Worlds Apart (Saga album)
Worlds Apart | ||||
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Studio album by Saga | ||||
Released | September 1981 | |||
Recorded | 1977-1981 at The Farmyard, Little Chalfont, Buckinghamshire, England | |||
Genre | Progressive rock, power pop, new wave | |||
Length | 43:38 | |||
Label | Portrait | |||
Producer | Rupert Hine | |||
Saga chronology | ||||
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US/Alternative cover | ||||
Professional ratings | |
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Review scores | |
Source | Rating |
Allmusic | [1] |
Worlds Apart is the fourth studio album by the Canadian progressive rock band Saga and was originally released in 1981. The album has been released with several different covers. The album was produced by Rupert Hine. Frontman Michael Sadler stated in the band's video DVD Silhouette that Hine told him to stop "singing like a choir boy" and actually had him climb up to the roof of a barn located on the farm in England where the recording was done in order to get the proper passion out of Sadler for the song "On The Loose". Sadler's vocal style was noticeably different on Worlds Apart than on the first three Saga albums—a style that he kept in successive performances with the band.
Success
Widely considered Saga's best album (and certainly their most commercially successful), the album has become the band's most recognizable work to date. The first song on the album, "On the Loose" was a single that hit #26 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #3 on Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks in 1981, landing Saga their best chart performance. The single was helped with a music video which appeared on MTV during the station's inaugural year on the air. Videos were also made for the singles "Wind Him Up" and "Amnesia". The success of the album was also largely credited to an expanded tour roster which saw the band enter new territories and venues, particularly in the United States, to expand their musical presence. Worlds Apart has been certified Platinum in Canada (100 000) and Gold in Germany (250 000), Denmark (50 000), the United States (500 000) and Norway (15 000). The album was released on Maze Records in Canada, Portrait CBS Records in America and England and Polydor Records for the remainder of the global market
The Chapters
Two of the songs, "No Regrets (Chapter V)," and "No Stranger (Chapter VIII)," were part of a series of eight (but later sixteen) songs that Saga included within their first four albums called "The Chapters," which told the story of a young Albert Einstein. The release of these two chapters completed the original set of eight. These songs were also later included on The Chapters LIVE, an album that the band recorded in 2005. To date, there's been no official compilation of the chapters in their studio incarnation.
Worlds Apart Revisited
In 2007, Saga released Worlds Apart Revisited, a live album in a 2-CD package that included all the songs from the original Worlds Apart album recorded as they were played in a recent concert by the band along with other popular works that the band played for fans in their set.
Track listing
Composed by Ian Crichton, Jim Crichton, Jim Gilmour, Steve Negus, and Michael Sadler except as indicated.
Side one
- "On the Loose" – 4:12
- "Wind Him Up" – 5:47
- "Amnesia" – 3:16
- "Framed" – 5:42
- "Time's Up" - 4:12
Side two
- "The Interview" (J. Crichton, M. Sadler) – 3:52
- "No Regrets (Chapter Five)" – 4:46
- "Conversations" (J. Crichton, M. Sadler) – 4:46
- "No Stranger (Chapter Eight)" (J. Crichton, M. Sadler) – 7:05
The track order shown above is for the original vinyl LP release. Later CD releases and the Canadian vinyl pressing on Maze Records have "Time's Up" as track #2, with "Wind Him Up", "Amnesia", and "Framed" in positions #3, #4, and #5 respectively. Some of these listed the tracks in the order shown above, meaning tracks #2 through #5 were mislabeled.
On the Portrait version of Worlds Apart, the spoken intro of "Amnesia" is missing. The intro are from an old Tom & Jerry cartoon and the words are: "It says here, a sharp blow on the head is a sure cure for amnesia, and that's what you're gonna get".
Personnel
Saga:[2]
- Michael Sadler - lead vocals (all but 7), Moog synthesizer
- Ian Crichton - guitar
- Jim Gilmour - lead synthesizer, backing and lead (7) vocals, clarinet
- Jim Crichton - bass guitar, Yamaha Electric Grand Piano, synthesizer
- Steve Negus - acoustic & electronic drums, percussion
Production:[2]
- Produced By Rupert Hine
- Recorded & Engineered By Stephen W Tayler; assistant engineers: Ian Morais & David Rolfe
- Mastered By Bob Ludwig
References
- ↑ "allmusic ((( Worlds Apart > Overview )))". allmusic.com. Retrieved 2010-08-21.
- 1 2 "Saga (3) - Worlds Apart (Vinyl, LP) at Discogs". www.discogs.com. Retrieved 2010-08-21.