PLEASURE & THE PAIN

Don´t let the title fool you... this album should have been named "The Pain". Although I knew Saga were capable of producing less than enjoyable music, this is by far the worst they ever mananged to come up with. Before this one I thought "Steel Umbrellas" and "Wildest Dreams" were really bad, but somehow they both seem good compared to this one. First off, the sound is horrible. It sounds like it was recorded in someone's bathroom. The tracks stink (once again the bathroom reference could be appropriate), more or less. At the time I thought it was really sad that a band that had once made such great music, and delivered classic tracks like "Careful Where You Step" and many more, could sink to this level. In fact it was more than sad at the time. It was a tragedy and a parody as well at times ("Where´s My Money" for instance). Fortunately there were much better times ahead. Even though there are one or two tracks that I can actually stand listening to, this one leaves a distincly bad impression and is simply best forgotten.