Search - Saga :: Generation 13

Something less brought about a certain prolixity...but is OK

Lethe | Milan, Italy | 03/08/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Well this album-issued on 1995-was the big turn of their career towards a more progressive sound of their own!! That is this was an important concept album for the famous canadian ensemble, based upon an unknown book (to me unknown naturally!) "13 GEN abort retry ignote 63" by Howe and Strauss: the story takes place in the 21th century, within an apocalyptic scene regarding N.Y.C and its new Generation X... Jim Gilmour is involved with the orchestrations on keyboards and the vocals as well,making a great job; while Ian Crichton as usual utilizes a lot of guitars, always put in evidence in a powerful manner -almost in the vein of prog-metal music- in order to let the story become more dramatic and violent...sometimes some orchestral breaks through and a vivid narration as well, also performed by an Android voice and a young child too, make this album very interesting and under a costant high tension!! The main defect of this album is its prolixity and the excessive repetition of the same themes almost all along the story,which at last becomes quite boring. But, apart from this considerations,this is their first attempt to break the schemes, with their purpose to abandon the simple structure of a song and looking forward to emulating the famous rock opera of the seventies!! The great final section of the album is represented by a fantastic modern symphonic stuff, with a stunning crescendo and the final catharsis of the drama.
This is the most progressive effort by Saga and it is worth checking out, even though is prolix in some circumstances;but for sure the fans of 70's prog this time have to bestow a "favour" or a chance on this band, often regarded as too much mainstream ...REMARKABLE STUFF!!"