Saga

Although they'll forever be best known Stateside for one of the most action-packed videos to ever grace the MTV airwaves -- the jailbreak-themed "On the Loose" -- Canada's prog-popsters Saga have carved a pretty comfortable niche for themselves in other parts of the world, where their albums continued to sell steadily over the years. And their last album to feature longtime singer, Michael Sadler, 2007's 10,000 Days (not to be confused with the Tool album of the same time), shows that the group was still able to offer albums on par with their best work right up until the end. While it features a more modern production, the songwriting and much of the instrumentation is straight out of 1982 (in fact, in many cases, 10,000 Days could have easily been issued as the follow-up to their 1981 hit album, Worlds Apart). Sadler is in fine voice throughout (which makes his exit from the band a bit puzzling -- it isn't like he is having a hard time hitting the high notes), while the group's secret/underrated weapon remains guitarist Ian Crichton. An impressively consistent album -- especially the opening one-two-three punch of "Lifeline," "Book of Lies," and "Sideways" -- the Sadler-led version of Saga certainly went out on a high note with 10,000 Days. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide