New Music Corner #86 (Saga, The Prog Collective)

[Scott]

FINALLY!!! New Music this week and its all Prog all the time! Two great prog masters showcase diverse approaches to this genre. Each with a mastery that must be heard to appreciate fully!

So without delay, here you go...

PLAYLIST:http://snack.to/azkioayl

SAGA - 20/20 August 2012 1. Anywhere You Wanna Go 2. Spin It Again 3. One Of These Days 4. Till The Well Runs Dry So much to like about this album. Michael Sadler has rejoined the band after a one album absence and this one's got special written all over it! (In my opinion anyway). The production of the album is really nice. The sounds the bands get on each track is special, I will be spinning this one for a long time to come. And they even give a nod to the Chapters! Yup, remember those? That's Albert Einstein on the cover behind that eye testing thingy. And for the one or two of you that caught this, we did a post of all the original 8 chapters in sequence a month or two back. So your getting that as a bonus (a bonus only found on CRB by the way!) But wait, that's not it! Act now and you we'll give the one off Sadler-less album, AKA The Human Condition, as a free bonus just for listening and commenting ... and you don't have to worry about processing and handling either! Beat that on some other site! I dare ya....

THE PROG COLLECTIVE - S/T August 2012 5. The Laws of Nature 6. Over Again 7. The Technical Divide 8. Buried Beneath Prog Masters from the 70's UNITE!! I know RJ likely won't care much for this, but prog fans will. This is the superstars of the 70's prog genre coming together on one album that is so full of hidden surprises and great jams that this is a must-buy for any prog fan! Look at this line-up... Rick Wakeman, John Wetton, Tony Kaye, Tony Levin, Colin Moulding, John Wesley, Richard Page, Chris Squire, Alan Parsons, with appearance by, Geoff Downes and Steve Morse. All brought together by ex-Yes member Billy Sherwood. Hope you like the result!

[Jon]

The Prog Collective--Thumbs Wavering between 3/4 and Fully Up

The violin on the first song was extremely annoying, it was overtaking the song at some points and was quite a distraction. The rest was fine, mostly sounded like Yes which is surprising considering the members, thought it would be a mixture of all the bands. Buried Beneath is a fantastic song, it's stuck in my head. Even with the over abundance of the violin in song 1, I'm probably going to buy this. Umm....Mr. Mister was prog? And is there a song on the album with Annie Haslam singing?  

[Scott]

Nice!!!

[Jon]

Saga--Thumbs WAY up

One problem though...the fourth song stuck halfway thru, when I went back in to listen, it wouldn't play at all. Everything played fine when I went back in, so it's the fourth song that's messing around for some reason.

Now I'm not the biggest Saga fan out there, have always thought that they were a bit wimpy, but there are some songs I like. I do like Trust and 20,000 Days. But this album? Holy S*%#! The geetars are heavy (which I like) and the 3 1/2 song posted here are fantastic. Always have had an issue with Sadler's voice as well, but he sounds great here. From the Saga I've owned and heard, this seems to be the heaviest they've been, maybe forever? Definite purchase for me.

Hell, I'm liking this so much that I'm listening to Spin It Again again!

Excellent picks!

[Jon]

Hmmm....

[Scott]

Always the rip-off!  Cant these "pop" music stars get their own stuff?

[Jon]

I know. I saw this and said "Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat?"