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Saga - The Biography
The SAGA Biography traces the band's history over the last three decades; from the pre-SAGA days with Truck and Fludd in the early seventies, 'till the departure of singer Michael Sadler in December 2007. The members of SAGA have approved of this project and, in an effort to ensure factual correctness, they read the book prior to release. "Thirty years is a long time in the life of a band and as you can imagine there are many twists and turns that the long road brings! There were a lot of happy times as well as some not so happy times and Edwins account of these are entertaining as well as enlightening for anyone who wants to go down that road or fans wanting to learn some of the inner workings of SAGA and the members. You won't put it down!" JIM GILMOUR, SAGA
173 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review
May 27, 2008
Why I read this book: I heard about it on the Saga fans email list, and decided to take the plunge; it's a bit pricey, but I guess that's the nature of these things. I glanced at the inside and had trouble stopping reading (though the fact we spent about an hour on the road probably helped).
I give this my highest rating not because this book changed my life (the way that, say, Childhood's End did) but because it's almost perfect for what it sets out to do: Tell the story of an excellent progressive-rock band that came close to huge commercial success but never achieved it. Saga is my second-favorite band; while they've never done anything as (again) life-changing as Close to the Edge, they've never done anything as bad as Magnification either; and, to my amazement, they've been on an incredible streak lately, releasing 6 excellent albums in row--I can't think of anyone else, not even the Beatles, who've done that.
The writer, Edwin Ammerlaan, has done extensive interviews with all the members of Saga past and present. He's also interviewed the major album producers and engineers, management personnel, and other musicians. He does an excellent job of portraying a group of very talented musicians who are making a decent, but not comfortable living, and who have been crippled by terrible management not once, but twice. (I was shocked to hear that the band basically doesn't get any royalties for their first four albums, the fourth being their biggest seller, and how little those royalties amount to, especially considering that they would have to be split among 5 people.)
One other thing that Ammerlaan does better than I've seen anywhere else: One former member is bitter, and has an acrimonious relationship with the band. Ammerlaan lets both sides tell their story in their own words.
As the book ends, and as I write this, Saga is on the threshold of a major challenge as founding (and core) member Michael Sadler has left. Ammerlaan does an excellent job of putting things in perspective in the last paragraph of the book.
(Started [and finished:] 2008-05-26; finished at 23:22 EDT)
I give this my highest rating not because this book changed my life (the way that, say, Childhood's End did) but because it's almost perfect for what it sets out to do: Tell the story of an excellent progressive-rock band that came close to huge commercial success but never achieved it. Saga is my second-favorite band; while they've never done anything as (again) life-changing as Close to the Edge, they've never done anything as bad as Magnification either; and, to my amazement, they've been on an incredible streak lately, releasing 6 excellent albums in row--I can't think of anyone else, not even the Beatles, who've done that.
The writer, Edwin Ammerlaan, has done extensive interviews with all the members of Saga past and present. He's also interviewed the major album producers and engineers, management personnel, and other musicians. He does an excellent job of portraying a group of very talented musicians who are making a decent, but not comfortable living, and who have been crippled by terrible management not once, but twice. (I was shocked to hear that the band basically doesn't get any royalties for their first four albums, the fourth being their biggest seller, and how little those royalties amount to, especially considering that they would have to be split among 5 people.)
One other thing that Ammerlaan does better than I've seen anywhere else: One former member is bitter, and has an acrimonious relationship with the band. Ammerlaan lets both sides tell their story in their own words.
As the book ends, and as I write this, Saga is on the threshold of a major challenge as founding (and core) member Michael Sadler has left. Ammerlaan does an excellent job of putting things in perspective in the last paragraph of the book.
(Started [and finished:] 2008-05-26; finished at 23:22 EDT)
Displaying 1 - 1 of 1 review