20/20

And 20/20 was another solid release from them, being also a very welcomed return of their classic singer Michael Sadler after The Human Condition with Rob Moratti on vocals, who was only three years in the band, between 2008 and 2011. And let's be honest, Sadler is the right singer for this band and his form in 2012 was still impressive. It's very rewarding to hear than he sings as good in his 60's as he did in his 20's. Great!

And the rest of the band was also in a great form here. Ian Crichton guitars are so fun to hear as ever, with his talented rhythms, the drums are powerful, and Jim Gilmour shows why he is one of the most elegant keyboards player in prog history. The production is also very good although I miss a bit more power in some riffs. But everything sounds just fine!

The songwriting, on the other side, is sadly a bit more irregular. In 20/20 we can hear a pair of modern Saga hymns like Six Feet Under and One of These Days, which sound so catchy and funny as ever, mixed with some lackluster tracks like Another Day Out of Sight, Ball and Chain and Lost for Words. Nevertheless, the album is overall good, clearly winning the fine tracks over the mediocre ones, making the hearing of this record rather pleasant in the long term.

Best Tracks: Six Feet Under (the typical Sadler vocal melodies are back!), Anywhere You Wanna Go (an interesting mid-tempo), One of These Days (a great and classic saga song which bring On the Loose to mind!) and Till the Well Runs Dry (the most progressive one, containing an outstanding guitar solo)

Conclusion: 20/20 brought nothing new to Saga's discography, with the exceptions of a few experiments like the semi acoustic Ellery. But it's a very solid release with a pair of excellent tracks, a few good ones and only three mediocre compositions. So, the bright side clearly wins here!

The band plays beautifully, the very missed Sadler's voice was in a great form and the production is also good enough. So, if you like some of the classic Saga albums and you have not heard this release from 2012, you will be gladly surprised! This band still sounded fresh, not boring and most important, not bored after so many years making music together.

My rating: ***

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