall a little short vocally. This one might have been better had the band just recorded a regular show which encompassed the entire catalog.

Standout Tracks: Intermission, Cat Walk, Social Orphan and The Sound of Strangers

- Ragman is on the loose...