Saga
Silent Knight

The last of the initial triad of albums definable as quasi-prog, before the decisive change of label and producer, "Silent Knight" replicates in every way the musical ingredients of the two previous works, resulting in neither better nor worse, with its imaginative yet balanced keyboard flourishes, rounded guitar breaks, and cushy, rolling pop-rock rhythms creating a peculiar but still not thrilling hybrid between virtuosity and accessibility, suspended as it is between undeniable originality but still lacking optimal incisiveness.

However, "Don't Be Late" is a highly effective opening to the album: a soft synth arpeggio runs through the entire track, initially supporting a pleading vocal melody soon overwhelmed by powerful, loud guitar stabs that progressively also drag the rhythm section towards a furious instrumental gallop. The occasion introduces to future fans the new, third in three albums but in fact definitive keyboardist of the band, that Jim Gilmour then just twenty and as slim as a reed, now somewhat heavier but still brilliant at work behind four double racks of Korg, an indispensable sound workshop of the Saga world.

The other standout track among the eight in the lineup is the closing one, "Careful Where You Step", often chosen to open concerts due to a very evocative intro, with a synthesizer fanfare making its way through blasts of white noise and then giving way to the typical disco-prog rhythm, the emphatic vocal part, and the virtuous, intricate battle between guitar and solo keyboard, in a whirl of breaks, cross-rhythms, chases, and unisons.

When the rhythm gets more complex and the synthesizers dwell on horn-like tones or similar brass, the overall atmosphere takes on an almost entirely progressive and particularly distinctly British aftertaste, despite the Canadian origin of the band. This happens, for instance, in "Compromise", a very nice melody.

Most of the eight tracks still stay on the path preferred by Saga in this early stage of their career: a dancing progressive where the rhythm eagerly pushes with its disco groove (!), while epic keyboard blasts, anachronistic but effective in their fanfare riffs, are grafted onto it, shaped and made even more incisive by guitar accompaniment that almost constantly avoids chords, preferring continuous phrases and counterphrases, breaks and counter-rhythms, silences, and powerful crescendos. An unprecedented crossover, this one by Saga, which, despite having gained few real followers, places the group in a dimension of absolute originality nonetheless.  

"Silent Knight," although being a good album, follows two others very similar to it and gives the sense that the group is marking time a bit. Its importance primarily lies in establishing the quintet in the historic lineup, with brothers Ian and Jim Chricton on guitar and bass respectively, Steve Negus on drums, Michael Sadler on piano and lead vocals, and the recently joined Gilmour on keyboards: five excellent and creative musicians not yet completely out of the chrysalis, even after three albums. Fortunately, there will be those who continue to believe in them, allocating a bigger budget for the next work and putting them in the hands of a producer finally capable of bringing out their potential.

And it will be great music then on the fourth album "Worlds Apart," coming soon to these screens.